Quite an amount of reading to do!

Newbie here.
Small introduction of myself:
I'm a person who grew up with Commodore 64, Atari, Windows 3.1, spent all his teenage years fleshing out Windows 95, 98, XP, and later 7, and who considers himself a bit of a techie; learned to use Linux in the past 10 years, learned a bit of HTML coding, and java.
Never heard anything of FreeBSD until last month.
I seriously thought I knew something of computers, but after seeing FreeBSD, I feel like I know nothing at all!

The user manual on FreeBSD is so extensive!
Really, like most, I just wanted to hop on the FreeBSD train, and install a GUI.

I'm now in the 4th chapter of the manual.
It's been nearly 4 hours.
I guess I don't have to follow the manual completely? (as some of the commands seem a bit redundant, and some of the reading is quite heavy, and unnecessary for me. (explanation of files, flags, libraries, ports,....).

Perhaps it would have been nice to have a smaller manual, to jump start people who already have some experience with Linux.

I'm running command "portmaster -a", as in the manual.
My old laptop is only a core 2 duo 1,6 Ghz, and the command has been running for nearly 1 full hour now.
I have no idea what it's doing. Really. Even after reading the manual.
It appears to me the machine is re-downloading the entire file library of what it already has on the USB drive.

Is every FreeBSD operating system so time consuming to install?
What is the average time a system installs with GUI (with the programs like you would run on a laptop, like browser, some office programs, etc...)?

Not complaining, it's totally new to me;
Just trying to see if I'm doing something wrong here.

If not, I can understand why few people would switch operating systems. Once the *6 hours* (or whatever it takes) install is done, there's no way anyone wants to go through that anymore! XD
 
The Handbook is more a reference manual than a tutorial and not meant to be read front to back.
Really, like most, I just wanted to hop on the FreeBSD train, and install a GUI.
Not like most. Like some.
I'm running command "portmaster -a", as in the manual.
That is going to download and compile from scratch from source every port you have on your system. As a beginner, you likely want to use packages, which are pre-built binaries made from ports. See that chapter in the Handbook.
Is every FreeBSD operating system so time consuming to install?
No. I can install a complete system within half an hour.
 
Welcome! I'm a complete newbie as well. I started reading the handbook but quickly switched to the new edition of Absolute FreeBSD, 3rd edition and I'm now reading other works from Michael W. Lucas though I want to start playing around with jails and network services (BIND, Apache, nginx...) so I'll revert back to the handbook and man pages soonish.
 
Well, the whole process took 5 hours, and I'm still no closer to having a gui XD

But at least I have a mouse working!

I went through the handbook, because one forum post saying I should start there, and that one can't just install a gui, but has to follow the procedures...

I am learning a lot, but would have preferred it, if anyone could help me get a gui with workable browser. Internet is from LAN, and works (ports updated fine).

There are many similarities to Linux, and I'm eager to learn using freebsd.
I think a gui will be a good stepping stone towards terminal commands (if it's called a terminal in freebsd).
At least, that's how I learned Linux. I'm presuming that the procedure is somewhat similar to learning freebsd.
 
Hello!
Welcome to FreeBSD, I hope you will enjoy the ride. FreeBSD is a polished, stable, secure and highly flexible operating system for professionals.

When I read you, I am however wondering if FreeBSD would be the best choice for you, what are your expectations? Clearly, FreeBSD is not a system that you can learn using a GUI and a mouse. It is totally common to use it as a graphical desktop workstation, but this setup is an output rather than a starting point.

Maybe Ubuntu would be a more suitable choice for you. What I would suggest you to do is to browse the Handbook, just scan the sections, and get into anyone that you may find interesting. Also before doing that read the various small presentation pages found on freebsd.org (for example the page describing the features etc...).

If after doing that, you see no absolute need to use FreeBSD, then, considering your technical background I would suggest sticking to Ubuntu.

That being said, if your only goal is to discover and entertain yourself, this is totally okay. However, be prepared for a lot of documentation reading and terminal using. For you cannot click-click-click your way through FreeBSD. It is a professional operating system designed to be used by professionals 1) having clear expectations, 2) knowing what to expect, 3) being willing to invest substantial time reading the various manuals and 4) being comfortable using the terminal (you do not need to be a terminal wizard at all, but you need to be comfortable with the fact that your main interface with the system will be the terminal).
 
I am learning a lot, but would have preferred it, if anyone could help me get a gui with workable browser. Internet is from LAN, and works (ports updated fine).

There are many similarities to Linux, and I'm eager to learn using freebsd.
I think a gui will be a good stepping stone towards terminal commands (if it's called a terminal in freebsd).

Will this help?

Beginners Guide - How To Set Up A FreeBSD Desktop From Scratch

It walks you step-by-step through the process of setting up x11-wm/fluxbox as a WM using ports and ports/mgmt/portmaster with a target audience of someone who has never used the terminal.
 
There are many similarities to Linux, and I'm eager to learn using freebsd.

The fact the command line is used in both Linux and FreeBSD helps you be comfortable using the command line, but that is where the similarity ends. FreeBSD is quite different than Linux so the habits you may have developed while running Linux may or may not work under FreeBSD. I am a Linux convert myself so I am trying to forget the "Linux habits" I learned over the past 20 years.

Just take your time, ask questions and read the handbook. If the handbook raises more questions, like the portmaster -a situation you encountered above, ask questions here and folks are more than willing to help.
 
If after doing that, you see no absolute need to use FreeBSD, then, considering your technical background I would suggest sticking to Ubuntu.

Why not recommend GhostBSD instead? I believe it installs with a GUI and everything but under the hood it is still FreeBSD so he's learning about BSD and not Linux.
 
Welcome! I'm a complete newbie as well. I started reading the handbook but quickly switched to the new edition of Absolute FreeBSD, 3rd edition and I'm now reading other works from Michael W. Lucas though I want to start playing around with jails and network services (BIND, Apache, nginx...) so I'll revert back to the handbook and man pages soonish.

I am so glad that I found your post. Real Books?!!! I just bought it and the ZFS book.
 
Many years ago I bought a FreeBSD "Power Pack". It came in a rather large colorful box. It contained 4 CDs with FreeBSD 4.0 (install CD, one 'distfiles' and two disks with packages). It also had a 6 CD set for -CURRENT (which was 5.0 at that time). And best of all, it had a beautiful hard-copy of the FreeBSD handbook.
 
Yeah i spotted that one already. It is quite cheap so i might consider it just for the fun of it. But I'm afraid the shipping costs wont make it a good deal.
 
I think a gui will be a good stepping stone towards terminal commands (if it's called a terminal in freebsd).

You have that the wrong way round. The GUI is not a stepping stone, it is more of a hindrance if you want to learn to use the command line. You don't need to start or even install the GUI. In FreeBSD you have the ability to start numerous virtual terminals using Alt-Fn. Personally I find I need to use a TUI :) and benefit greatly from having Midnight Commander installed ... (hint pkg install mc) .
 
Real books indead. I'll show you a picture of my library later. It's full of books and I still want MORE MORE MORE!! :D
Cool. I lost all mine when the house was flooded during Hurricane Harvey. Although the water rise stopped just short of reaching my old iMac, it did sit in a flooded, steaming hot environment for 9 days. So I got a new iMac and decided what the heck, why not convert the old one into a freeBSD machine, and hope that it will run for a while longer.
 
Many years ago I bought a FreeBSD "Power Pack". It came in a rather large colorful box. It contained 4 CDs with FreeBSD 4.0 (install CD, one 'distfiles' and two disks with packages). It also had a 6 CD set for -CURRENT (which was 5.0 at that time). And best of all, it had a beautiful hard-copy of the FreeBSD handbook.

I miss the days when books came with software, but then I sort of miss the pre-www using Unix shell stuff to access the internet. But then one did not have to know much about Unix to access it.
Right now, I am working through Kernighan and Pike book THE UNIX PROGRAMMING ENVIRONMENT, mostly for the sake of history, and that the freeBSD command line environment seems to "fit" with it.
 
You have that the wrong way round. The GUI is not a stepping stone, it is more of a hindrance if you want to learn to use the command line. You don't need to start or even install the GUI. In FreeBSD you have the ability to start numerous virtual terminals using Alt-Fn. Personally I find I need to use a TUI :) and benefit greatly from having Midnight Commander installed ... (hint pkg install mc) .
thanks,
Commanders are good additions to have!
I prefer GUI, because initially I don't need to remember the name of every command.
However, as I use them via a GUI, I become aware of their names, and could use them in a terminal after getting comfortable with their functions.
I also have to add that (not on this PC, but my FreeBSD pc), the 's' key isn't working very well at all, and only sporadically spews out an 's' on the screen.
For that reason, I prefer to start with GUI, and get myself acquainted with the operating system.
Midnight commander is surely helpful!

I just managed to install a GUI xterm and started 'startx'.
The gui is basically 3 terminal windows in one, with a clock, and smaller fonts (which are helpful to get more info on the screen).
In one I can run MC, in another read the manual, and in the last one do some commands.

I had hoped to see some sort of start menu, but the day is still young, and it's literally my second hour of using FreeBSD.
 
I've noticed a few glitches, following the manual.
I'm sure I must have made some mistakes somewhere.
When I try to change the fonts, by doing 5.5.2 in the manual (https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/x-fonts.html)
it won't update the fonts.
It also gives me an error when adding any line inside of /etc/X11/xorg.conf, and restarting 'startx'.

Following code was not copy pasted, but typed in manually from my laptop into this window, so some typos are possible:

Code:
failed to set mtrr: Invalid argument
xinit: connection to X server lost

waiting for X server to sut down XIO:    fatal IO error 4 (Interrupted system cal
l) on X server ":0"
        after 855 requests (855 known processed) with 1 events remaining.
xterm: fatal IO error 35 (Resource temporarily unavailable) or KillClient on X s
erver ":0"
xterm: fatal IO error 35 (Resource temporarily unavailable) or KillClient on X s
erver ":0"
failed to unset mtrr: No such file or directory
(II) Server terminated successfully (0). Closing log file.
xauth:    file /home/bohe/.Xauthority does not exist
xauth: (argv):1:  bad display name "/unix:0" in "remove" command
xauth: (argv):1:  bad display name ":0" in "remove" command




I also noticed that I installed mc via root, and now as a user, I can't start 'mc' without using the 'su' command.
how do I solve this?
 
I also noticed that I installed mc via root, and now as a user, I can't start 'mc' without using the 'su' command.
You always install as root (whether you're currently logged in as root or not). That's not the problem.
"can't start" doesn't tell much. Any particular error on the console from which you're trying to run it?
 
Check the ownership of the files in ~/.config/mc (and the directory itself). If you ran su mc or sudo mc it's likely there are now root owned files in your user's configuration directory.
 
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