*BSD News Article 92187


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From: bkogawa@primenet.com (Bryan Ogawa)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs. Linux
Date: 26 Mar 1997 12:26:01 -0700
Organization: Primenet Services for the Internet
Lines: 79
Message-ID: <5hbt89$s3g@nnrp1.news.primenet.com>
References: <01bc39ca$4cb6d9c0$232c3d9b@muna019> <E7nt90.H5@sphynx.fdn.fr>
X-Posted-By: bkogawa@206.165.5.107 (bkogawa)
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:37939

caussep@sphynx.fdn.fr (Philippe CAUSSE) writes:

>Andreas Hinterleitner (ahinterleitn@bangate.eur.compaq.com) wrote:

[...]
>: - color X-terminals (e.g. rxvt) don't use color by default (still don't
>: know how to change this)
>You have to installe the proper entry in your termcap:
>	1) edit /usr/share/misc/termcap
>	2) Add the entry for rxvt
>	3) cd to /usr/share/misc
>	4) re-compile the termcap database with cap_mkdb
>	5) run color-aware programs
>	6) enjoy :-)

I also suspect that Andreas is looking for a specific color program,
namely colorls .  If so, you can get colorls for FreeBSD off of your
CD-ROM #1.  Go into the packages directory (mount your cdrom, go into
packages) and then in sysutils or one of the directories, there should be
a file called "colorls-xxxxx.tgz".  As root, type "pkg_add
colorls-xxxx.tgz" and then try using the colorls command.

>: - the APM on my Compaq LTE Elite doesn't work correctly, even with apm
>: driver present (return from standby: screen is still black);
>No info on this subject...

You might want to ask on questions@freebsd.org for the questions you don't
get answered sufficiently here.

[...]
>: - the FreeBSD "handbook" is only a poor basis for obtaining general
>: information about FreeBSD as other documentation is also; I ordered some
>: books to get in depth information; kernel parameters are sparsely commented
>Have a look at the on-line handbook, it's far more advanced than the HTML
>pages supplied with 2.1.5-R.

Agreed.  go to http://www.freebsd.org/ and poke around.  There is a lot
of FreeBSD-specific documentation there, and it's quite up-to-date.

>Next, you should probably spend a couple of nights reading the 4.4BSD books
>from O'Reilly & Associates. The most important ones are:
>	4.4BSD System Manager's Manual (SMM)
>	4.4BSD User's Reference Manual (URM)
>	4.4BSD Programmers Reference Manual (PRM)

Strongly disagree.  These are mostly the manpages, and to be honest, the
relevant ones come with your FreeBSD install.  There are some execptions,
but I think that recommending these is sometimes a disservice.

>You can also read:
>	4.4BSD User's Supplementary Documents (USD)

IMO, the most useful of the books.  It contains information I haven't ever
found elsewhere (e.g. the Bourne shell intro by Bourne himself, the troff
manuals).  I love it, but if you're not interested in using old-school
Unix stuff like troff or sh, it may be somewhat less interesting. 

>	4.4BSD Programmer's Supplementary Documents (PSD)

Dated, and you can get a lot of the information in more modern forms from
elsewhere (although it does have a copy of the pre-Old-Testament C
reference.  However, it does offer excellent breadth for the user.

>They are quite cheap and real value for money.

>: I like FreeBSD and ordered version 2.1.7, and I also want to use this OS in
>: the future (together with Linux). Can anyone give me some clues to help me
>: with my problems?

>Try to find a friend in your neighbourhood who's already keen on BSD, he'll
>certainly be able to explain those things better than I am in Usenet!

Also agreed.  Another good resource (mentioned earlier) is
questions@freebsd.org (a mailing list, mail majordomo@freebsd.org for
subscription information).


--
bryan k. ogawa  <bkogawa@primenet.com>  <bkogawa@netvoyage.net>