Unable to use flsh/q-time/mpeg/ports,etc

[Sean Welch]

Hello, Brian.

I also worked my way through a Physics major while
playing with FreeBSD as a hobby on the side.

Is this your first time dealing with a Unix-like system?
If not, what other systems have you worked with?  Have
you tried to administer any others?

I'm sorry you've had bad luck getting going to date -- it
takes patience and some understanding of the Unix-type
mindset.  I'd like to see if I could help you gain a better
understanding (and a working system in the process!)

Why don't you post the hardware you are working with
and what version of FreeBSD you are attempting to 
configure.  We can work from there to get you up to
speed.

As a start I thought I might detail my partitioning scheme
and the reason for it.

I'm using a smallish root partition of 100M.  This is just
big enough to hold three kernels and two modules directories
in 4.x versions of FreeBSD (I've actually got about 45M free).
In 5.x things are a bit tighter (I run 4.8, 4.9, and 5.x on this
disk with identical partition sizes) because there is more info
to store.  I have to keep it down to two kernels and two sets
of modules.  A third kernel will just barely fit (about 2 M free
then, I think) so I typically just delete it.

I've currently got 4G alotted to /usr -- that is where all your
programs go.  This is also where all user directories go (except
for root -- that one is in the root partition so try not to store
too much in that home directory!)  In order to make sure I
have the maximum size available for programs and compiling
(source code for the kernel and the system are both under
/usr/src) I have created another partition called /home to
store user acounts under.  This one is 5G because I store a
lot there.

/var is typically a separate partition because databases will
chew up space pretty quickly and you don't want it to use up
space in the root partition.  Mine is 300M, but I don't run much
in the way of databases at the moment.

/tmp is also separate because that is generally scratch area.
That is also 300M -- seems to be enough.

I've mounted the left over portion of the disk under /data and
that serves as my very large scratch area.  I typically compile
openoffice there as it takes at least 4G -- this area is about
14G.  As a general rule you can gain extra compile space by
actually moving the compile directory over to a larger partition
and leaving a symlink in the original area pointing to the new
location.

If I have repeated anything you already know, just ignore it.
;-)

Let me know what your questions are and we'll see what we
can do, okay?

                                                                              Sean
_________________________________________________
I apologize if I appeared to be condisending to anyone with my
frustrated manor, in my prior email.  I will be more basic, and
emotionless in future emails. 

I am not saying that I am one of those guys who clusters.  I am a
physics major, and use UNIX as a hobby/only source of computer
interface.  I am new to the FreeBSD side, and have had extensive
problems with turn-key answers such as "read-the-website" and
"there-are-tons-of-things-to-read" .

The problem is never finding something to read, or simply reading the
websites such as FreeBSD.org.  The problem comes when I have a current,
practical, problem that require  simply having the appropriate
applications, or pkg-add/port information.  

Such as ports, half of the ports that I try to install, other than the
hard-core server/hacker/"cluster" stuff, does not even finish the make
process. 

People always seem to say that things are so straight-forward, even
simple, on FreeBSD, but I ended up having to choose my own method of
partitioning, via trial and error full installations, in lou of having
three books, and the fbsdmall handbook, available, just to keep the
system from thinking that its filesystem was full, when it actuallly had
150 gigs left everywhere other than the /root 's partition.

Back to the simple answer of, "Well he just must not be very savy..."  I
have read enough to know that there is not a very good explanation of
how to get simple things to work/play on Freebsd.  I am unable to even
download and install the port for some things, it always gives me an
error 1, and refers to some error file, which is never mentioned in any
book that I have ever read(3+freebsdmall handbook).  The same with
/port/net/openldap-server-etc... However, when I downloaded it from the
site, and tar-ed it up, I have the full working software.  I am still
trying to find a way to install openoffice.  There are several entries
in the ports tree, however, the one that I need to work,  never finished
the "make" fetching process.  I assume that the make file is refering to
the wrong places, but I did not alter them, so why are they shipping
with incorrect information in more than just that port tree????  I guess
now one may at least understand the cause of my frustration. (I would
hope)

If you have a website that I can read and that will at least give me a
usable port tree to download and install a working version of
flash-enabled mozilla, then I will humbly bow down before your extensive
knowledge-base.  

Otherwise, I am still unable to find out how to install the plugins for
mozilla, or even figure out how to use linux software, since I have
installed the compatibility for base 7.1,etc...  I have just installed
netscape 7.1 via the linux-installer version, but when I tried to
install the flash-installer, it knew that it was not on linux, but
freebsd.  Why the difference if linux is supposed to run on freebsd?

Those loop-holes in the turn-key explanations on such websites as the
ones that you are probably talking about, are the ones that have been
giving me a problem, for the last month, in between Classical Mechanics
and Electromagnetism work/projects.