Which OS to use?

I have FreeBSD and SUSE 10.2 on disk. I was going to go with FreeBSD since a friend of mine has it installed and said he hasn't had a problem with it. The install went fine, but the problem is I don't know how to do anyting in it. I am not familiar with command prompt only screens. When it boots up, it comes to login screen, I login, the cursor drops and waits for me to enter in my command. The screenshots I've seen had regular windows type desktops. What did I do or not do wrong?

Currently I installed SUSE 10.2 since I have used it before (not for this application though), but I am pretty sure it is more resource demanding then FreeBSD and it isn't a great computer.

Specs:
P4 2Ghz 400FSB
768 DDR Memory
40GB IDE hard drive
1- CD-Rom Drive

I plan to run a counter strike server from this and would like to get the most out of it. Any info and advice is appreciated.

Thank you,
Outlaw


P.S- Does anyone know any good websites for linux software?

In the prompt, type "startx". If you have X11 installed, you'll come to a desktop. If not, you'll get an error, in which case you'll need to install a desktop.

For software, SourceForge.net.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by .Maleficus.

In the prompt, type "startx". If you have X11 installed, you'll come to a desktop. If not, you'll get an error, in which case you'll need to install a desktop.

For software, SourceForge.net.

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When it comes to Linux I am a noob. What is X11? I am using FreeBSD v6.2 which I downloaded from here if that helps. How hard is it to install a desktop? or should I just stick with SUSE or is there a better system?? Oh and I have Ubuntu also. I don't know which would be the best for my situation.

Thanks for the link and fast response! +rep

does anything happen when u hit startx?

Sorry I shoulda said I am not at home right now. I will try tonight when I get home and update. I was just looking for more info since it was somewhat slow here right now.

I didn't try the d'load link to verify this, but it looks like that frebsd distro has the x11 bits you need, provided they were selected during the install phase. Depending on the choices you make, some distro's will not install any x-windows stuff if you select "server only" during install.

Like calumc and Mal said, try "startx" it should start a minimal X-server which will start a desktop manager. If not then it did not get installed. Once you use the gui tools to set everything up for your counter strike server I would not run any windowing services on that system or it could effect the performance. You can try with and without to see for sure. hint: init levels...

cool, thx, I will give it a try and see what happens.

Thanks guys.

When you're done trying that out and getting it to work, could you post a little something about it? I've got FreeBSD on a disk in my drawer somewhere but I don't have a computer to install on, and if you like it I'll try it on VMware.

Also, if you get a message like "startx: command not found" then Xorg isn't installed. Here's how you install it with FreeBSD.


Edit: I didn't even see this was going to be for a CS server. If that's the case, then it's good you aren't using SuSE. It's just as resource hungry as any new OS right now. If you're up to it, you could install the server software from the command line without a GUI, or do what AB said and turn off the desktop once you're done.

well i dont have any experience with either way. I am trying to get online the sametime on of my friends is on (We are in dif states). So if someone was willing to walk me through it, "dee dee dee" style, i would go through it which ever way they told me to. I don't know if it's right, but I also downloaded prior to this what I think is the HLDS files. Not sure if that matters but thought I would mention it.

Thanks again guys.


not to go to off subject, Maleficus, when you say dairy state, do you mean Cali. or Wis.?

If you need some help, I'll be on AIM sometime soon (if you have AIM).

Native Cali, but moved to Wisconsin :dead: Besides having my sisters, I'd say that was the worst idea my parents have ever had.


JK :D. Sort of.

lol. I don't have any sisters, but I live in craptastic WI also. Yes I do have aim, just reinstalled it actually. I'll look for you if my friend plays hudini again. lol will probably need help though anyways.

**UPDATE**
1. I can barely keep my eyes open. Been going since 6am 8/13...no damn good i tell you.
2. I installed FreeBSD and tried startx, thought it was going to work said this failed and that failed. I was using a USB mouse and a graphics card. Said Pointer failed and seen something about driver for Radeon. Took both out and used integrated video with a PS2 mouse.
3. I was able to reinstall FreeBSD, I think I had to install one of the desktop environments like KDE or Gnome. I picked Gnome, and it let me into a desktop mode which I still don't know what I'm doing.

I sent a message to my friend to let him know it's installed and awaiting more info. I was going to wait to update but knew the sooner I update the sooner I get more info from you helpful people. :) Thanks again and hope this is somewhat useful. Hope there are no mistakes or few. TTYL and goodnight

If you want to use the USB mouse and Radeon card, all you need to do is edit the X.org config and enable the right drivers for it. It may seem like a big task but it's really not too bad.

Gnome is good. KDE is yucky. You'll eventually find where all the little things are in Gnome, and all the little tweaks you can do to customize. For now, just learn where things are located in the menu bars.

I can reinstall again and pick gnome now that I know what to select. When KDE opens it is just 3 black command prompt styly boxes and a clock thing in the upper right corner. Is that all it's suppose to be? And I plan on running the server without the desktop open, just thought this would've been easier.

Thanks.

Good job Outlaw! You are 20% on your way to being a sysadmin...

Hehe what Mal said about the X.org file, and I will see if I can take some screen shots to show you what to edit. Not sure about the KDE desktop. Been a while since I fired that one up, but I do know it is really a system hog.

Not having the dekstop running is not the same as NOT having the X-server running, since the X-server is eating up resources even if you do not log in to the desktop. Once you get everything setup to your liking and want to turn off the X-server, it is as simple as changing a 3 to a 2 in the /etc/inittab file. Again, once you get everything running and IF the system is slow, then I would change it to no graphics. You may just have enough power to run CS server and the X-server.

Well... between you guys and my friend helping me, I probably wont need the desktop. I don't have to install it. Like I said I just thought it would be easier, BUT I also didn't know when it's not running it's still running (get that? lol). So I will reinstall and just have it without the desktop. Since I don't know how to use either I don't have any bad habits yet like being 100% dependant on a desktop. Also I have run a Counter Strike (1.6 and CSS) Server before, just using Windows and and the steam tool for Dedicated Server. But with this going to be a private server that is going to be used for scrims and what not I'd like to get the most out of the hardware even though my internet connection is the biggest problem.

Thanks again.

PS- Only 20% eh? How do I get 100%? lol

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Outlaw

PS- Only 20% eh? How do I get 100%? lol

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Have a photographic memory.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Outlaw

Well... between you guys and my friend helping me, I probably wont need the desktop. I don't have to install it. Like I said I just thought it would be easier, BUT I also didn't know when it's not running it's still running (get that? lol). So I will reinstall and just have it without the desktop. Since I don't know how to use either I don't have any bad habits yet like being 100% dependant on a desktop. Also I have run a Counter Strike (1.6 and CSS) Server before, just using Windows and and the steam tool for Dedicated Server. But with this going to be a private server that is going to be used for scrims and what not I'd like to get the most out of the hardware even though my internet connection is the biggest problem.

Thanks again.

PS- Only 20% eh? How do I get 100%? lol

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What you may think about doing is installing X11, setting up the server with a GUI, and just not use it when you're done (like what AB was talking about using runlevel 2 or 3). Unless you feel up to command based everything right away (not a bad way to do it actually). If you choose the text-based route, you'll need to install a text-based internet browser like links or lynx. That way, you can type say "links http://www.google.com" and have a text version of Google come up. Then, you can browse to the download site of the server software and be on your way. If there is an option to install something like that right away (there should be) do it. Then, it will likely just be a matter of "tar xvjpf serverstuff.tar.bz2" and then "/.configure". Pretty easy stuff when it comes right down to it. People make the CLI so scary... It's really pretty easy, and waaaay more efficient than using a mouse and GUI to find/do everything.

I have no problem learning to do everything without a desktop. Just need lots of help. But right now, i can't see it on my network, so I am back at nowhere. The only thing I can remember that I changed from last time was selecting minimal install as possible. Would that make a difference?

Last few times in setup, it auto filled the host name which is my ISP, DNS, and gateway. When I ran the install this time, I had to manually type it in. Any ideas why?

What I did to troubleshoot:
Changed cables on different ports of the router
Reinstalled FreeBSD(maybe did something wrong)