projects / unix-history / blame
| Commit | Line | Data |
|---|---|---|
| b88624ba GCI |
1 | |
| 2 | ||
| 3 | 4.0 User Applications | |
| 4 | --------------------- | |
| 5 | ||
| 6 | 4.0.1: I want to run X, how do I go about it? | |
| 7 | ||
| 8 | First, get the XFree86 distribution of X11R5 from XFree86.cdrom.com. The | |
| 9 | version you want for FreeBSD 1.1 and later is XFree86 2.1. Follow the | |
| 10 | instructions for installation carefully. You may then wish to read the | |
| 11 | documentation for the ConfigXF86 tool, which assists you in configuring | |
| 12 | XFree86 for your particular graphics card/mouse/etc. | |
| 13 | ||
| 14 | ||
| 15 | 4.0.1: I've been trying to run ghostscript on a 386 with no math-co but | |
| 16 | keep getting errors. Whats up? | |
| 17 | ||
| 18 | The problem here is due to the current FreeBSD math-emulator. You need to | |
| 89ed80ea | 19 | pick up the package in /usr/src/contrib/FAQ/programs/math-emulator.tar.gz |
| b88624ba GCI |
20 | |
| 21 | Run the install program, recompile your kernel and install the new kernel. | |
| 22 | This is a port of an older Linux math-emulator. At some point, FreeBSD's | |
| 23 | default math emulator will be good enough to enable you to forget about | |
| 24 | having to do this. | |
| 25 | ||
| 26 | ||
| 27 | 4.0.2: If I want something like seyon, term, kermit, emacs or any one of | |
| 28 | hundreds of popular freeware utilities, is there a good place to | |
| 29 | search through first? | |
| 30 | ||
| 31 | Yes, the FreeBSD `ports collection' was put together for just that purpose. | |
| 32 | It contains some of the most often requested languages, editors, mail and | |
| 33 | news reading programs, network software and many many megabytes of other | |
| 34 | types of useful goodies. CDROM people will probably have the ports collection | |
| 35 | already in /usr/ports, other folks can get at the latest snapshot of the | |
| 36 | entire collection in: | |
| 37 | ||
| 38 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/FreeBSD-current/ports | |
| 39 | ||
| 40 | Note that freebsd's ftp server permits getting entire directories as one | |
| 41 | (optionally gzip'd or compressed) tar file. Read the ftp welcome banner | |
| 42 | carefully for details. | |
| 43 | ||
| 44 | ||
| 45 | 4.0.3: I want all this neat software, but I haven't got the space or | |
| 46 | CPU power to compile it all myself. Is there any way of getting | |
| 47 | binaries? | |
| 48 | ||
| 49 | Yes. FreeBSD supports the concept of a `package', which is | |
| 50 | essentially a gzip'd binary distribution with a little extra | |
| 51 | intelligence imbeded in it for doing any custom installation work | |
| 52 | required. Packages can also be installed or deinstalled again easily | |
| 53 | without having to know the gory details. CDROM people will have a | |
| 54 | packages/ directory on their CD, others can get the currently | |
| 55 | available packages from: | |
| 56 | ||
| 57 | freebsd.cdrom.com:~ftp/pub/FreeBSD/packages-1.1 | |
| 58 | ||
| 59 | Note that all ports may not be available as packages, and that new | |
| 60 | packages are constantly being added. It is always a good idea to | |
| 61 | check periodically to see which packages are available. A README | |
| 62 | file in the packages directory provides more details on the care | |
| 63 | and feeding of the package software, so no explicit details will | |
| 64 | be given here. | |
| 65 |