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Date:      Sun, 11 Nov 2001 12:53:38 -0500
From:      Jim Conner <jconner@enterit.com>
To:        matthew@starbreaker.net
Cc:        James Buchanan <gnudev@ozemail.com.au>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Software on FreeBSD
Message-ID:  <5.1.0.14.0.20011111125248.01fced60@mail.enterit.com>
In-Reply-To: <20011111155021.5017723F1A@IMGate1.cshore.com>
References:  <3BEEA27F.C30FD33F@ozemail.com.au> <3BEEA27F.C30FD33F@ozemail.com.au>

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At 10:33 11.11.2001 -0500, Matthew Graybosch wrote:
>On Sunday 11 November 2001 11:08, you wrote:
>
> > For a little while I've been using Linux only, instead of Windows.
> > I've been doing my Bach in computer science degree working on
> > Windows, so unfortunately my skills in UNIX are a little rusty.
>
>Being rusty beats the bloody hell out of being totally ignorant.
>
> > I was wondering if FreeBSD has an installer program that can
> > detect hardware. Also, does FreeBSD come with the tools that Linux
> > distributions do, for example: GCC (C, C++, Java, Fortran), glibc,
> > libstdc++, libpthreads, autoconf, automake, make, sed, awk, perl,
> > bash, texinfo, lout, latex, ghostscript, ghostview, flex, bison,
> > and other GNU tools? Is there an easy to use setup program for X?
> > What desktops come with FreeBSD, like Gnome or KDE?
>
>I think the FreeBSD installer does a decent job of detecting
>hardware. It's not pretty, like YaST2 in SuSE or HardDrake in
>Mandrake, but it gets the job done and it's not that hard to use if
>you've grokked the manual.
>
>Most of the GNU tools are not installed as part of the FreeBSD
>"base" distribution, as FreeBSD has its own C/C++ compiler,
>libraries, etc. However, the GNU tools and libraries can be
>installed from the packages collection.
>
>If there's an "easy" (does this mean graphical?) config tool for X
>under FreeBSD I haven't found it. However, Chapter 5 of the "FreeBSD
>Handbook" at
>http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/x11.html
>covers basic installation and configuration of X. I followed the
>instructions and had only a little difficulty in making XDM work.
>
>Both GNOME 1.4 and KDE2 can be installed either from packages or
>ports, as can Windowmaker, Enlightenment, Sawfish, Blackbox, FVWM,
>etc. You'll have to edit ~/.xsession or ~/.xinitrc depending on
>whether you're using XDM or startx.
>
> > I'm a little worried about changing OSes since UNIX especially
> > seems to be pretty hard to use (I mean, for me non-logical names
> > for things, like TTYs. An ancient UNIX hang over).
>
>Well, you have TTYs in Linux as well, IIRC. And, given that they're
>pronounced "titties", I figure its just a slightly off-color joke on
>the part of K&R
>
> > Is FreeBSD at least as user-friendly as a good Linux distribution
> > like RedHat? Does the manual in the boxed sets tell how to setup a
> > modem and make a dialup connection to an ISP, and how to connect
> > and disconnect?
>
>Well, I think FreeBSD is more user-friendly than Linux; it doesn't
>put important stuff in wierd places like /opt and such, and the docs
>are clearly written.
>
>The Handbook has a chapter on setting up modems and dialing ISPs,
>and there's also a "Pedantic PPP Primer" on the main site.
>
> > Lastly, since FreeBSD seems to be internet oriented, it has mail
> > programs and a browser right? Oh, and emacs?
>
>Mail clients and browsers galore. We got PINE, ELM, Mutt, Sylpheed,
>KMail and Lilith knows what else for mail clients, and for browsers
>we've got Lynx, Netscape, Mozilla, Opera, Konqueror -- hell, we even
>have Mosaic. >^..^<
>
> > Sorry for the very low level questions. But I really can't afford
> > to spend the money until I know what I'm doing and I can work on
> > FreeBSD.
>
>Aw come on, you can't afford $50US? You must really be up against
>the wall, but that's OK. I've been up against the wall a few times
>myself. >^..^<

Wow!  50 bucks?!  Cheapbytes.com still exists right?  Its more like 10 
there and most of that is S&H.

>--
>Matthew Graybosch
>http://www.starbreaker.net
>"Sartre was mistaken: Hell is not other people. Hell is debugging
>other people's code."
>
>To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
>with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message



- Jim

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