I quit

[Joshua Tinnin]

On Sunday 09 January 2005 12:53 am, "william gatlin" 
<willietheturtle at linuxmail.org> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I have spent at least two weeks of my free time downloading 5.3 and
> trying to get it to work.  After figuring out how to get an ISO
> image, windows couldn't do it because netscape insisted on modifying
> the file, I loaded it and got a lot of error code 1 messages that I
> never did figure out.  I changed the partitioning and allowed 1/2 a
> gig for the root directory and loaded it again.
>
> All seemed to go well untill I tryed to configure the X.org windowing
> system.  Nothing in /stand/sysinstall would do any configuration of
> X.  Went to the net and got instructions.  Finally got X to work and
> found vidtune.
>
> Kdm comes up with a log in screen which just leads to another log in
> screen.  ctrl-alt-backspace won't turn x off as it keeps comming back
> on it's own.  Nothing leads to a window manager other than the little
> one that comes with X.
>
> I re-downloaded the window managers from the net and hoped that would
> fix it. It didn't.  I'm sure that the trouble is in some little
> config file somewhere or another  but I just don't have the time as I
> need a running system going.
>
> My opinion is that x.org isn't integrated quite well enough yet for
> prime time. My BSD books don't have the new commands and other
> information to be of any use and the Man pages that downloaded were
> of no help either.

Actually, you've touched on a problem not so much with X, but with 
integration of a graphics server with an OS. Windows and *nix approach 
this problem differently, but both solutions have problems, though with 
Windows it's more of a security risk (as it is with *nix, just not as 
much). However, X and xorg specifically has come quite a long way, and 
once you get it working you just leave it alone and forget about it. 
The main problem is that none of the autoconfig scripts do a very good 
job (hasn't changed much since XFree), but many people here can help 
with manual configuration, me included. If you need some help with 
something beyond what people have already suggested, then please feel 
free to ask.

> So for now I'm going to try to load Slackware and hope that maybe in
> a year BSD will be easier to wade through.  I have to admit a bit of
> sorrow in having to do this as I wanted them both on the same
> machine.

Slackware isn't really that different in how X is integrated. In fact, 
Slackware is one of the bare-bones type distros, "pure" Linux, as it 
were.

> At the same time I wish to communicate my respect and admiration for
> the great job the BSD community is doing and hope in no way to
> communicate any disregaurd for everyones efforts.
>
> Right now I have to have Windows up and running also and am watching
> it go into a self destruct mode from somthing that it downloaded from
> the net all by it's self with no human operator touching it.  There
> are so many Popups I had to pull the net cable just to stop it.  They
> don't get no respect.
>
> It is my hope that the various Windows emulators will/are working
> well enough to run some of my mission critical programs.  Espesially
> 'Trade Station' .  I can't imagine having thousands of dollars riding
> on Microsoft reliability.

Well, not sure how committed you are to your decision, but I know for a 
fact that you can get much further along with configuring xorg and/or a 
wm or desktop if you want some help with it. Occasionally it will 
simply not work with some hardware, but that's not that common anymore, 
and it appears your hardware works. Some people have already given some 
suggestions, but trust me: Slackware isn't easier. You might be more 
comfortable with it, and that's fine, but if you can get that then you 
definitely can understand FreeBSD. Up to you. I use both, but FreeBSD 
is what's running most of the time.

- jt