Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-10 Thread perryh
Robert Bonomi  wrote:

> ... it was the _initials_ of the name 'isual interace"
> 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.
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread John Bandur
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  wrote:

>> From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org  Mon May  9 18:16:11 2011
>> From: Ricardo Cuevas Camarena 
>> To: "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
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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RE: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Robert Bonomi
> From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org  Mon May  9 18:16:11 2011
> From: Ricardo Cuevas Camarena 
> To: "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





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RE: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Ricardo Cuevas Camarena

> -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

;)
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Robert Bonomi
> 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 
> 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=3D&o_selected=3D1469:1=
> &action=3Dbrowse&action_mod=3Dshow&cat=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 'isual interace" 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.


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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Gary Kline
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

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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Chip Camden
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=1469:1&action=browse&action_mod=show&cat=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


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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Jerry McAllister
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=1469:1&action=browse&action_mod=show&cat=cro
> 
> Regards.
> 
> Antonio
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Chad Perrin
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=1469:1&action=browse&action_mod=show&cat=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 ]


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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Antonio Olivares
>> 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=1469:1&action=browse&action_mod=show&cat=cro

Regards.

Antonio
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Chad Perrin
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 ]


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Re: Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Chris Rees
On 9 May 2011 19:05, Robert Huff  wrote:
>
> 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.
>

... and it's still supported.

Don't bother upgrading until you're happy with kernel configs :P (not
half as bad as it sounds)

Chris
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Re: Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Robert Huff

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

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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Polytropon
On Mon, 9 May 2011 10:35:54 -0700, John or Judy Hixson 
 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 "). 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, ...
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Polytropon
On Mon, 9 May 2011 15:04:36 +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. 

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, ...
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Re: Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread John or Judy Hixson

On Sun, 08 May 2011 19:49:55, Noel  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.

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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread RW
On Sun, 8 May 2011 22:13:16 -0400
Alejandro Imass  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. 

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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-09 Thread Bill Tillman




From: Janos Dohanics 
To: FreeBSD Questions 
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  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
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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.
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Janos Dohanics
On Sun, 8 May 2011 17:17:48 -0700
John or Judy Hixson  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
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Alejandro Imass
On Sun, May 8, 2011 at 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.
>


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.


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.


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
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Jon Radel


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 
more 
cat 

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
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Noel

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
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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Daniel Staal

--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

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Re: Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread Chip Camden
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___
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> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
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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


Newbie Needing Help

2011-05-08 Thread John or Judy Hixson
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___
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