# FreeBSD Instructional Videos



## srobert (Apr 23, 2013)

A large number of instructional videos covering FreeBSD installation,configuration, etc., have been posted on YouTube by ComputerHelpDesks. I've watched several of them. They're very informative and cover a broad range of topics based on FreeBSD 8.x

http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHelpDesks/videos?query=freebsd


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## jackp (Apr 23, 2013)

Awesome! These look really good, and having detailed videos like these are great for helping people make the jump to FreeBSD.


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## CoTones (Apr 23, 2013)

So, are you watching it on Mac, Windows or Linux? *Be*cause on PC-BSD with Flash 11.2 r202 I'm getting


```
Get the latest Flash Player
```


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## srobert (Apr 23, 2013)

CoTones said:
			
		

> So, are you watching it on Mac, Windows or Linux? *Be*cause on PC-BSD with Flash 11.2 r202 I'm getting
> 
> 
> ```
> ...



I was watching them with FreeBSD 9.1 on Firefox 20. I'm not at my machine so I don't have the Flash version. I was having a similar problem a few weeks ago.

Check out this thread:
http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=38627

I think it was the setting the dom.ipc.plugins.enabled to false in Firefox that solved the problem. I didn't have any problem using Opera if that helps.


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## CoTones (Apr 23, 2013)

Thank you - that helped!


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## wblock@ (Apr 23, 2013)

One of these videos helpfully changes the root shell to bash.  Don't do that.  Question the skill level of someone who advises it.  There seemed to be some odd terminology usage, too, but I don't have the patience to watch someone type notes for very long.


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## kpa (Apr 23, 2013)

Effort appreciated but I still have to ask if videos are the best instructional material to learn about something like  FreeBSD. When reading a web page you can always go back to previous page/chapter very quickly. When watching a video you're required to keep up a much higher level of concentration to get the crucial points. That's how I feel at least.


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## srobert (Apr 23, 2013)

*Good for Americans.*



			
				kpa said:
			
		

> Effort appreciated but I still have to ask if videos are the best instructional material to learn about something like  FreeBSD.


They're good for Americans. We're mostly illiterate. :e


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## johnblue (Apr 23, 2013)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> Question the skill level of someone who advises it.


People will do/say anything for money. 

According to the URL in the intro video, http://www.unixcbt.com ends up pointing to http://www.linuxcbt.com/products_unixcbt_bsd8x_edition.php

They also have 9.x tutorials for sale so I would guess that it will not be long before a DMCA takedown is issued for these 8.x videos.


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## johnblue (Apr 23, 2013)

From the linuxcbt.com website:





> LinuxCBT Cloud Edition	15000-User	12-Months	$5999995.00	Purchase


 If you're going to charge $6M dollars, does it really matter that the price was lowered by $5.00?! :e


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## wblock@ (Apr 23, 2013)

You don't accumulate six million dollars without saving five bucks here and there.


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## srobert (Apr 23, 2013)

wblock@ said:
			
		

> One of these videos helpfully changes the root shell to bash.  Don't do that.


Like many who've come to FreeBSD from Linux, I've already done that. The only reason I could see not to is that /usr/local/bin/bash might not be available if its disk/partition wasn't mounted. But that's never been a problem in the case of my limited laptop usage where /usr/local/bin is on the / partition. Are there other problems that might be caused by having bash as the root shell?


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## srobert (Apr 23, 2013)

johnblue said:
			
		

> People will do/say anything for money.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



When I suggested these, it hadn't occurred to me that they might not have been posted legally. If (and I'm not certain it's the case) they aren't posted legally, and you have watched them, please forget anything you might have learned from them.


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## Crivens (Apr 24, 2013)

srobert said:
			
		

> When I suggested these, it hadn't occurred to me that they might not have been posted legally. If (and I'm not certain it's the case) they aren't posted legally, and you have watched them, please forget anything you might have learned from them.



That's not how the logic of media companies work, and those making 6M in one pop even less so. Sorry, pal, you need to hand over that carbon based highly parallel data storage unit holding the copies to them.


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## wblock@ (Apr 24, 2013)

srobert said:
			
		

> Like many who've come to FreeBSD from Linux, I've already done that. The only reason I could see not to is that /usr/local/bin/bash might not be available if its disk/partition wasn't mounted. But that's never been a problem in the case of my limited laptop usage where /usr/local/bin is on the / partition. Are there other problems that might be caused by having bash as the root shell?



It's not so much about bash as about not changing the root shell from the default.  Search here for problems, they come up regularly.  Some people do change root's shell and use it without problems, sometimes copying the new shell to a different filesystem or building it statically.  But these are generally not the people who would be watching this level of instructional video.


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## srobert (Apr 24, 2013)

In light of this discussion, and suggestions in other threads, I've assigned the toor user the /usr/local/bin/bash shell and changed the root shell back to /bin/sh. Note however, that when I log into single user mode, I'm prompted to 
	
	



```
Enter full pathname of shell or RETURN for /bin/sh:
```
 so perhaps this isn't the big deal it once was.


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## ta0kira (Apr 27, 2013)

srobert said:
			
		

> Like many who've come to FreeBSD from Linux, I've already done that. The only reason I could see not to is that /usr/local/bin/bash might not be available if its disk/partition wasn't mounted. But that's never been a problem in the case of my limited laptop usage where /usr/local/bin is on the / partition. Are there other problems that might be caused by having bash as the root shell?


For one, you have to install bash, and if you have to install it then you can _uninstall_ it (accidentally or otherwise,) or you can screw up the port and leave yourself unable to log in as root. Secondly, bash isn't maintained as a part of the base system, so the standards for maintenance and security might differ from that of csh and sh. This also means that at some point the port could break, and performing an update/upgrade could leave you unable to log in as root.

Kevin Barry


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