# Error in FreeBSD handbook



## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

In section 5.7.1. 'GNOME' of the handbook, the second method of starting GNOME states:



> A second method for starting GNOME is to type startx from the command-line after configuring ~/.xinitrc. If this file already exists, replace the line that starts the current window manager with one that starts /usr/local/bin/gnome-session. If this file does not exist, create it with this command:
> 
> % echo "exec /usr/local/bin/gnome-session" > ~/.xinitrc




There is a problem with that command. The percentage sign and the space after it should not be there. It should be this:

`% echo "exec /usr/local/bin/gnome-session" > ~/.xinitrc`


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

The % is part of the prompt. It indicates that it's a _user_ login. Compare:
User prompt:

```
dice@molly:~ %
```
Root prompt:

```
root@molly:~ #
```

Look:
`% echo "exec /usr/local/bin/gnome-session" > ~/.xinitrc`
`# service named restart`
See the difference?


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

Ah ok. It should be removed from the command then. People who don't know much about FreeBSD won't realise that's a mistake in the instruction.

Thanks


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

Just replying to your edit.

Yeah I see the difference. Thank you.

It should be removed from the command anyhow. It is not part of the command.


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

It's part of the documentation convention. Commands executed as a user will have a % prompt, commands executed as root have a # prompt.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

Who ever is editing my posts, please stop it.


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> Who ever is editing my posts, please stop it.


No.









						Formatting Guidelines
					

1. Please write as clearly as possible.  Use English punctuation and capitalization, and avoid abbreviating things.  This helps to improve the clarity of messages and make problems easier to solve.  2. Use BBCode formatting tags.  As with punctuation, these tags make messages easier to read...




					forums.freebsd.org


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

What ever document convention means I don't know, but the instruction literaly states to run that command; it is not part of the command, therefore it should be removed from the command.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

I'm guessing your one of those control freak administrators that drives people away from FreeBSD to Linux.

If you want me to format my posts better, tell me. Being a Nazi about it just makes me like you less.


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## mtu (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> What ever document convention means I don't know, […]


It means: that's the way people have agreed to do things for a long time, and you can either accept it, or continue to be angry.

In any case, it's not getting changed in the handbook.

By the way, the same convention is frequently used in Linux documentation. There, `$ true` is used more commonly than `% true`, but both mean: "run this command as user". `# true` means "run this command as root" in both worlds.


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> I'm guessing your one of those control freak administrators that drives people away from FreeBSD to Linux.


It was me that edited your posts. And no, I'm not going to stop doing that, it's part of my job here. We have a certain "style" we like to keep so the forums have a nice, clean, consistent, look and feel. If you make sure they're properly formatted I don't have to edit them.


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## drhowarddrfine (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion Go ahead and go to Linux. I can tell you'll fit right in.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

mtu 

What gives you the impression I am angry? I am not angry so don't worry.

If it's not getting changed in the handbook then don't complain when vendors don't release drivers for FreeBSD, because until the handbook is improved, FreeBSD's marketshare won't increase and vendors will have no concern about FreeBSD drivers.

Who cares what Linux does. You definitely don't want to be copying Linux when it comes to documentation


drhowarddrfine 

Why is that?


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## drhowarddrfine (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion Your attitude and disrespect for the forum and its moderators. This place isn't like Linux or reddit, which I'm sure you're used to. Most here are professionals or serious amateurs. Decorum is important.


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## drhowarddrfine (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion  To add, you are raising this issue in the wrong place. This is a user's forum, not for bug reporting. https://bugs.freebsd.org/bugzilla/


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

drhowarddrfine​
I'm guessing your the local white knight around here?

Thanks for your opinion.


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> If it's not getting changed in the handbook then don't complain when vendors don't release drivers for FreeBSD, because until the handbook is improved, FreeBSD's marketshare won't increase and vendors will have no concern about FreeBSD drivers.


The handbook has used that convention for the past 30 or so years. I'm sure we'll survive.


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## Alain De Vos (Jul 5, 2021)

On psychological level of Kolusion, i sense a feeling of a superiority complex. Mostly found in youthfull people or immature ones.
$ , %, # with or without, for me it's ok if it's clear.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

*drhowarddrfine*

That's very interesting, but this forum has a section for development which is where I created this post before it was moved.

Improving the product documentation sounds like development to me.


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## drhowarddrfine (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion Again you are wrong but I'm done with you.


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## Geezer (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> If you want me to format my posts better, tell me. Being a Nazi about it just makes me like you less.



No need to be offensive.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

Geezer
Er, I don't believe you are in this conversation?


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## SirDice (Jul 5, 2021)

Funny how posting to a public forum works. Anyone can join in.


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## Alain De Vos (Jul 5, 2021)

Interesting LFS does not use "#".




__





						2.5. Creating a File System on the Partition
					





					www.linuxfromscratch.org
				



But it's all a convention.
If all allready existing data uses a "#", it's best to use it everywhere for homogeneity of documentation.


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## bakul (Jul 5, 2021)

This convention has been in use for decades - may have started in Usenet or email even before that. Originally % was to indicate csh, $ to indicate /bin/sh and # to indicate a super user shell (or csh). At least that is how I remember it!


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## kpedersen (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> If it's not getting changed in the handbook then don't complain when vendors don't release drivers for FreeBSD, because until the handbook is improved, FreeBSD's marketshare won't increase and vendors will have no concern about FreeBSD drivers.


You give vendors far too much credit or don't quite realize how little they contribute to any non-Windows platform (macOS, AIX, Solaris, Linux, BSD, etc).

Besides, check out Microsoft's documentation here:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/interop



> C:\temp> wsl ls -la



You need to tell them that `C:\temp>` is not part of the command and that vendors won't support them unless they change their documentation.


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## ccammack (Jul 5, 2021)

*plonk*


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

I don't care about vendors, nor do I care about Microsoft's documentation.


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## kpedersen (Jul 5, 2021)

Kolusion said:


> Kolusion said:
> 
> 
> > I don't care about *vendors*, nor do I care about Microsoft's documentation.
> ...



A little bit strange.

I also find it a little bit puzzling that you, after reading through the entire handbook arrived at the conclusion that the consistent %, # convention used throughout was a "bug" that had simply gone unnoticed for 30+ years.

If UNIX is new to you, then I certainly don't blame you. Chill out and use this opportunity to learn about some of the new ways to do things. Yes, some things are plain bizarre but some things FreeBSD does so well that it is worth keeping an open mind.

Also, a rule is, when I come across something that I don't understand but everyone else seems to have been working fine with since before I was born, the error is probably mine rather than upstream.


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## mtu (Jul 5, 2021)

If there is one flaw in FreeBSD that this thread has uncovered, it's that we need higher-quality forum trolls!


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

kpedersen 

I haven't read through the entire handbook. This is one of your fairy tails.

FreeBSD is not UNIX, stop fantasizing. UNIX is dead and is now nothing more than a certification.


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## Deleted member 67029 (Jul 5, 2021)

In fact, installing gnome is the first instruction I performed that required entering commands. You are a fool.


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## Crivens (Jul 5, 2021)

Buddy, go cool your heels out there in the sunshine. Come back when you feel better.


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