FAQ
Changing the Time Zone
Use the following program:
tzsetup
You may also do this from sysinstall
Creating an .xinitrc file
One method to open a window manager or desktop environment in X.org is to create an .xinitrc file.
You can either use your favorite text editor or the following quick method:
echo "exec wmaker" > ~/.xinitrc
KDE
echo "exec startkde" > ~/.xinitrc
Gnome?
echo "exec gnome-session" > ~/.xinitrc
Etoile?
echo "exec etoile_system" > ~/.xinitrc
Getting kdm to work with KDE and MidnightBSD
Replace the ttyv8 line in /etc/ttys with:
ttyv8 "/usr/local/bin/kdm -nodaemon" xterm on secure
kdm appears for a moment and then disappears, what is wrong?
kdm expects the computer to have a hostname. Sometimes, dhcp sets this up for you but often you need to do it yourself.
edit /etc/rc.conf Add a line hostname="mymachine". Mymachine can be anything that doesn't clash with an existing host on your network.
How do I setup password-less logins in KDE?
(from KDE on FreeBSD FAQ)
I checked the checkbox in the Login Manager Control, but KDM won't log me in? Passwordless logins are handled by a different PAM service definition, "kde-np". You can quickly create this definition by copying /etc/pam.d/kde to /etc/pam.d/kde-np and removing/commenting out the line
auth required pam_unix.so no_warn try_first_pass
No tab completion, history, nice prompt, etc?
This needs MidnightBSD 0.2-CURRENT as of 18th August, 2007.
$ exec /bin/mksh -l $ chsh -s /bin/mksh
If you do not have a ~/.mkshrc file (you should, as of later 0.2-CURRENT, unless you're root), copy it from the source:
$ cp /usr/src/contrib/mksh/dot.mkshrc ~/.mkshrc
More info: mksh Homepage
Where is the forum?
Go here.
What ports systems does MidnightBSD use?
MidnightBSD includes it's own mports, and also supports MirPorts.
What is the latest version of MidnightBSD?
0.2.1-RELEASE is the most recent version released. 0.3 is under development.
What platforms does MidnightBSD support?
0.1.1 supports i386 and amd64 architectures. It is also possible to use sparc64 with a snapshot and update to 0.1.1-RELEASE or 0.2. We have not built an official release for sparc64 yet.
How far is MidnightBSD into the goals of a desktop os?
The project is still rather young. Advanced users could use MidnightBSD as a desktop now, but it is not ready for "regular" users just yet.