Re: Newbie Needing Help
Robert Bonomi bon...@mail.r-bonomi.com wrote: ... it was the _initials_ of the name 'visual iinterace to ed(1). To ed(1), or to ex(1)? (ed(1) being the older -- and by a considerable margin the lighter, which is why we even now keep it in /bin where it does not depend on /usr being mounted.) I remember horsing around with ed back when it was the _only_ editor available on Bell Labs' 6th edition. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
From: Janos Dohanics w...@3dresearch.com To: FreeBSD Questions freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Sent: Mon, May 9, 2011 1:06:31 AM Subject: Re: Newbie Needing Help On Sun, 8 May 2011 17:17:48 -0700 John or Judy Hixson johnorj...@earthlink.net wrote: [...] Another problem that's throwing me for a loop is that even though I'm logged in as root I'm getting a permission denied return when I list a file (e.g. /etc/fstab) and press enter. When you enter a file name at the prompt, such as /etc/fstab, and you receive the response permission denied, it is because /etc/fstab is not an executable file. Entering just the file name will cause the shell to try to execute the file, but this file has no permission to be executed, (even by root). You can view the permissions for this file by entering: ls -l /etc/fstab and you'll see something similar to this: -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 278 Sep 28 2008 /etc/fstab ^ ^ ^ However, for example, the file /bin/ls is executable: -r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 29656 Dec 11 2009 /bin/ls ^ ^ ^ Michael Lucas' book is a great way to get started. You can read many of his tutorials at http://oreilly.com/pub/ct/13. I have also found Dru Lavigne's series of articles FreeBSD Basics a great resource (http://oreilly.com/pub/ct/15). -- Janos Dohanics ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org As you can see, many users here will be helpful. The best advice I've seen so far is to do some google or yahoo searches for UNIX TUTORIALS and you'll find dozens of them. The FreeBSD website has a nice section called http://www.freebsd.org/projects/newbies.html which will get you off to a good start. And in spite of what the VI fans will tell you there is another built-in text editor called ee for Easy Editor and it's designed for newbies to get started editing files. VI is a very powerful tool but it's not very intuitive until you learn it or have the commands listed next to you. Good luck. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Sun, 8 May 2011 22:13:16 -0400 Alejandro Imass a...@p2ee.org wrote: The first need to change is your Windoze vocabulary, so the command line is called a shell. Next you will need to eventually master a text editor. The are literally hundreds of text-editor in the Unix world but there are two predominant editor cultures: the vi guys and the Emacs people. Although, if you cant be doing with either, you are in good company: http://colin.percival.usesthis.com There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Sun, 08 May 2011 19:49:55, Noel noeld...@gmail.com wrote: On 5/8/2011 7:17 PM, John or Judy Hixson wrote: (Clip) I'm trying to learn some FreeBSD in anticipation of eventually admining a FBSD server for my church office network. I've installed FreeBSD 7.4 on an old PC and am trying to follow along while reading Unless you have some specific need for a legacy version, I would strongly suggest installing the latest production version. Right now that's 8.2. (Clip) Actually I'm using 7.4 because that's the latest version Lucas' book covers and I learn better with a book in my hand. When I'm ready to actually use FBSD, I'll get going with the latest production release. Thanks for your's and other's patient responses. I'm doing better now on the command line. Google has been my friend. John Hixson___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, 9 May 2011 15:04:36 +0100, RW rwmailli...@googlemail.com wrote: There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. I'd like to mention the Midnight Commander. You can easily install it by entering (as root) pkg_add -r mc and then use the PF3 key to view a file, PF4 to edit it. Note that check a file refers to the action of viewing (and reading / comparing with a given pattern) the file, in opposite to executing a file (also running a file). Executing obviously is only possible with executable files (those that contain program code in one way or the other). For those who come from a DOS background (not _that_ DOS, the _other_ DOS), tools like the Midnight Commander are very welcome. Personally, I use it on a daily basis although I come from a _real_ DOS background. :-) The two-panel layout caters source-target-thinking in operations (instead of the strange misconception of using the edit buffer to transfer files, as it's an unhealthy habit in many GUIs). The excellent support for keyboard accessibility makes the user perform tasks quick and efficiently. So as a summary to the OP: Install the Midnight Commander, and make heavy use of PF3 and PF4. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, 9 May 2011 10:35:54 -0700, John or Judy Hixson johnorj...@earthlink.net wrote: Actually I'm using 7.4 because that's the latest version Lucas' book covers and I learn better with a book in my hand. When I'm ready to actually use FBSD, I'll get going with the latest production release. The sections about how to upgrade your system will help you with that task, and they will also teach you very good knowledge about how things work. Once you've upgraded to the 8- branch, you'll find there aren't much differences that make the book appear being wrong. Do not fear to move on, as the knowledge you're going to obtain is a _generic_ and _portable_ knowledge which lets you deduct the new things from the old ones. It's not that this knowledge is worthless when a new OS version is out. Thanks for your's and other's patient responses. I'm doing better now on the command line. Google has been my friend. Keep in mind that the system _itself_ offers lots of help. In opposite to many Linusi, and GUI-centric systems in general, FreeBSD has a high-quality set on manual pages (man command, file, nearly anything). You can also access them online. On the web page, you'll also find the FreeBSD Handbook and the FAQ which may be helpful. Vice versa, you'll also find them locally on your system, so getting the informations needed does not depend on being online - sometimes a big help, especially when in trouble. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ... ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Re: Newbie Needing Help
John or Judy Hixson writes: Actually I'm using 7.4 because that's the latest version Lucas' book covers and I learn better with a book in my hand. When I'm ready to actually use FBSD, I'll get going with the latest production release. At the level you're (probably) operating, the difference between 7.4 and 8.2 is minimal. Robert Huff ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 03:04:36PM +0100, RW wrote: There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. It's not just for software development. I use Vim for writing code, but I also use it for writing in English -- professional work on articles, development of traditional (non-computer) RPG systems, fiction, configuration files, notes to myself, and composing emails (including this one). -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgppEXffG2nRU.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Newbie Needing Help
There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. It's not just for software development. I use Vim for writing code, but I also use it for writing in English -- professional work on articles, development of traditional (non-computer) RPG systems, fiction, configuration files, notes to myself, and composing emails (including this one). -- I have seen vi vs emacs, kde vs gnome, but vim is different from vi correct? It is dfferent from system to system. There are like different versions vi and vim is vi improved right? By the way, I remember a quote: Hello. My $NAME is ~inigo-montoya. You killed my process. Prepare to vi. --The Unix's Bride http://www.nancybuttons.com/catalog.cgi?o_custom=o_selected=1469:1action=browseaction_mod=showcat=cro Regards. Antonio ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 03:44:57PM -0500, Antonio Olivares wrote: There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. It's not just for software development. I use Vim for writing code, but I also use it for writing in English -- professional work on articles, development of traditional (non-computer) RPG systems, fiction, configuration files, notes to myself, and composing emails (including this one). -- I have seen vi vs emacs, kde vs gnome, but vim is different from vi correct? It is dfferent from system to system. There are like different versions vi and vim is vi improved right? People often use vi to refer to any vi-like editor. There are quite a few of them; basic operation is pretty much exactly the same across them, with the way they're used mostly changing only as you get farther from the most basic feature set of each of them. Vim is indeed an abbreviation of vi improved. I don't know that I'd call it improved, exactly. It has a couple of features I need that are not available in other vi-like editors I've used, but it also has a lot of features that I'd rather do without. Aside from missing a couple of nice features I actually use regularly, I prefer nvi over Vim. By the way, I remember a quote: Hello. My $NAME is ~inigo-montoya. You killed my process. Prepare to vi. --The Unix's Bride http://www.nancybuttons.com/catalog.cgi?o_custom=o_selected=1469:1action=browseaction_mod=showcat=cro That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] pgpi4gmlZGLWg.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 03:44:57PM -0500, Antonio Olivares wrote: There's also ee in the base system, which is good enough for editing configuration files, and is much easier for a casual user. The benefits of vi and emacs are mostly for developers. It's not just for software development. I use Vim for writing code, but I also use it for writing in English -- professional work on articles, development of traditional (non-computer) RPG systems, fiction, configuration files, notes to myself, and composing emails (including this one). -- I have seen vi vs emacs, kde vs gnome, but vim is different from vi correct? It is dfferent from system to system. There are like different versions vi and vim is vi improved right? I was always told that vim is a more 'friendly' version of vi, but I never bothered to learn vim to find out. vi was easy enough. Anyway, the two biggest reasons to at least become comfortable using vi are: that it is everywhere. When you are doing sysadmin stuff, you may need to use it, even if your most used editor is something else. and that vi doesn't put any junk in the file like some formatting text editors do. An easy to learn table of vi information is at: http://z2.cl.msu.edu/~jerrymc/project/editvi/ jerry By the way, I remember a quote: Hello. My $NAME is ~inigo-montoya. You killed my process. Prepare to vi. --The Unix's Bride Cute. http://www.nancybuttons.com/catalog.cgi?o_custom=o_selected=1469:1action=browseaction_mod=showcat=cro Regards. Antonio ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
Quoth Chad Perrin on Monday, 09 May 2011: By the way, I remember a quote: Hello. My $NAME is ~inigo-montoya. You killed my process. Prepare to vi. --The Unix's Bride http://www.nancybuttons.com/catalog.cgi?o_custom=o_selected=1469:1action=browseaction_mod=showcat=cro That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. I've always pronounced it like vie -- but I was introduced to it long before the web, back in the dark ages when each shop figured out their own pronunciations and wrote their own compilers. -- .O. | Sterling (Chip) Camden | http://camdensoftware.com ..O | sterl...@camdensoftware.com | http://chipsquips.com OOO | 2048R/D6DBAF91 | http://chipstips.com pgpjv2xy5kwjV.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 02:55:22PM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote: That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] for(;;) puts(YES); -- Gary Kline kl...@thought.org http://www.thought.org Public Service Unix Journey Toward the Dawn, E-Book: http://www.thought.org The 7.98a release of Jottings: http://jottings.thought.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Mon May 9 16:16:48 2011 Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 14:15:49 -0700 From: Chip Camden sterl...@camdensoftware.com To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newbie Needing Help --XRI2XbIfl/05pQwm Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Quoth Chad Perrin on Monday, 09 May 2011: =20 By the way, I remember a quote: =20 =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Hello. My $NAME is ~inigo-montoya. You killed my process. Prepare to vi. --The Unix's Bride =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D http://www.nancybuttons.com/catalog.cgi?o_custom=3Do_selected=3D1469:1= action=3Dbrowseaction_mod=3Dshowcat=3Dcro =20 That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. =20 I've always pronounced it like vie -- but I was introduced to it long before the web, back in the dark ages when each shop figured out their own pronunciations and wrote their own compilers. It was officially 'vee eye' -- so named because it was the _initials_ of the name 'visual iinterace to ed(1). It was originally a separate program that did _just_ the curses-based display functions, using 'ed' as a back-end process for the actual file manipulation. That said Prepare to 'vee eye' is a close enough phonetic match to 'prepare to die' for the joke to still work. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
RE: Newbie Needing Help
-Original Message- From: owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd- questi...@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Gary Kline Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 4:21 PM To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newbie Needing Help On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 02:55:22PM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote: That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] for(;;) puts(YES); Use the unix commands... $ yes ;) ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
RE: Newbie Needing Help
From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Mon May 9 18:16:11 2011 From: Ricardo Cuevas Camarena rcue...@nic.mx To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 17:59:04 -0500 Subject: RE: Newbie Needing Help -Original Message- From: owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd- questi...@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Gary Kline Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 4:21 PM To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newbie Needing Help On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 02:55:22PM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote: That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] for(;;) puts(YES); Use the unix commands... $ yes I already have an over-abundance, from my last harvest of nits, but I guess I have to pick one more. To be equivalent to the putative 'c' fragment shown, the command-line equivalent is _not_ what was shown above. Rather it is: $ yes YES ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
I have fix the issue , thanks anyways. Please stop sending me email. It's hard for me to search my mail to find the one I'm looking for... Sent from my iPod On May 9, 2011, at 8:56 PM, Robert Bonomi bon...@mail.r-bonomi.com wrote: From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Mon May 9 18:16:11 2011 From: Ricardo Cuevas Camarena rcue...@nic.mx To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Mon, 9 May 2011 17:59:04 -0500 Subject: RE: Newbie Needing Help -Original Message- From: owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org [mailto:owner-freebsd- questi...@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Gary Kline Sent: Monday, May 09, 2011 4:21 PM To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Newbie Needing Help On Mon, May 09, 2011 at 02:55:22PM -0600, Chad Perrin wrote: That joke is hilarious. Pedantically speaking, though, it has a small problem: vi is pronounced like vee eye, not like the word vie. -- Chad Perrin [ original content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] for(;;) puts(YES); Use the unix commands... $ yes I already have an over-abundance, from my last harvest of nits, but I guess I have to pick one more. To be equivalent to the putative 'c' fragment shown, the command-line equivalent is _not_ what was shown above. Rather it is: $ yes YES ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
Quoth John or Judy Hixson on Sunday, 08 May 2011: At the risk of being told to get out of here and never come back (until you know enough to not need to come back), I need help on some very elementary stuff. I haven't found anywhere else to ask these questions and am therefore taking my chances. I'm trying to learn some FreeBSD in anticipation of eventually admining a FBSD server for my church office network. I've installed FreeBSD 7.4 on an old PC and am trying to follow along while reading Michael Lucas' book (2nd ed.). Right now my problem is with the command line. Lucas make a statement as follows: If you want to see a comprehensive list of loader variables, check the default configuration file. Since there is no command check, I have no idea what to use. What command will check a file? What I really want to do is view the file, but that command doesn't exist either. Another problem that's throwing me for a loop is that even though I'm logged in as root I'm getting a permission denied return when I list a file (e.g. /etc/fstab) and press enter. This no doubt the wrong place for simple questions like these so someone PLEASE tell me where better to go. Thank you. John Hixson___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org For viewing or editing a file, what you want is a text editor. I use vim, but it really isn't designed for beginners. Whatever editor you decide to use, I would advise reading up on it before jumping into text files. To list files in a directory, the command is 'ls'. Type 'man ls' to get full documentation. In fact, for most Unix commands, 'man' is your friend. -- .O. | Sterling (Chip) Camden | http://camdensoftware.com ..O | sterl...@camdensoftware.com | http://chipsquips.com OOO | 2048R/D6DBAF91 | http://chipstips.com pgpx1vNxHdQ9C.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Newbie Needing Help
--As of May 8, 2011 5:45:55 PM -0700, Chip Camden is alleged to have said: For viewing or editing a file, what you want is a text editor. I use vim, but it really isn't designed for beginners. Whatever editor you decide to use, I would advise reading up on it before jumping into text files. --As for the rest, it is mine. If you are just viewing, I'd use a pager instead. 'less' is my go-to choice, and is fairly intuitive. Note that you cannot *edit* the file in less. You'd have to go to vim or something else to do that. Daniel T. Staal --- This email copyright the author. Unless otherwise noted, you are expressly allowed to retransmit, quote, or otherwise use the contents for non-commercial purposes. This copyright will expire 5 years after the author's death, or in 30 years, whichever is longer, unless such a period is in excess of local copyright law. --- ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On 5/8/2011 7:17 PM, John or Judy Hixson wrote: At the risk of being told to get out of here and never come back (until you know enough to not need to come back), I need help on some very elementary stuff. I haven't found anywhere else to ask these questions and am therefore taking my chances. Welcome. I'm trying to learn some FreeBSD in anticipation of eventually admining a FBSD server for my church office network. I've installed FreeBSD 7.4 on an old PC and am trying to follow along while reading Unless you have some specific need for a legacy version, I would strongly suggest installing the latest production version. Right now that's 8.2. Michael Lucas' book (2nd ed.). Right now my problem is with the command line. Lucas make a statement as follows: If you want to see a comprehensive list of loader variables, check the default configuration file. Since there is no command check, I have no idea what to use. What command will He means to view the contents of the file with cat or more. The shell or command line is where most of the action happens in FreeBSD and other unix-like operating systems. While it might look primitive to a newcomer, once you lean it you find it to be more powerful and you can imagine. I would probably help to read some books or websites on basic unix operation or unix shell basics. No, I don't have any specific ones to recommend, but I'll bet there's a great one within the first 5 google responses. Good luck! -- Noel ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On 5/8/11 8:17 PM, John or Judy Hixson wrote: At the risk of being told to get out of here and never come back (until you know enough to not need to come back), I need help on some very elementary stuff. I haven't found anywhere else to ask these questions and am therefore taking my chances. Ah, but you appear to be trying and you're certainly giving us useful information about what you're trying. You're even reading a useful book. So we're sometimes quite tolerant. :-) I'm trying to learn some FreeBSD in anticipation of eventually admining a FBSD server for my church office network. I've installed FreeBSD 7.4 on an old PC and am trying to follow along while reading Michael Lucas' book (2nd ed.). Beautiful way to start. Right now my problem is with the command line. Lucas make a statement as follows: If you want to see a comprehensive list of loader variables, check the default configuration file. Since there is no command check, I have no idea what to use. What command will check a file? Most, but not all configuration files of this nature are plain text files, though generally there are relatively strict rules about syntax which, alas, are not consistent across all parts of the system. What I really want to do is view the file, but that command doesn't exist either. You've already had a recommendation for using a text editor. I'd suggest use of less which is a text file viewer. Not using an editor makes accidental changes a bit less likely. less filename more filename cat filename will all show you the file, though with differing effects. I generally use the first. BTW, when you can explain the really bad Unix joke, less is more than more, you'll be getting the hang of things. Another problem that's throwing me for a loop is that even though I'm logged in as root I'm getting a permission denied return when I list a file (e.g. /etc/fstab) and press enter. If you simply enter a filename at the prompt it tries to execute the file (give or take a whole bunch of details, such as what the search path for commands looks like, etc., etc.) But, basically, any command is simply a file by that name somewhere in the file system, with the exception of the very short list of commands that are built into the shell (aka command line). So if you type the name of a file all by itself at the command prompt, the shell is liable to try execute, i.e. run, that file. Unless the file was written with an eye to being executed, this doesn't necessarily work out well so sometimes the shell simply refuses to do it. This no doubt the wrong place for simple questions like these so someone PLEASE tell me where better to go. Thank you. Remember that for the really basic stuff, Unix is Unix is Linux, so any tutorial you find with a google search or two would apply. --Jon Radel j...@radel.com ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 8:17 PM, John or Judy Hixson johnorj...@earthlink.net wrote: At the risk of being told to get out of here and never come back (until you know enough to not need to come back), I need help on some very elementary stuff. I haven't found anywhere else to ask these questions and am therefore taking my chances. Hey John welcome to FreeBSD. Good honest questions are almost always answered. If you try to be a smart ass your newbiness will shine right through and people will avoid you. But making simple honest questions like you've done will get you help here for sure. FreeBSD is much like any Unix so may I suggest you first read on some generic Unix, and mostly anything in that respect will apply to FreeBSD, Linux and any and all Unixes, mostly anyway. The first need to change is your Windoze vocabulary, so the command line is called a shell. Next you will need to eventually master a text editor. The are literally hundreds of text-editor in the Unix world but there are two predominant editor cultures: the vi guys and the Emacs people. culutural note In Unix, freeBSD and the Linux world there seem to be these tribal/religious wars about things: vi vs. emacs, gnome vs. kde, MySQL v.s PostgreSQL, anything vs. sendmail, top posting vs. bottom posting, etc. etc. etc. In almost everything you will find zealots in the *NIX world. /cultural note I am an Emacs fan myself, but you will need to learn vi regardless of the editor you later decide to use. This is because vi is installed as part of the base system in almost all *nix flavors. You will probably even need vi to configure your base system in order to install anything else, so do yourself a favor and get a vi tutorial. The same goes with pagers: less is is better than more (pun intended) but more will probably be part of any Unix system whereas less will probably need to installed unless you are in the Linux world where less is actually more, or is it less ? ;-) Anyway, get yourself a tutorial and soft introduction on Unix in general, and on vi so you can move around. I think that Chapter 3 of the FBSD Handbook does a great job: http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/basics.html Good luck, -- Alejandro Imass ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
Re: Newbie Needing Help
On Sun, 8 May 2011 17:17:48 -0700 John or Judy Hixson johnorj...@earthlink.net wrote: [...] Another problem that's throwing me for a loop is that even though I'm logged in as root I'm getting a permission denied return when I list a file (e.g. /etc/fstab) and press enter. When you enter a file name at the prompt, such as /etc/fstab, and you receive the response permission denied, it is because /etc/fstab is not an executable file. Entering just the file name will cause the shell to try to execute the file, but this file has no permission to be executed, (even by root). You can view the permissions for this file by entering: ls -l /etc/fstab and you'll see something similar to this: -rw-r--r-- 1 root wheel 278 Sep 28 2008 /etc/fstab ^ ^ ^ However, for example, the file /bin/ls is executable: -r-xr-xr-x 1 root wheel 29656 Dec 11 2009 /bin/ls ^ ^ ^ Michael Lucas' book is a great way to get started. You can read many of his tutorials at http://oreilly.com/pub/ct/13. I have also found Dru Lavigne's series of articles FreeBSD Basics a great resource (http://oreilly.com/pub/ct/15). -- Janos Dohanics ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org
