New subscriber - howdy...

Heya peeps,

A hello a comment or 5 and some questions.

I have very limited experience with Linux and or Unix.
I have very,very briefly used a couple of varieties of Linux
and tried to install one flavour of BSD. I got a Darwin binary from
here maybe a year ago and installed successfully but couldn't boot for lack
of hardware support I believe.

I would be pleased if a few doubts I have were clearer.
I have some idea (some) of the current state of the OD port for 386 and some
associated applications from reading here and elsewhere (Apple,etc.).
As my knowledge is limited I wonder what kind of incorrect assumptions I am
making...
My intention and expectation is that I will download the binary 7.2.1.
When it boots I will be using a shell.
I will need to d/l and install Xfree86 which will give me some rudimentary
gui.
This will also supply a layer on which I can d/l and run AfterStep - a
desktop manager.

When I consider this a question occurs.
I know that I can get the source for 386 and compile my own kernel - in my
dreams.
I know that the binary is for 386 and ppc - suitable for newbs :]
I have seen this referred to as 'fat', presumably as it must contain
duplicate code.
Is it true that the layers on top of the kernel are ported for the 2
architectures?
That is, the current version of XFree86 (4.4.0) listed at opendarwin -
will it run on top of binary 7.2.1 on either ppc or intel?
Is this a factor when using a DM? And even other apps?
I am thinking about a web browser, etc. Is there more than one version of
Lynx for OD dependent on hardware? Clearing this up would be cool.
A blanket statement about only the kernel being architecture dependent would
be good to hear.
When I visit http://www.xfree86.org/ I get the impression one source runs on
multiple Unix based OS's on different architectures. Is this
correct?

I also note that the XFree86 files are src - source?
I will need to compile them. According to my glance at the excellent
http://darwinports.opendarwin.org/docs/ (Section II.4 Building the Sources)
is it really that simple? Will I need to contemplate harder gymnastics to
get some apps going?

Finally, I understand that OD may not install.
If it does, maybe that's all I'll get.
That's ok.

Best Wishes,
David Walker