From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Mar 29 22:31:48 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 168FA106566B for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:31:48 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C8DF78FC08 for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:31:47 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-195-45-144.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.45.144]) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id C3FAB3CB7A; Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:31:46 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id p2TMVjuu001693; Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:31:46 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Wed, 30 Mar 2011 00:31:45 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Charlie Kester Message-Id: <20110330003145.f2215241.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20110329221637.GC32087@comcast.net> References: <20110329144527.c009ba8b.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> <20110329205944.GA84145@gizmo.acns.msu.edu> <20110329221637.GC32087@comcast.net> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.4.7 (GTK+ 2.12.1; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Easiest desktop BSD distro X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 22:31:48 -0000 On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 15:16:37 -0700, Charlie Kester wrote: > To really learn any operating system, you have to approach it on its own > terms and be willing to accept that it has its own way of doing things. > Its own idioms and paradigms. It has its own history of design > decisions, unforeseen consequences and problem resolutions. Some > problems that arise on one OS never come up on another, because they > approach things from entirely different angles. A very well formed statement. > The whole point of learning more than one OS, in my opinion, is to > explore the strengths and weaknesses of different designs, development > philosophies and ways of using computers. Otherwise, you're just being > a software dilettante. You basically also learn "thinking approaches", to conclude things and to estimate facts. This of course requires the OS and programs to act in a deterministic way. When learning things about UNIX, you learn POSTABLE things. Even if something is differently named or done on various UNIXes, you *KNOW* that they actually are the same (or utilizing the same service, the same principles, the same ideas). Which this kind of knowledge, you can find your way around in ANY UNIX operating system (and often even in Linux) because those share imporant ideas, and don't abandon them just to look "new" and "shiny". If you know those basic stuff, you're even able to locate it deep inside software that claims to be "all new" and "all different". This enables you to adopt to many variations of the same "old thing" as you do know what's "inside" it. ONLY THIS KIND of essential basic knowledge makes you a real professional - in opposite to dilletantic artists in IT. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...