new to os

[Al Plant]

Lars Eighner wrote:
> On Thu, 18 Aug 2011, scott mcclellan wrote:
> 
>> I'm looking to try something different with my machine (or maybe I'm 
>> going
>> through a midlife crisis).  Currently run Wimdows (point and click), and
>> would like to gravitate back to DOS (this is a thing of the ancient past
>> for me 30 years - on a TRS-80).  I know remember extremely little of OS
>> vernacular.
> 
> The main problem with DOS is lack of applications.  If it was not so,
> I would be running it myself.  You might, for example, still have your copy
> of WP 5 -- I do.  But printers that work with the printer drivers are now
> museum pieces.  There are work-arounds for this sort of thing -- including
> the hobby of maintaining ancient hardware -- but as for a working 
> machine to
> do anything practical, there are stumbling blocks like this at every turn.
> 
>> Am I biting off more than I can chew, or is there a OS commands for
>> dummies out there, or does FreeBSD have such a critter that one can go
>> through.
> 
> Of course there are still many old DOS tutorials online in various archives
> and some games and stuff. But now you are asking about FreeBSD, I think.
> 
> One of the virtues of all of the unix-like systems (the BSDs and  
> Linuxices)
> is that there are many maintained command-line applications, and the basic
> stuff is well-domuented with the online manual (man command).  These
> applications are very similar from one BSD or Linux system to another, and
> are often compiled from the same source code.  They all have true
> multiprocessing so you can switch from one command line environment 
> (virtual
> terminal) to another with a keystroke.  They are a little short of
> command-line (launched) graphics programs (viewers, paint, etc.) but they
> have a choice of GUIs, some of which are very lightweight, when you have to
> have graphics, and you can switch between the GUI and a command line 
> virtual
> terminal with a keystroke.
> 
>> I'll pour through the FAQ and got hrough the online manuals for now. But
>> it all seems greek.  Can someone point me in a diresction to degreek this
>> stuff for me.
> 
> No ONE thing comes to mind.  There are some web versions of the man command
> online, which is a good place to start.  But the best thing seems to me is
> to find some disk space and make a small installation.  Start by running
> 
> #man man
> 
> and go from there.
> 
> 
> 
Aloha Lars,

You mentioned WP5 in this thread. I have some docs on disks that were 
created in WP5. You know any FreeBSD based app like abiword that can 
read them for transfer to a contemporary program?

-- 

~Al Plant - Honolulu, Hawaii -  Phone:  808-284-2740
   + http://hawaiidakine.com + http://freebsdinfo.org +
   + http://aloha50.net   - Supporting - FreeBSD  7.2 - 8.0 - 9* +
   < email: noc at hdk5.net >
"All that's really worth doing is what we do for others."- Lewis Carrol