CLI web browser

caustic386 · 2009-02-22 04:13:57

So I've made the switch to Arch, and I'm completely fascinated by it... After 5 years of shifting distros trying to find something I was satisfied with, here I am... I love the fact that, as a beginner, I have to do a decent amount of work but can still get results... Fantastic build...

Now that I'm here, I'm trying to get a better feel of what I can get away with in the CLI... I've walked through the Beginner's Guide step-by-step, installing KDE and then removing it for KDEmod (I didn't notice much difference except download size?), etc. etc...

In the end, what I was hoping to do was to be able to run all my software via CLI and Ctrl-Alt-Fn to switch - but everything I try to start up spits out a weird error... For instance, every web browser has a different complaint:

Firefox = Error: no display configured (or something like that)
Konqueror = Cannot connect to X server (X is installed, I assume, since KDE works)
Opera = Cannot connect to X Server / Fatal error creating QT object

I'm not totally opposed to running KDE , I was just hoping to stay out of there whenever possible... Probably some nostalgia for DOS days, who knows...

If I do need a window manager of some sort, I'd be interested in knowing which one has the widest variety of options for appearance... They all seem so light compared to XP/Vista that I'll happily use any of them if it looks great...

Also, is there a wiki page for installing packages inside window managers? That is, I can run pacman and get whatever I want, but it always gets a generic icon in KDE - just seems like they aren't talking, and I need to step in...

Thanks in advance, glad to have finally found the right distro to pull me all the way over and off windows...

dannytatom · 2009-02-22 04:18:04

You can't run a browser without first starting X (sounds like you're not). As far as your other questions, I'm kinda lost as to what you're asking. ;/

skottish · 2009-02-22 04:21:21

We have a list of text based browsers:

http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Com … Text_Based

caustic386 · 2009-02-22 04:30:00

Sorry - I guess I got lost in my own excitement...

Doesn't X automatically start at boot once it's been installed? Or do I have to add something to the DAEMONS= line?

What I'm trying to do, is run graphical utilities (firefox, opera, mplayer, whatever else) just from the command line... That is, I type in firefox, hit enter, and it works...

As for the 2nd part of my mumbo jumbo - if that's an unrealistic request, is there a certain window manager that caters more towards appearance? Performance hits are no big deal after running Windows for 15 years...

dannytatom · 2009-02-22 04:38:01

Nu uh, X doesn't start on boot. You can start X by typing startx after you login on boot. If all you want is a terminal you could add 'exec xterm' to ~/.xinitrc and that'll be as bare as you can get (i think).

evr · 2009-02-22 07:24:18

you're not going to be able to run web browsers and such without X running as mentioned earlier. you'll need some sort of window manager to run those programs. As for appearance, you could try out compiz fusion if you want the flashy stuff.

Army · 2009-02-22 09:26:02

You could try to run Xfce without X being installed There are people out there saying, that this is possible. Me personally, I have no idea how to achieve this, but I think that would be kinda cool Although Openbox on DirectFB would be cooler, it's more configurable imho.

Seriously, install X, read the wiki, which tells you how to set it up (it's a little different than it used to be) and install something lightweight. My recommendations are LXDE and Xfce. In my opinion LXDE might not be pretty enough for you, because it uses Openbox as window manager, which for example doesn't have round corners. It's hard to say, you'll have to try it yourself.

ap_ · 2009-02-22 09:45:30

I think Awesome window manager (or some other tiling WM) would be a good choice, since it sounds the OP wants to work with his keyboard. You can run Firefox and other graphical apps with no problem and change the desktop with Windows key+number, just like changing between virtual consoles.

securitybreach · 2009-02-27 02:05:09

evr wrote:

you're not going to be able to run web browsers and such without X running as mentioned earlier. you'll need some sort of window manager to run those programs. As for appearance, you could try out compiz fusion if you want the flashy stuff.

Not true I can have a VISUAL browser with graphics, mouse-clicking,etc. by running:

links -g

and that works in virtual consoles too (tty1-tty6). Make sure you have gpm installed in the daemon section of /etc/rc.conf for mouse usability.

THanks

vinicius · 2009-02-27 03:03:08

securitybreach wrote:

links -g
and that works in virtual consoles too (tty1-tty6). Make sure you have gpm installed in the daemon section of /etc/rc.conf for mouse usability.

Hi, securitybreach
When I used Gentoo, I tried that and it's amazing!
But I had to recompile the kernel to active framebuffer support.

Is Arch's current kernel with this option activated? (Do we need to recompile the kernel?)

Thanks

Vinícius

Misfit138 · 2009-02-27 03:59:13

vinicius wrote:

securitybreach wrote:
links -g
and that works in virtual consoles too (tty1-tty6). Make sure you have gpm installed in the daemon section of /etc/rc.conf for mouse usability.
Hi, securitybreach
When I used Gentoo, I tried that and it's amazing!
But I had to recompile the kernel to active framebuffer support.
Is Arch's current kernel with this option activated? (Do we need to recompile the kernel?)
Thanks
Vinícius

The stock Arch kernel is compiled with framebuffer support. So, no.

pinchyfingers · 2009-02-27 05:06:28

caustic386: check out dwm, I think it is what you want.

Arch Linux

#1 2009-02-22 04:13:57

CLI web browser

#2 2009-02-22 04:18:04

Re: CLI web browser

#3 2009-02-22 04:21:21

Re: CLI web browser

#4 2009-02-22 04:30:00

Re: CLI web browser

#5 2009-02-22 04:38:01

Re: CLI web browser

#6 2009-02-22 07:24:18

Re: CLI web browser

#7 2009-02-22 09:26:02

Re: CLI web browser

#8 2009-02-22 09:45:30

Re: CLI web browser

#9 2009-02-27 02:05:09

Re: CLI web browser

#10 2009-02-27 03:03:08

Re: CLI web browser

#11 2009-02-27 03:59:13

Re: CLI web browser

#12 2009-02-27 05:06:28

Re: CLI web browser

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