PcBSD - FreeBSD for desktop.

Yet another project derrived from FreeBSD OS. It's a FreeBSD based, uhm, project with an aim to make BSD more desktop-friendly. As written on the project's overview:

PC-BSD has as its goals to be an easy to install and use desktop OS, which is built on the FreeBSD operating system. To accomplish this, it currently has a graphical installation, which will enable even UNIX novices to easily install and get it running. It will also come with KDE pre-built, so that the desktop can be used immediately. Currently in development is a graphical software installation program, which will make installing pre-built software as easy as other popular operating systems.

I have a mixed feelin bout this. I'm happy because the potential of this project to make more desktop users migrate to the stable OS of BSD. On the other hand, I think it's somewhat a bit of a waste of resources. It's like seein the another fork of FreeBSD (eg: DragonflyBSD, not the same situation as this PcBSD project, I know.) where instead of concentratin on in tailorin FreeBSD fer whatever purpose they have in mind (desktop friendly etc.), they just break from it, make a new stuff out of it with a new style (independant package management etc.) and then what? We're goin to go the way linux is? Choices are good but too many of it (eg: the, *ehem*, gazillion of linux distros out there...) will surely (strictly in my personal opinion) make a mess. Anyway, this is just opinion. Fer me, my preference of an OS (desktop / server / whatever) is still the great FreeBSD. I don't need an "easier" BSD usin FreeBSD's technologies/stability to have fun with my desktop/laptop, FreeBSD is not that hard fer newbies nowadays (I am still a damn proud FreeBSD newbie) and if I wanted a tailored version of it, I'll tailor it to suit my need meself. Like I said, this is strictly my opinion and I know not many are with me on this.

I got nothin against DragonflyBSD, mind you. As far as I know, DragonflyBSD is doin great and that is good. But somehow it's sad to realise that most of the developers was FreeBSD developers and they breaks from it.

But hey, whatever the OS you're into, it's great as long as you're happy with it. That's what OS are fer anyway, makin sure you're havin fun with your computer(s). Later.

5-STABLE + Fluxbox screenshot uploaded!

Yeah you heard me right. Go to my homepage to see it! Now! (^_^)y. It's located in [FreeBSD & Me] > [Screenshot] section if you got lost.

X screensaver?

Okay, on the the screensaver. Now Fluxbox is a minimalist window manager. No GUI configuration stuff, no screensaver module built-in. So how? Get xlockmore which basically a screen lockin program but has tons of screensavers coded with it. Now this baby lock your current X session and display your choice of prebuilt screensaver module (matrix, GL stuff etc.). So to make this xlockmore program to act like a real screensaver (automatic lockin on specific time), I got meself xautolock. This xautolock do just what the name implies, it'll automatically lock your X session after the period of time you specified. After a brief visit to xlockmore homepage and readin the man xlock (xlockmore is a continuation of xlock, so although the port is called xlockmore, the program is xlock.) and man xautolock, I found out that I need to edit ~/.xinitrc.

===== ~/.xinitrc starts =====

--- Fluxbox specific stuff snipped ---

# Loadin xautolock to use xlockmore
xautolock -time 5 -corners 000- -cornersize 20 -locker "xlock -enablesaver -lock delay 60 -mode matrix" &

--- more Fluxbox specific stuff snipped ---

===== ~/.xinitrc end =====

Now I have to put the & sign at the back of the xautolock .. line because it'll keep xautolock waitin until X loads all the variables/commands in ~/.xinitrc (includin Fluxbox window manager and all the slit I have.). Yours maybe different so better google fer it. Now let me explain what the commands mean.

Ehem. The line above is the same as sayin that:

xautolock will function in 5 minutes if my mouse pointer is not around the 20pixels square on the bottom-right of my screen usin xlock that enables normal screen blankin and will only lock the screen 60 seconds after the matrix screensaver are displayed.

I know the words above is quite ridiculous so you better check out man xlock and man xautolock. I also added a menu in Fluxbox fer me to lock my X session on the fly. I just edit ~/.fluxbox/menu and add:

[exec] (Lock Screen) {xlock -enablesaver -mode matrix}

I guess my laptop's monitor support DPMS feature (EnergyStar saving) and I open /etc/X11/xorg.conf and added:

# *******************************
# Monitor section
# *******************************

Section "Monitor"

--- other variables snipped ---

Option "DPMS"

EndSection

It might work or I might be wrong. Anyway nothin bad has happened after I test out the xautolock and xlock though, so I might be on the right side (^_^).

I'm thinkin bout uploadin my latest configuration files (/etc/rc.conf, ~/.xinitrc etc.) to my homepage soon. Later then.

Enlightenment deinstalled.

Enlightenment had to go. I'm stickin to Fluxbox. Not that there's anythin bad with Enlightenment though. It's just that I don't want too many window manager here. To have the console and Fluxbox is enough. 10Gb of space ain't that big nowadays. If my FreeBSD can use this laptop's winmodem, my XP too will be gone. Anyway FreeBSD is as good as I ever experienced it years before. If you never tried it, you better. It's not that hostile fer desktop usage nowadays. In fact, FreeBSD maybe your choice of desktop OS once you tried it.

I'm cleanin up unused ports (which is the dependencies of Enlightenment that I have just deinstalled, I think there's quite a lot of it.) which scatters my Clevo M22ES's hard disk. I heard of a program that can show dependencies like a tree view. Ah, the program is pkg_tree.

I know, I know, I still haven't done anythin with sendmail. Sheesh. Later.

Enlightenment went garbled because of unresolved dependencies.

I've installed Enlightenment window manager and there's somethin weird happenin. Everytime I issue startx, Enlightenment seems like it has lost the themes (screen went garbish and got no theme). So after a lookin at enlightenment's dependencies list, I found out that this file is not yet installed:

libltdl-1.5.10

This file is located in /usr/ports/devel/libltdl15 and i install it. The next Enlightenment session later was lovely. Now the (default) theme is there and it look just gorgeous. If you stumbled into somethin similar like this with Enlightenment, you probably need to look at the dependencies file. I don't know if it's the port bug that make that specific file unresolved while installin, or I mess up the upgradin process before and made this happen.

Enlightenment is a lovely window manager and yet, Fluxbox got more votes from me because the sheer simplicity. Now I can change the darn Fluxbox background! I guess the missin dependency file above made the whole problem with changin wallpaper. The fluxbg port I installed couldn't work though. I had to issue the fbsetbg command manually. *sigh*.

vampire# fbsetbg -u ~/path_to/wallpaper.jpg

Oh yeah fbsetbg can now use Esetroot (wallpaper setter program, came bundled when installin Eterm), like I've said earlier, the missin dependency file is the culprit. No more dull background! Hurrah!

Upgradin to 5-STABLE completed. *phew....*

Fer almost 24hours, I've been upgradin my 5.3-R to 5-STABLE. The major problems are solved. Silly me I accidently left ports-devel line in my ports-supfile commented so I was stuck fer a few hours wonderin why the heck I keep gettin older version of some dependency files. FYI, I don't use ports-all because I'm excludin all the language-specific ports such as ports-arabian, ports-chinese etc. Anyway now it's ok and thank goodness the major part of the upgrade is completed.

I have to reconfigure Xorg because Fluxbox can't start. The usual xorgconfig script does the job well and I'm runnin fluxbox-devel (development version). Rounded window are just sexy. Got my Firefox crashes a few time when I'm changin the Fluxbox theme though.

Whoa! The CPU is really tolled! I'm currently installin fluxbg, program to change fluxbox's wallpaper and I don't know if this is makin my CPU processin like mad. I better check out on this later.

Use gnome_upgrade.sh to upgrade broken Gnome ports.

It's 12:30 in the afternoon and the portupgrade is yet to be completed. It seems that the new Gnome version cannot be simply upgraded usin portupgrade. /usr/ports/UPDATING file mentioned about this (and I was left confused fer quite a while figurin what happened to Gnome upgrade..). Here's the info on how to upgrade the new Gnome 2 correctly.

http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/docs/faq210.html

I have to use an upgrade script provided in that site, named gnome_upgrade.sh and currently, I'm usin it. Got a problem with not enough temporary space in /var/tmp so I added:

MC_TMPDIR="/usr/tmp"

in the script file and mkdir tmp (make directory name [tmp]) in /usr before the script can continue successfully. All my gnome related program are currently broken so this step is essential. I'm currently figurin out on how to answer the questionaires printed by that gnome_upgrade.sh script. Later on this.

It's FreeBSD 5-STABLE now!

Yup. That's right. I've just finished upgradin my (previously) 5.3-RELEASE to 5-STABLE.

Alsemo@vampire> uname -a
FreeBSD vampire.homeunix.org 5.4-STABLE FreeBSD 5.4-STABLE #0: Sat May 21 02:13:49 MYT 2005 root@vampire.homeunix.org:/usr/obj/usr/src/sys/VAMKERNEL i386

Now it's portupgrade time (man portupgrade fer more info) so that all the ports I've installed in my FreeBSD will be updated to the latest version. There's an error with fluxbox when I'm tryin to do a portversion -v but after I issue pkgdb -F and type yes to the questionaire, portversion -v doesn't complain anymore. Fluxbox seems to be up-to-date though. Well I'm in console now so it'll be another few minutes or hours till all the ports and required dependencies are updated before I can test Fluxbox. Thank goodness I just installed a few important ports or else it might take far longer. Later.

Upgradin to 5.4-STABLE started.

Yup. Right now I'm upgradin my 5.3-R to 5-STABLE. Usin TaoSecurity: Keeping FreeBSD Up-To-Date and Freebsd Handbook: CVSUP as my references, I'm crossin my fingers now. My stable-supfile are pretty much the same as /usr/share/examples/cvsup/stable-supfile with the only difference is I'm usin cvsup.sg.FreeBSD.org as my CVSUP host. CVSUP is currently runnin so I better prepare on how to buildworld etc. Wish me luck then. Can't wait to ride on 5-STABLE! Later.

Graphic-enabled Links!

Hurrah! I finally found the solution to enable Links displayin graphic! Anyway currently I'm havin problem runnin graphic-enabled links from console. It seems like my generic VGA driver are capable of a few small resolution display, and usin my VESA driver keeps makin my FreeBSD displayin blank screen and freezes when I tried 800x600x256 mode (the only 800x600 mode fer my VESA driver). So everytime it freezes (I'm doin an intensive testin, so it freezes fer a gazillion times), the only way to escape is to hit [Ctrl] + [Alt] + [Delete] (quick reboot). I'm guessin that ***x***x256 (256 bit color) is the culprit here. I got no problem with graphic-mode links runnin in X though because it uses Xorg instead of svgalib.

I already have links and I don't know if it's graphic-enabled. So, to be sure, I deinstalled it. Then I sued, and go to /usr/ports/www/links where the file hides. This time, instead of just make (or make install clean, whatever you prefer), I type this:

vampire# make -DWITH_SVGALIB

so that the links port I'm about to install will have graphic capabilities compiled in. Then I install it.

vampire# make install clean

Dependencies resolved, no error, so the installation went fine. Now, accordin to The FreeBSD Console - Living without X (one of my fav FreeBSD related website.), I have to edit /usr/local/etc/vga/libvga.config and test out different configuration to get my graphic-enabled links run smoothly in console. No sample given so I was left out to figure it by meself. I tried a few configuration like uncommentin VESA driver, altering the monitor refresh rate to:

HorizSync 31.5 37.9
VertRefresh 50 90

with no result I can consider truly successfull. Don't get me wrong, I can get links to display graphics in console but the resolution is small. The biggest resolution I can get is 640x480x16 which leaves a surroundin blank space on the display when run. There's another mode fer 640x480 resolution which is usin 256 bit color but like I've mentioned above, I think that color mode is the culprit which made my console freeze. If only there's a 800x600x16 mode. More on this later hopefully. Do a man svgalib fer more info on svgalib.

On to links in X. Now usin xorg, this baby flies! man links tells me that issuin links web.site.url will open a text-mode links and links -g web.site.url will open up a graphic-enabled links. So I edit ~/.fluxbox/menu and put:

[exec] (Links-X) {links -g}

so that everytime I click on Links-X in my Fluxbox menu, a blank graphic-enabled links will run. links runnin in graphic mode still retain the same operation method like the text-mode links (usin keyboard fer navigation etc) and the only difference is pictures! I must say the images displayed in graphic-mode links is cool.

Another thing to remember, I have to su before I could use links -g in console because program that want to access svgalib must have root permission. There's a few way instead of suing just to use graphic-mode links, but because I still have to make the 800x600 resolution fer links work first, so I'm not goin to bother with it yet.

I'm still havin problem with my background. *sigh*. Later then.

p/s: Did anybody say screenshot?

Why can't I change Fluxbox background? answered.

I think I know why I can't change my Fluxbox background. It seems that I don't have any program what can be use by fbsetbg module such as:

display
Esetroot
chbg

which is required because fbsetbg uses the mentioned program above to set the background wallpaper. Esetroot can be installed by installin eterm (another terminal fer X) but unfortunately, I can't install eterm because I got "File not found" error when usin port. Drats. I installed fluxbg, a program that can change Fluxbox background wallpaper usin GUI. But because of the problems I mentioned earlier in this post, I'm stuck with the dull blue background. *sigh*. Wan't to know more bout fbsetbg? Then go to this link.

The Gimp, Dockapps & GTKSee.

I'm currently waitin fer the Gimp port to install. It's takin quite a while. In the mean time, I'm searchin fer some usefull dockapps (program that can be put as an icon, slit thingy fer Fluxbox) and I found quite a few worthwhile items listed in FreeBSD Ports Collection. Here's a few I'm gettin:

wmmon (system load/performance monitor)
wmnd (application to monitor network stuff)
wmbsdbatt (battery status meter, dockable fer fluxbox)
wmmultipop (pop3 email checker supportin a multiple pop3 account)
genmenu (generating menu fer Fluxbox, Blackbox etc.)

I've successfully put XMMS to the slit (iconize it) and if I want the XMMS slit to start everytime I'm startin Fluxbox, I need to edit ~/.xinitrc. Here's my ~/.xinitrc (shamelessly taken from Fluxbox website:

############## ~/.xinitrc start #############
# Startin Fluxbox
fluxbox & wmpid=$!

# Dockapps fer Fluxbox slit
wmxmms &

# HANG POINT - Wait for windowmanager to exit
wait $wmpid
############## ~/.xinitrc stop #############

Ahh The Gimp is finally installed. And it's workin like a charm. Such a nice work. Now to see if my docked XMMS is functionin.

I installed GTKSee, an ACDSee clone to view images. Nice.

Next installation - Mozilla Thunderbird. Later.

Scroller works, Gimp & image viewer.

The touchpad now works like it should and the usb mouse scroller is workin too. If you would like to see how it's done then go ahead to my homepage and look at Run FreeBSD, Run link under the FreeBSD & Me section. My xorg.conf is located under /etc/X11/xorg.conf. I'm thinkin bout uploadin my current *.conf files of this 5.3-R.

Next, I'm thinkin of puttin Gimp. It's a graphic editor just like Adobe Photoshop. In the Open Source world, this program is the best. It also have plugin support and this program is really a professional tool without burnin a nickel.

I'm searchin fer a good image viewer program fer my FreeBSD. Somethin that works just like Brennig's Image Viewer (used to be SlowView before, a freeware then went to Brennig's which is also a freeware and now Image Commander which is commercial.). Current candidates:

GImage View

Gaim installed, preparin fer make world & mouse scroller.

Yup, now I've installed GAIM, the multiprotocol messenger fer *nix/linux. It's currently workin like a charm. Because I've installed Firefox web browser, the dependencies required fer Gaim installation are minimum. Got no glitches whatsoever while make-ing the port so it's good.

I'll probably start my upgrade process to 5.4 this Saturday/Sunday. I don't quite sure yet. But my FreeBSD will definitely be upgraded soon.

I'm currently findin the file needed fer Xorg so that I can use the scroller of my usb mouse. Somehow Xorg is different from XFree86. Later.

TaoSecurity: Keeping FreeBSD Up-To-Date

At last! A beneficial read that shed a beautiful light on how to keep my FreeBSD up-to-date without requirin me to be an uber or a rocket scientist. TaoSecurity: Keeping FreeBSD Up-To-Date is a great read indeed. It has many tips on how to keep your FreeBSD uptodate usin CVSup and plus many others!

TaoSecurity: Keeping FreeBSD Applications Up-To-Date is about keepin the applications in FreeBSD up-to-date. Ho boy what more can you ask? Rest assured that my FreeBSD will be 5.4-STABLE soon! Later.

MPlayer vs Software Patent

The MPlayer main website's front page has changed. Click this link => Free Software Multimedia Threatened by Software Patents. Yeah I mentioned somewhere in my website bout the software patent before (probably in my [Links & Disclaimer] section) and the final vote fer it is near. Wow. If the EU voted fer software patent, then we're much to be afraid of. Start makin your own fonts, your own OS (code it from scratch definitely) oh but write the codes with your own programmin language using your own compiler. Damn.

So I was lookin fer a program to play movies / VCD / Divx / mpg etc etc. I still go fer MPlayer.

XMMS runnin, How to add program in Fluxbox menu & Firefox outdated.

XMMS is workin like a charm. I can listen to my mp3s contained in /backup partition (the Fat32 e:\ drive in Windows).

I also found out on how to create your own menu fer Fluxbox in case your newly installed program is nowhere to be found in the menu list. Edit the ~/.fluxbox/menu file (~/ means that it's your home directory.) then look at it. It's basically simple. Fer example, I add XMMS in it.

[exec] (XMMS) {xmms}

then wallah! the menu is there when I do the left click. On the fly. man fluxbox fer more information. My Fluxbox background is still dull and I know I have to write some file somewhere to make it.

Firefox is runnin fine but I can't get any extension because mine is still 0.9.3 and the main firefox site don't allow me to get in the extension page. Gotta upgrade it somehow. Later on this.

I thought I missed somethin before and now I knew it. I fergot to configure my mouse scroller fer X. I better read my old blog to find it LOL!.

Firefox + XMMS installed, IPFilter rules changed & Fluxbox menu.

After a few tries, I gave up on installin Mozilla Firefox via ports. I used sysinstall to install it. There's quite a few of dependencies issue like unzip551 which printed "File Not Found, No Access" error when I type make. Usin sysinstall on the other hand got no problem whatsoever. Now I'm install XMMS, the multimedia player fer X which resemble WinAmp.

The IPFilter blockin ftp issue has been solved. I edit the /etc/ipf.rules file and edit/add:

pass out quick on tun0 proto tcp/udp from any to any port = 20 flags S keep state

fer outbound connection and edit/add:

pass in quick on tun0 proto tcp/udp from any to any port = 21 flags S keep state

fer inbound connection. Like before, my IPFilter ruleset might not be the safest/the best so it's best fer you to google fer the better ruleset. When I'm done editin the /etc/ipf.rules file, I issued:

vampire# ipf -F a

to flush the cached rules and reload the edited rules.

The XMMS is installed now. I use ports and it's AOK. I'm gonna try runnin it in X to see if it's really ok. Got no menu fer Firefox in my FluxBox though so I better check out fer it. Next stop: Gaim multiprotocol messenger fer X. Later then.

IPFilter blockin port install.

I found out somethin annoyin today. I'm tryin to install Mozilla Firefox when I noticed that I got No Route To Host error printed on the screen when my port are tryin to fetch the file(s) needed usin ftp. Got no problem whatsoever if the file is on http tho. So I'm gonna have to revise my IPFilter rules again and google fer some answers/tips/hints.

Like I've stated above, I'm tryin to install Mozilla Firefox (WWW Browser) and Thunderbird (Email suite). The Xorg is runnin nicely and my FluxBox don't have any problem yet. The resolution is 1024x768 in 24 bit colors so it's pretty although it's still plain. Wait till I got it themed. Later then. Got to solve this IPFilter problem.

Fluxbox runnin successfully!

Yeah I got fluxbox runnin now. Very minimalistic window manager. I was starin at it without blinkin fer a while because all I saw was a chrome blank screen and a bar below. I've also installed the sid pack (themes pack fer Fluxbox) and I'll test it later. Here's how installed FluxBox.

su to root. Go to /usr/ports directory. Search fer fluxbox.

vampire# cd /usr/ports
vampire# make search name=fluxbox

The search result will be printed on the screen so go fer fluxbox-0.1.14_2 port which is located in /usr/ports/x11-wm/fluxbox.

vampire# cd /usr/ports/x11-wm/fluxbox

Then it's the time to install it.

vampire# make
vampire# make install

If there's no error printed on the screen, congratulation! You now have FluxBox somewhere in your system. But wait, startx will not load your Fluxbox yet. Create/edit .xinitrc file located in your home directory.

vampire# cd ~/
vampire# edit .xinitrc

And write ' fluxbox ' in the .xinitrc file. Save and close it. Now you're good to go.
Enjoy your Fluxbox! Later.

Xorg + Fluxbox 0.1.14_2 installed.

I've installed Xorg from my 5.3-R CD and FluxBox got in usin port. It've been a long time since I brushed my finger with this FreeBSD so I've forgotten many tips. I better check out FluxBox site to get some important informations.

This is my 1st time configurin Xorg without any complication with the xorg.conf file. startx went smoothly without fatal error. This is nice. Later then.

Updatin to 5.4-R & Fluxbox window manager

BSDnews � Issue #3 � Painless FreeBSD System Updating is what I'm currently readin right now. Yeah I said that I want to update my 5.3-R to 5.4-R so this is why I'm readin it. CVSup is the way fer me and by the info written by the above mentioned site, it's pretty easy. So I'm off to update my FreeBSD box now.

After a major consideration, I've chosen FluxBox window manager fer my 5.4-R. A minimalistic approach to a *nix window manager, I think it's better suitin my need. I'll post the info on my project on buildin and runnin Fluxbox on my FreeBSD. Later.

FreeBSD 5.4 is out! & X Window Managers

Yup. The new stable release of FreeBSD is out. Version 5.4-REL. Mine is still 5.3-REL so I'm a version lagged. Still haven't done anythin with Sendmail etc because I was pretty busy with my real life things. Anyway I might be doin some CVSup to get my FreeBSD uptodate. Here's the 5.4 Release Note or you can visit FreeBSD main site fer more information.

The Sendmail task is still on but I dunno when I'll start it. I'm plannin to update my FreeBSD to 5.4 1st before anythin else. A simple desktop manager will follow. If you are doin a (free) shoppin fer X Window Manager, do visit XWinMan.org and browse the extensive list of window manager fer you X need.