How do I build/customise my OS3.9?

[Tenacious]

• Directory OPUS
• I want DOPUS to be able to unzip and unrar etc.. (I'm not sure if the standard copy will do that)

 
Things I'm not sure about is if DOPUS will be able to unzip things by default or if I'll need to install other things on OS3.9 so that DOPUS will read them?
 

You are talking about Dopus 4.1x?  

The good news is many folks have uploaded their tricked out Dopus config files to Aminet.  A printout of those in one hand and the Dopus docs in your other hand will give you examples of how to do almost anything you can imagine.  It's not a bad tutorial of AmigaDos in general.  ;)   If you are serious, this is truly NOT difficult!

The bad news is that everyone organizes their HDs differently, so it is unlikely that ALL features of any given config file will work without a liitle tweaking on your part. IE: moving programs to the path they chose  OR  editing the paths in the config file to match the locations you prefer.

The other bad news is some of those guys chose some butt ugly color schemes (big grin), but, you can of course customize yours to be very stylish and tasteful.

[Tenacious]

.. Spend the time you save with your kids, or your wifes ...

How many wifes are you blessed with?  

@ sir bacharach

The beauty of Dopus's config file system is that you can swap configurations simply by renaming your config to something you won't forget and then copying theirs to the same location.  Then simply restart the program.  Everything will be different and can be explored to see how it was done!

[Tenacious]

It's not hard to hear your frustration in your reply.  The Amiga was never really a package system, like Windows or OSX.  It seems to me if you go with a package solution, you will be missing out on a great deal power and flexibility.  One of Amiga's gratest strengths is user customization (that's why one size doesn't fit all).

It may not seem true to you right now, but, Amiga OS is the most transparent system that I've used.  Compare it to Windows, Linux or OSX.  Many books have been written to take the user as deep as he cares to go.  Nothing is hidden.  You simply need to scratch the surface a little deeper.

If a user has no docs or books, didn't someone digitize a tutorial?  If not, find the books that came with 3.1.  Rob Peck and Denny Atkin wrote good books, too, just to name a few.