New user

[Randy Pratt]

On Wed, 28 Sep 2005 06:38:53 -0600
Joshua Tinnin <krinklyfig at gmail.com> wrote:

> On Wed 28 Sep 05 03:54, Dmitry Mityugov <dmitry.mityugov at gmail.com> 
> wrote:
> > On 9/28/05, Xian <ian at codepad.net> wrote:
> > > > On Tue, 27 Sep 2005, Tharaka Abeysekera wrote:
> > > > > I'm a new to UNIX, I got to know about your services recently.
> > > > > Please tell me ware to start FreeBSD(UNIX) . Because I'm pissed
> > > > > off with Windows
> > >
> > > On Tuesday 27 September 2005 14:29, Derrick Test wrote:
> > > > thats a big question. the handbook off the website is a great
> > > > resource.
> > >
> > > It can also be found on the disk
> > > (at /usr/share/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html ) once
> > > you have installed. Usefull for working out how to set up internet
> > > ;-) Using it will also save FreeBSD site bandwidth :-)
> >
> > But I believe the handbook at www.freebsd.org is more accurate and
> > up-to-date than the one on the CDs.
> 
> Yes, but if you update the doc tree locally and build from that, then 
> you have the most up-to-date copy right on your machine. You have to 
> install /usr/ports/textproc/docproj first, and there's more details 
> about that here: 
> http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2001/02/08/Big_Scary_Daemons.html
> 
> Hope I don't scare off the new user, but this does demonstrate the power 
> and simplicity of UNIX in general, and FreeBSD in particular.
> 
> Here's an example straight from my workstation (this can be used as a 
> way to update and serve docs for an entire organization, such as one 
> build machine being used for packages for the other machines in a 
> network, though presumably there would be NFS or a webserver involved 
> in such a case).
> 
> My /etc/make.conf includes this:
> 
> # doc proj make options
> SUP=            /usr/local/bin/cvsup
> SUPFLAGS=       -L 2 -1
> DOC_LANG=       en_US.ISO8859-1
> SUPHOST=        `/usr/local/bin/fastest_cvsup -q -c us`
> DOCSUPFILE=     /home/krinklyfig/supfiles/doc-supfile
> SUP_UPDATE=     yes
> 
> 
> ... and my supfile for docs:
> 
> % cat /home/krinklyfig/supfiles/doc-supfile
> *default base=/usr
> *default prefix=/usr
> *default release=cvs tag=.
> *default delete use-rel-suffix
> *default compress
> doc-all
> 
> 
> And in my root crontab is:
> 
> # cvsup and build docs, 4am, every day
> 1	4	*	*	*
> /bin/sh /home/krinklyfig/supfiles/sup-doc 2>&1
> 
> 
> And the script referenced above:
> 
> # cat /home/krinklyfig/supfiles/sup-doc
> #!/bin/sh
> 
> MAILTO=krinklyfig
> MEHOME=/usr/home/krinklyfig
> 
> touch $MEHOME/log/sup-doc.log ;
> touch $MEHOME/log/sup-make-doc.log ;
> 
> cd /usr/doc ;
> make update >> $MEHOME/log/sup-doc.log 2>&1 &&
> make install clean >> $MEHOME/log/sup-make-doc.log 2>&1
> 
> 
> At 4am every day the above script is run: the changes to docs are 
> downloaded though cvsup, and the new docs are built. My local docs are 
> most likely just as up-to-date as the ones on the web (<1 day), and I 
> only have to download the updates from cvs to keep them current.
> 
> - jt

There is (yet) another way to get the latest documentation.  Docsnap
doesn't require the overhead of the documentation tool chain and is
quite easy to use.  More information about docsnap can be found at:

	http://docsnap.sk.freebsd.org/

For the original poster, reading the documentation before you start
installation will give you a lot more confidence in your new venture.

Its a steep learning curve at first, but stick with it and you'll
get there.  Additionally, the fun never ends since you'll learn
new things every day.

If you run into snags, chances are that someone on the mailing lists
will be able to help you if reading the docs or googling doesn't
turn up a solution.

Above all, have fun!

Randy


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