Date: Tue, 30 Jul 2002 12:06:31 +0930 From: Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com> To: Ed Yu <edlyu@yahoo.com> Cc: Jud <jud@myrealbox.com>, Hostmaster@Video2Video.Com, mwvw@adelphia.net, FreeBSD-Questions@FreeBSD.Org Subject: Re: What do we need in a FreeBSD desktop? (was: Peter heads back to M$FT WinBloze [support groups]) Message-ID: <20020730023631.GI27401@wantadilla.lemis.com> In-Reply-To: <20020730021610.25982.qmail@web20701.mail.yahoo.com> References: <20020729215629.435b4356.jud@myrealbox.com> <20020730021610.25982.qmail@web20701.mail.yahoo.com>
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[Format recovered--see http://www.lemis.com/email/email-format.html] On Monday, 29 July 2002 at 19:16:10 -0700, Ed Yu wrote: > I have used mutt and I liked it but I think for > instant-workstation, evolution would be more > appropriate. Is that what you're using? The text you send is badly broken. I wouldn't want to recommend that to anybody. > I have noticed also that new users seems to prefer galeon a lot as > well. That's a web browser. Greg > --- Jud <jud@myrealbox.com> wrote: >> On Sun, 28 Jul 2002 12:00:16 +0930 >> Greg 'groggy' Lehey <grog@lemis.com> wrote: >> >> [snip] >>> The real >>> problem I have is knowing which of the over 7,000 >> ports you want >>> to install to get "basic" desktop functionality. >> Some time ago >>> I created the "instant-workstation" port, but >> didn't make much >>> noise about it. instant-workstation basically >> installs a number >>> of dependent ports (see below for a list) and then >> does some >>> minor configuration. Over the past couple of days >> I've been >>> installing a brand new machine (laptop) for a >> friend, and I've >>> been looking at the rough edges. Here's what I've >> found: >>> >>> 1. Some of the dependent ports don't build >> cleanly. This >>> obviously >>> requires some attention. >>> 2. "instant" is a misnomer, at least if you build >> from source. >>> I'm >>> building on a Dell Inspiron 7500 with a 600 >> MHz processor, >>> and it takes over 12 hours. >>> 3. Once it's built, it works "out of the box". >> I've installed >>> the >>> XFree86 4 port, and installation is really >> nothing more than >>> this: >>> >>> # X -configure >>> # mv /root/XF86Config.new /etc >>> # echo exec kdestart > ~me/.xinitrc >>> >>> You can then run startx or xdm and end up in a >> relatively >>> complete kde environment. >>> >>> So what's in instant-workstation? Currently I >> have: >>> >>> acroread >>> bash >>> cdrecord >>> dos2unix >>> emacs >>> fetchmail >>> gs >>> grip >>> gimp >>> gv >>> gpg >>> ispell >>> startkde >>> mkisofs >>> mount_smbfs >>> mutt >>> netscape >>> xtset >>> xmms >>> xv >>> >>> My questions to you: is there anything missing? >> Has anybody >>> tried instant-workstation? I'd be interested in >> suggestions >>> about how to improve it. >>> >>> Greg >> >> I haven't tried instant-workstation, so of course >> I'll rush in >> where angels fear to tread. >> >> One of the instant-workstation ports I have not >> tried is mutt, >> though I've read much praise for it and no negatives >> that I can >> recall. I wonder, though, whether a gui mail >> application might be >> a good choice for this "target market," in addition >> to, instead >> of, or as another choice besides mutt. Sylpheed >> happens to be >> the one I prefer, and it seems to be well liked by >> many other >> users. Speaking as someone who didn't know a thing >> about Unix a >> couple of years ago (and hasn't improved on the >> situation all that >> much since:), it was very easy to learn. >> >> Another place where options might be appreciated is >> browsers - >> perhaps Galeon, Opera, Mozilla? And Lynx I think is >> excellent for >> getting around on the Net at times when one doesn't >> want to or >> can't be in X. >> >> Perhaps that's taken care of by w3m (I don't >> remember ATM whether >> that's part of the default emacs install)? That >> brings me to my >> last and likely most controversial thought. Emacs >> does everything >> but bake blueberry muffins, but it might be more >> intimidating (or >> puzzling - took me awhile just to understand what >> "M-x" >> meant) than useful to someone fairly new to Unix. >> It does take a >> while to build and install (and download, for those >> of us on >> dial-ups). And the configuration options! - not >> exactly >> 'instant.' If it's part of the install, it seems to >> me users will >> try it, and may wind up thinking "Jeez, this stuff >> is hard" as a >> first impression of FreeBSD. >> >> HTH, >> >> Jud >> >> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org >> with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of >> the message > > > __________________________________________________ > Do You Yahoo!? > Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better > http://health.yahoo.com > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message -- When replying to this message, please take care not to mutilate the original text. For more information, see http://www.lemis.com/email.html Finger grog@lemis.com for PGP public key See complete headers for address and phone numbers To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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