From owner-freebsd-newbies Fri Dec 25 10:22:38 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id KAA25452 for freebsd-newbies-outgoing; Fri, 25 Dec 1998 10:22:38 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from lsmls02.we.mediaone.net (lsmls02.we.mediaone.net [24.130.1.15]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id KAA25447 for ; Fri, 25 Dec 1998 10:22:36 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from gummibear@mediaone.net) Received: from mediaone.net (we-24-130-60-145.we.mediaone.net [24.130.60.145]) by lsmls02.we.mediaone.net (8.8.7/8.8.7) with ESMTP id KAA21520 for ; Fri, 25 Dec 1998 10:22:21 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <3683D878.194A14ED@mediaone.net> Date: Fri, 25 Dec 1998 10:24:57 -0800 From: Joey Garcia X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.5 [en] (X11; I; FreeBSD 2.2.8-RELEASE i386) X-Accept-Language: en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Unix Desktop References: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Sender: owner-freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org rick hamell wrote: > > Every time I install a package (a program or set of programs) it > > automatically updates the configuration files for all currently > > installed window managers. And if a particular user does not > > explicitly override the system wide config files for a particular > > window manager -- he/she automatically sees the new things on > > his/her menu. So I never have to edit any .rc files. > > We (as in the FreeBSD community) really need some enterprising > newbie to do stuff like this. FreeBSD is a great product, the install > goes pretty smoothly. But, that is only if you have the approved > hardware, and everything is setup right. My personal goal is to get to > the point that I can help do stuff like this. The Core Team members do a > great job, but they need to keep their attention on the product itself, > upgrading drivers, adding functionality to the system, etc. Not doing > what really amounts to scuttle work. :( > Perhaps someone who is up on this type of stuff can write > something up that explains how to customize the system with a focus on > newbies. Adding it on Sue's newbie page would be excellent and appropriate. > > Rick I've thought about writing a diary about my FreeBSD system and how I set it up. Although, it's kind of hard to document every little thing I do I guess. I guess the first thing one should do when installing a FreeBSD system is know what packages to add. I remember when I first installed unix on my pc I didn't know what all these software packages and the discriptions weren't good enough for me at that time. Maybe there should be a recommended software guide for newbies somewhere. Maybe in two versions, one for terminal based applications and one for X based applications. And screen shots of these recommended applications would be a good thing. So people could check it out on a web site and see if it really is what they want to install. After the the initial software is loaded and stuff. I think setting up the shell is the next thing to do. I prefer the bash shell. Setting up the prompt and path and alternative pagers and stuff like that is important for a new user. After all that is done, using XF86Config to setup the X server stuff would be important. This would all be the initial customization and setup stuff. After the initial stuff is done, then the more advanced stuff could be done....like settingup a cached DNS for a standalone system (which is easy to do), probably configuring sendmail as well (although that's always been a mystery to me), and any other more advanced stuff. Rebuilding the Kernel perhaps?? Anyways, this all has to deal with customizing the system. Hell, I haven't even touched on setting up a window manager and the .xinirc. *sigh* Too much work!! Poor newbies (the ones that never even seen a unix prompt). It must really suck to be them. -- =============================================== Joseph Garcia gummibear@mediaone.net Downey, CA "If you're still in control, then you're not going fast enough!" =============================================== To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message