Before diving into all the applications that come with Haiku, let's have a more detailed look at how to install and uninstall programs you downloaded somewhere, for example from a site mentioned on the Welcome page.
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Haiku software always comes as an archive. Most of the time it's a ZIP, some old BeOS packages come in Software Valet's PKG format. Software Valet was able to automatically execute installation scripts, so after double-clicking you just select a destination folder and everything's taken care of.
+If it's a ZIP archive, double-clicking opens Expander where you also set the destination and unpack it. As explained in the topic Filesystem layout, that destination is either
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/boot/common/apps/
for applications available to every user
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/boot/home/apps/
for applications only available to yourself
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This distinction will only become relevant once Haiku gets multi-user support, of course.
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Once the archive is unpacked, you should have a look into the newly created folder. Often you find ReadMe files or other documentation of interest.
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Some programs need further configurations. For example, Tracker Add-Ons, Translators or other system enhancing components have to be put into the right folders. Either you'll find a little script file (often with the suffix .sh) like install that you simply double click to have all taken care of.
+Sometimes you'll find folders that link to the correct destination named "drag [filename] here...". So, you simply follow that instruction and you're done.
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Most of the time, however, nothing of the sort is necessary and you're done after unpacking.
+See topic Deskbar or LaunchBox to see how to add shortcuts to your newly installed application.
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If the installation was done with an install script, chances are, there's an uninstall script as well. In that case, double-click it and you're done.
+Otherwise, uninstalling is simply done by deleting the application's folder.
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This, of course, leaves back possible configuration files in your ~/config/settings folder. This may be on purpose, if you want to keep those settings in case you'll install it again in the future. Also, when the installation involved those "drag [filename] here..." folders, those files are also left behind.
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One method to quickly get to all the app's files is to do a quick query for a significant part of the application's name. This will reveal the app's binary, its installation folder and its settings as well as possible links in the Deskbar etc. Simply select all relevant files and delete them.
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diff --git a/docs/userguide/attributes.html b/docs/userguide/attributes.html
index 3f5ebdfff7..b4baa8b1bb 100644
--- a/docs/userguide/attributes.html
+++ b/docs/userguide/attributes.html
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ MIME String 21 "BEOS:TYPE"
131 bytes total in attributes.
Besides all the "META:*" attributes that hold the contact's information, there are two attributes that are managed by the system:
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BEOS:TYPE holds the file type as a MIME string, here "application/x-person. It determines the default icon and the application that opens the file when you e.g. double click it.
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BEOS:TYPE holds the file type as a MIME string, here "application/x-person. It determines the default icon and the application that opens the file when you e.g. double click it.
"_trk/pinfo_le" is the attribute with which Tracker keeps track of a file's icon position.
Note the backslash after "Clara". In Terminal you have to "escape" special characters like '"*\$?!. The space between "Clara" and "Botters" is also one of those. Therefore the backslash is really in front of the space character, and not after "Clara".
Haiku's Boot Loader can help you when you experience hardware related problems or want to choose which Haiku installation to start, if you have more than one (maybe on an installation CD or USB stick).
+It's also handy after you installed a software component that acts up and prevents you from booting the system to remove it again. The Disable user add-ons option that's mentioned below, will start Haiku without loading user installed components, e.g. a driver.
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To enter the Boot Loader options, you have to press the SPACE BAR right at the beginning of the boot process. It's easy to miss so you best keep hitting the key until it shows up.
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Once it's there, you're offered three menus:
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Select boot volume
Choose which Haiku installation to start.
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Select safe mode options
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There are several options to try in case of hardware related trouble. When moving the selection bar to an option, a short explanation appears at the bottom of the screen.
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- Safe mode
+- Disable user add-ons
+- Disable IDE DMA
+- Use fail-safe video mode
+- Don't call the BIOS
+- Disable APM
+- Disable ACPI
+- Enable on screen debug output
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Select fail safe video mode
If you had to activate the option Use fail-safe video mode, you can set resolution and colour depth.
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After activating one or more options, you return to the main menu and continue booting, which presents you with this boot screen:
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If everything works OK, one symbol after another quickly lights up.
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diff --git a/docs/userguide/contents.html b/docs/userguide/contents.html
index ffed77be5b..e34f820972 100644
--- a/docs/userguide/contents.html
+++ b/docs/userguide/contents.html
@@ -87,21 +87,20 @@ Below, you'll find the documentation of the most important aspects of Haiku. Nat
There are some nice little games and demo applications for your entertainment. Most of the demos are targeted to developers who are interested in learning from the code, which is of course open source as is everything Haiku.
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Haiku's filesystem layout is quite transparent, trying to always use non-cryptic names for files and folders, that don't leave the user guessing. Files and folders that are important for the system to function properly, are protected from accidental tempering by showing one of these alerts:
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The second alert pops up if you try to rename or delete something in the system hierarchy. Here, the "Do it" button will only become clickable when you're holding down the SHIFT key.
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Generally, there are three seperate branches springing from the root folder of the boot volume:
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/boot/beos/
belongs to the system. Don't touch!
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/boot/common/
holds files that are shared between users.
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/boot/home/
is your personal folder where you keep your data and settings.
The fact that it's called "beos" shows Haiku's BeOS heritage. It wasn't renamed yet to ensure backward compatibility with BeOS software.
+Whatever it's named, you should not alter what's inside. Every update of Haiku can add, remove or overwrite anything within it. If you want to add functionality, maybe with other Tracker Add-Ons or Translators or maybe another hardware driver, you install these things under your own /boot/home/ hierarchy or, if it's supposed to be for every user, under /boot/common/. As long as Haiku isn't multi-user, this distinction has no apparent effect, as there's only one user with one home folder. But since there will be support for more users than one eventually, it makes sense to learn the right way from the start.
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So, let's say you want to install a new Translator for the latest image format, you don't simply copy it into the respective system folder. Remember: Don't touch!
+Instead, you put it into the mirrored hierarchy under /boot/common/ or /boot/home/config/.
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In our example the location for Translators in the system folder would be
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This has another advantage: If the component you have installed messes things up (which is possible as you install hardware drivers like this, too) you are able to choose "Disable User Add-Ons" from the Boot Loader menu and are thus always able to boot without the offending component.
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Most of the time, however, you won't have to deal with these things at all, since every software that comes from a trusted source should include an installation routine that handles these things.
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Haiku is not a multi-user system yet. Once it is though, every user has her own home folder that is not accessible to anyone else. Every application or added component like Tracker Add-Ons, Translators etc. as well as any data that's supposed to be shared between different users, go here.
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This folder belongs to you. Here you can create and delete files and folders as you wish. However, you shouldn't mess too much with the ~/config/ directory and its subfolders. You could delete e.g. the ~/config/settings/ folder without damaging the operating system itself, but who wants to lose all his configurations and application settings? In any case, the system warns you with the at the top mentioned alert.
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Besides the ~/config/add-ons/ folder, which mirrors the system's add-ons folder for additional components as described above, there are a few other folders of interest. (By the way, the tilde ("~") is a shortcut for your home folder, so you don't always have to write "/boot/home/" in Terminal.)
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~/mail
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By default, this is where your mails are kept.
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~/queries
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Queries are stored, by default temporarily for 7 days, in this folder.
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~/config/be/
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Again from our BeOS legacy, the be folder contains what's shown in the Deskbar menu. You can add and remove items either with the Deskbar configuration panel or by putting files, folders or links into this folder directly.
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~/config/bin/
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Complements the system's /boot/beos/bin/ folder and holds all your command line programs.
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~/config/boot/
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This folder holds the UserBootscript which is executed after the system has booted up and the UserShutdownscript which will be executed before the system does all the necessary things to safely shut down.
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~/config/fonts/
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Simply copy a TrueType or Postscript font into this folder and its usable right away.
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~/config/settings/
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This folder contains the settings to all applications and a few configurations for the system. Some applications manage their settings in their own subfolders, others simply put their configuration file in there.
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~/config/settings/beos_mime/
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In this MIME database Haiku keeps track of all the different filetypes and their settings.
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~/config/settings/kernel/drivers/
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There, one settings files that may be of interest. kernel offers some low level configurations like disabling SMP, activating serial debugging or enabling advanced power management. You activate a configuration line by removing the commentary symbol "#". Be careful here!
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~/config/settings/Tracker/
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Here are some interesting subfolders:
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DefaultFolderTemplate/
Show and arrange all attributes and the window size to your liking. Every new folder you create will use it as a template.
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DefaultQueryTemplates/
You can define the layout of query result windows for certain filetypes. See topic Query: The result window.