Newbie Guide (DRAFT)

[Brian <bwaichu@yahoo.com>]

Given the recent postings on this list about openBSD
folks being difficult compared to linux. This guide is
by no means perfect or all inclusive.  I am not a
developer.  But I try to help when I can.

Here it is:


Newbie Guide to openBSD (DRAFT)
-------------------------------

This is my attempt to summarize some helpful tips that
I have learned to make openBSD more open me. I still
consider myself a Newbie as there is so much to learn.

This is not a HOW-TO!  This is a beginners roadmap as
to where to find information that I expect you to
read.  

Here are some basics in a nutshell with more details
below:

1) trust and read the man pages
2) post your dmesg when you have a problem
3) read the FAQ
4) not all of your questions will be answered on the  
   openBSD lists; openBSD folks expect you to do your 
   homework.


Common Newbie Problem
---------------------

My biggest openBSD frustration is finding
documentation that answers my questions.  I will start
out with a simple:

apropos <whatever I'm trying to figure out>

Read: man apropos

If I do not find anything, I will check the openBSD
FAQ.  If I still do not find anything, I will google
for information.  Finally, if I am unsure with the
information I have found or I have not found the
information I have been looking for, I will post to
misc@openbsd.org.

Taking the above approach, I have found results in far
better answers. Also, do not forget to include your
dmesg.  For information on your dmesg: 

Read: man dmesg

openBSD is not linux
--------------------

Before using openBSD, I used linux, and I thought the
transition from linux to BSD would be easy.  I was
wrong.

The book that encouraged me to make the transition
was:

"Absolute openBSD"

I highly suggest picking this book up if you are just
now starting to use openBSD.  This book will save you
a lot of time, and you can pick up alot of the
differences between linux and BSD just by reading it.

Where Is Everything?
--------------------

This is a question I still ask.  One man page that is
particularly helpful is:

Read: man hier

This man page provides a good overview of the tree
structure.

If you are looking for something, two useful utilities
are: find and locate.

I suggest reading both of their man pages.  Another
useful utility is grep.

In summary:

Read: man find
      man locate
      man grep


X Problems
----------

I ran into some simple X problems when I first
installed openBSD.  First, startx wouldn't start X. 
This had always worked when I used linux.  Well, 
BSD is not linux and everything is not configured for
you.

You need to add to your path:

/usr/X11R6/bin

To apply this change to all new users, edit your login
file as root found in:

/etc/skel

(more details to come)

Another commonly asked question is how do I turn off
TCP within X.

The man pages with all the details are:

Read: man Xserver
      man startx

You can add "-nolisten TCP" as a server arg in your
startx file.

(more details to come)

Shells
------

The temptation exists to use bash (from the ports
tree) as your shell if you aretransitioning between
linux and openBSD.  Nevertheless, it's not a waste of
time to try out ksh, which is not a whole lot
different then bash.  You can find out more
information about ksh at:

Read: man ksh

More details in the FAQ as to why you should attempt
using already installed shells. 

Some Common Port Problems
-------------------------

It's highly suggested to use packages instead of ports
when possible.


- sync problems -

This is another common problem that shows up on
misc@openbsd.org.

The basic problem is that some folks are mixing the
-current port tree with a -release or -stable openBSD
install.  The big problem here is that the -current
port tree might depend upon -current libraries, which
might not be available in your -release or -stable
tree. 

Thus, when you attempt to compile your port, the
compilation process will fail because the libraries
the port are looking for are not available.

This is why you will hear over and over again that you
must sync your openBSD install with your port install.



- cdrecord -

This is the utility I use to burn openBSD after I
download the iso from one  of the many ftp sites
listed on www.openbsd.org. However, this utility does
not exactly follow the man page when used with
openBSD.  Your device must be specified as:

dev=/dev/rcd0c

where r means raw device, 0 is replaced with the drive
number you wish to use,  c is the slice that describes
the whole disk. So if you want to do a scanbus, you
would write:

# cdrecord dev=/dev/rcd0c -scanbus

as root.

More to Come
------------

This little document just covers some of the basics
that should make the transition to openBSD a little
easier.  I will be adding and clarifying this
document as I dig deeper into openBSD and as I receive
input from folks on misc.  Here's a short list of some
other items I will be adding:

* links to related details in the FAQ (I don't like 
                                      being redundant)
* more where to find stuff 
* more clarity

The last point is very important.  If I am not being
clear here, then I do not know what I am talking about
well enough.  Please correct me.