[IHUG] Installed Hurd; what now? (and some questions)

[Mahesh Aravind]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to this list.  So old-timers bear with my stupidities...

Yesterday, I installed the GNU/Hurd (Debian GNU/Hurd).  The CD had been
with me for a couple of months (courtesy the nice guy <mbpillai (at)
asianetindia.com> of iLUG-Cochin), but various inhibitions, final-year
exams, projects, "other" personal problems privented me from trying it
out.

Well, to tell you the truth, it wasn't at all as exciting as I imagined
(shoulda tried compiling from src)!  The installation didn't even last
an hour (heck, I was expecting a week).  I don't know how you guys finds
its version, but this is what my `uname -a' says:

------------------------------------------------------------------------
GNU dulcinea 0.3 GNU-Mach 1.3/Hurd-0.3 i686-AT386 GNU
------------------------------------------------------------------------

I just went around my system, and thought about asking some ``doubts''
before proceeding to install more (X, emacs, etc...).

[If you find this too newbie-ish, pls direct me to a FAQ(s) section on
web.  And I lack 'net at home (goes to a café once in two weeks), so
can't get on IRC (sue me).]

==================================
Questions (in no particular order)
==================================

  1. Why is there no /proc dir?  Is there anything of similar
     funcionality?

  2. How do one change the console font (can't read all those UTF-8
     encoded text how-tos).  Is there something similar to
     `consolechars' in GNU/Linux?

  3. What exactly is the replacement for `sudo'?  I saw a couple of
     things like `addauth', `rmauth', `unsu', and `su', but they don't
     have their man pages.

  4. Is it wrong to use `mount'?  I had to use `settrans -gf' to unmount
     the CD-ROM (this one *really* had me).  Should we employ a transaltor (I
     think I'd have to get used to this) instead of plain ``mounting''?

  5. How do one catch the boot messages?  Like when you feel like
     writing an article on installing the Hurd and wanting screenshots?
     As a side-note, has anyone tried booting the Hurd thru an emulator
     (I'm thinking `qemu')?

  6. Where can one find a comprehensive (user-tweakable, *not*
     hacker-tweakable) list of command-line options for the Hurd/GNU
     Mach?  And what does each one (like `--device-master-port') mean?

  7. I had created a 2G logical partition with 1024 block sized ext2fs.
     The installation program re-formatted it with a 4096 blocks.  Is it
     necessary for the Hurd (or Mach) to have bigger block-sized
     partitions?  (Hey, this ain't my ``production'' system!)

  8. I selected the default locale as ``en_IN.UTF-8'' in the
     installation screen.  It isn't in effect.  How exactly do one set
     the locate (by hand)?

  9. Why doesn't the /dev files have major/minor version numbers?  All
     are zeros.

  10. Where can I find the rationale behind not using the /usr hierarchy
      (I like it though, keeps the tree short).  Should removable media
      be mounted on /cdrom or /media/cdrom?  Is there something like the
      ``GNU Filesystem Hierarchy Standard'' for the Hurd?

  11. After ^D form the shell, the ``Vulcan-Nerve-Pinch'' beeps back at
      me.  How exactly do one shutdown the system (I login as root, and
      issue a reboot).

That's it, seems like more will follow with my this weeks proding and
poking the system.

NOTE for the gurus: I didn't _do my homework_ before installing the
Hurd.  Don't spank me for it.

Do you guys have a meeting place (we at iLUG-Cochin meets once in a
month)?

Répondez s'il vous plaît...

Regards,

Mahesh "another-GNUbie" Aravind
--

PS: Why exactly should we call it ``GNU/Hurd''.  The Hurd is developed
for the GNU Project, by the GNU Project.  So why not ``*The* GNU
Operating System''?


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com