From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Aug 8 03:46:42 2008 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 029071065675 for ; Fri, 8 Aug 2008 03:46:42 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gkmohan@gmail.com) Received: from fk-out-0910.google.com (fk-out-0910.google.com [209.85.128.186]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 865858FC08 for ; Fri, 8 Aug 2008 03:46:41 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from gkmohan@gmail.com) Received: by fk-out-0910.google.com with SMTP id k31so872250fkk.11 for ; Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:46:40 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:received:received:message-id:date:from:to :subject:mime-version:content-type:content-transfer-encoding :content-disposition; bh=nGvbPsbtpncwC5D31Rp3vcjTOIWd1WUCC8zjyvy3ZtU=; b=Nr3Pgs3pgBi13aJ8KINPJZC6LdBaplGpiSUIntbO9L4mmUkHZaxbXIYRverQ/arWs+ wkif/vMmW0E3S0wsssou0v2811yVI8kDf5Xt7ntYxkKNOrfqUltIFJ7NGvuAki2m4KNS TtlmPAdHNW8L+to6O7lWhGfYhbdvUjRdg+ioo= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=message-id:date:from:to:subject:mime-version:content-type :content-transfer-encoding:content-disposition; b=HNmUO3ataEvLAbPuZeGwGMdBPJmbnIhUSyPw94Bi6e1xwAviv9JB4GdqicHYnz6SML sHCAPxmsiYRQVrQZzJ0TU67bdg9qvY5Shk4Kv1dEXR/s489CRDyTHCfQOvOoDQT6CEW4 bduztE/hB72GSiswqfo9JyPdX0KTd6pqbRX0A= Received: by 10.181.32.18 with SMTP id k18mr1883109bkj.96.1218165608384; Thu, 07 Aug 2008 20:20:08 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.125.130.6 with HTTP; Thu, 7 Aug 2008 20:20:08 -0700 (PDT) Message-ID: <70ec82800808072020h5aafa48axe4140c5eeb229854@mail.gmail.com> Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 23:20:08 -0400 From: "Krishna Mohan Gundu" To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Subject: A few questions from a current linux user X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 08 Aug 2008 03:46:42 -0000 Hi, I am currently using Fedora Core 4 linux distribution for my everyday needs like programming, checking emails etc on my two year old HP laptop. I feel that time has come for me to move away from Fedora. I wasted a lot of time compiling libraries and their dependencies. I could benefit from better packaging systems that come with systems like FreeBSD. I tried to gather as much information as I could from the documentation available on freebsd.org, but the following questions remain unanswered. I would be glad if you can take time to educate me 1) Is a feature similar to magic SysRq in linux necessary for FreeBSD? (As I understand there is no such feature in FreeBSD) 2) Is it possible to compile multiple versions of gcc? If so what is the best way to do it? 3) Is it possible to perform a binary update from one release to another? If so can you please point me to the documentation? How are config files updated in this case? (Could not locate documentation on binup) 4) If a binary update leads to an unstable system, how easy it is to backtrack to an earlier working version along with working config files? 5) Does FreeBSD have support for PCMCIA-USB cards? thanks, Krishna. PS: I am considering Debian as another alternative.