[COMP] Re: e-smith, inc. - index

> It's just two completely different approaches I guess.  In
> Linux, even when running X I'll *always* have a terminal or
> three open, whereas in Windows I'm rarely in a DOS box.
> 
> so a terminal box is like a dos box? Is there such a thing as *safe mode*
> for linux?
> I mean having a dos box is still having windows running as opposed to
> booting into dos all by itself.
> linux doesnt run over top of another os like win9x does over dos7 correct?

Well, Linux *is* that "dos7" OS.  X runs on top of Linux (and just about every
other Unix) -- it's just a GUI windowing environment.

> so what is a terminal box? a command line with a shell?

A "terminal box" can be a lot of things (choices, remember).  You've got
xterm, rxvt, aterm, eterm, gnome-terminal, konsole, and on and on.  They all
offer different features.  The shell is the command enterpreter (dos eq:
command.com), like bash, tcsh, csh, ash, etc.  Again, choices- each shell
offers something different.  You can run any number of these within X, and it
gives you essentially the same experience as running without X at all.

> Is a shell just a way of viewing stuff like windows explorer?

In a non-graphical way, yes.  You run console commands, like ls, ps, editors
and so on, and they scroll up in your terminal window.  

> I seem to remember that the dos5 shell (and maybe norton commander) was the
> same dos but you could view the contents of a drive.
> am I off base here...just trying to get an overview before I install redhat
> or mandrake.
> What is a window maker?

Window Maker is a window manager.  See screenshots at www.windowmaker.org, or
maybe I'll make a few up of my desktop. :)  It's my favorite.  Choices: there
are dozens of window managers, each with their own specialty- use the one you
like best.

 > Sorry for my ignorance....gonna setup a router/switch or something like you
> guys described and dont want to be completely in the dark.

You probably don't want to be running X on a router.  It's got a big graphical
overhead (hence the complaint about NT not allowing you to get rid of the gui),
and can slow things down. The effect isn't  nearly as bad as NT's gui though.

John



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