Playing with FreeBSD 7.2: Want KDE 4

On a Dell Latitude D600, I partitioned the 60 GB (55.89 GB) drive into two (three) partitions. I installed Windows XP SP3 on a 27.5 GB partition and FreeBSD 7.2 on the remaining 28.25 GB partition (the remaining is the Dell Diagnostic/Utility partition). Windows XP was installed first and FreeBSD 7.2 next. I used the FreeBSD boot manager. I installed X + User in sysinstall, created a user (and password) and set the root password.

Since my previous experiences with FreeBSD was in college and I've used Linux distributions like Red Hat Linux, Fedora Core, SimplyMEPHIS (for A+ training), and gOS, I had some expectations, namely some sort of windows manager to greet me. (I'd also run Sun Solaris.) I got a CLI/TUI (command line interface or text user interface).

After logging in, startx would get me a graphical interface of sorts. Here is what I did to get KDE 4.2.2 to come up. I learned a little about vi (view) in the process, some Xorg stuff, mount, and pkg_add. I used vi /etc/rc.conf and added hald_enable="YES" and dbus_enable="YES". The vi program has two modes, command and text editor. First you move the cursor to where you want to edit. I used i to insert text and started typing. I pressed escape, typed write and pressed enter, then used ":q!" to exit. I had to restart.

The Xorg -configure autoconfigures a file called xorg.conf.new. Then I tried xinit /root/xorg.conf.new -retro to see that the mouse was working. In startx, I could also use the keyboard and mouse (clicked the term and typed exit). I needed the cd/dvd to install KDE, so I used mount_cd9660 /dev/acd0 /cdrom. Then I could use pkg_add /cdrom/packages/kde/kde4-4.2.2.tbz. Time to wait and watch. I learned that I could use ALT+F2 through ALT+F7 to access 7 virtual terminals. I was then able to use echo echo "exec /usr/local/kde4/bin/startkde" > ~/.xinitrc to make startx load into KDE.

Unfortunately two things still don't work: audio and networking. I have to figure out how to get the Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 BG and the SigmaTel C-Major (STAC 9750 AC97) Audio working.

I noticed that when I come home from work, I mostly browse the internet and listen to music. I don't tend to play games or use Windows-specific applications. Plus, I have a desktop with Vista (soon to be Windows 7) installed, so I can use that if needed. I'd like to learn Unix or Linux to round out my computer knowledge a little.