Date: Sun, 24 Aug 1997 23:23:48 -0500 From: mikk0022@maroon.tc.umn.edu To: Ray Campbell <goalie19@idt.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Starting up with FreeBSD Message-ID: <199708250423.XAA02845@x173-171.reshalls.umn.edu> In-Reply-To: Your message of "Sun, 24 Aug 1997 21:56:01 CDT." <3400F440.658A7225@idt.net>
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> Hey everybody... I just read the entire web page for FreeBSD > (http://www.freebsd.org) and was just wondering a few things. > 1) How much space does one need for the OS, including mainly the > developement tools, (C/C++ compiler, and the editors...) I'm not sure as to minimums, etc. But if you're like me, and want to download and install every moderately cool looking thing you can get your hands on, have full documentation, full source, etc. You would feel cramped (as I doo) with 2G.... Then again, I haven't been at all conservative with disk space... I started out with FreeBSD on a 500M partition, with a lot of goodies. If you could be a little more detailed about the sort of things you want to do (I don't know squat about MUDs), I could be a little more detailed about what you need.... > 2) Does anyone have a dial-up script out there for SLIP/PPP users such > as myself? I'd like to be able to dial my ISP from inside FreeBSD (is > this possible) Actually, I found PPP to be quite easy to set up. If you need it, I could give you my script. It's not really a very sophisticated script, but it got the job done (you still had to dial the modem manually, and log in manually, I never implemented chatting). > 3) I plan on using the FreeBSD OS for MUD (Multi User Dungeon) > developement...Is there any special settings I need for FreeBSD to > include in certain (the PICO editor, grep, and the GNU Compiler) Or are > these Standard? You will have to add pico. It might be a port/package for FreeBSD, but I don't know. grep is standard UNIX, and you will never be without it. The GNU compiler is installed as part of the base system I believe. > 4) I also noticed that there was something called X Windows, is this > another actuall OS that you can run from inside FreeBSD in order to see > graphics, or is it just sorta there to help lynx out a bit? X Windows (or "X" for short) is not an operating system. It is just a "windowing system." It allows applications to draw graphics on the screen, usually inside of windows. X also allows applications running on one computer to display graphics on another over the network. It is a wonderful system to play around with. The major criticism of X that I hear a lot is that it lacks a consistent user interface. For example, X does not 'handle windows' by itself. It needs another application (called a 'window manager') to provide window decorations, and the user interface to moving, hiding, iconifying, and resizing windows. There are many window managers around, each providing a different look and feel to X. Take a look at http://www.plig.org/xwinman to get a feel for the diversity allowed under X. Unfortunately, the individual application's look and feel are indepedent of the window manager, and of each other.... There is a lot to say about X. If you want to hear more, just ask :-). > I'm pretty new with FreeBSD, but I see the potential is definatley there > for it to be a great OS for myself, I hope that someone can help me out > with my questions If you enjoy having a system you can hack, tailor, and customize extensively, FreeBSD (or linux, or any free UNIX) will be great for you. Happy Hacking! -Chris
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