Date: 20 Mar 2003 14:48:03 -0500 From: Asenchi <asenchi@asenchi.com> To: Bluezmo <bluezmo@earthlink.net> Cc: freebsd-newbies@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Hmm Message-ID: <1048189683.14124.24.camel@palea.attbi.com> In-Reply-To: <JMEAJACIKMIJMPNGDNNJOEGHCAAA.bluezmo@earthlink.net> References: <JMEAJACIKMIJMPNGDNNJOEGHCAAA.bluezmo@earthlink.net>
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Hello,
I will attempt to help you. Some answers to your questions are below.
On Thu, 2003-03-20 at 11:19, Bluezmo wrote:
> I've been tussling with installing & implementing FreeBSD 5 on a laptop for
> about 2 weeks now. The initial install took 4 days (which I expected given
> I knew nothing about BSD) & I've whittled down the install time to
> approximately 45 minutes from a DOS partition. I reinstalled because not
> all my hardware functions.
{snip}
> 1) If I don't find specific hardware listed in the hardware list, does that
> mean the drivers aren't available period? People expound on the advantages
> of open source code being ultimately customizable. In short, if the drivers
> aren't available for a device, and the kernel can't be configured, what can
> be done (if anything) to get the device to function?
It can mean that. However, occasionally you can find a driver that will
work with a different piece of hardware. You will need to provide more
information for the list (fbsd-newbies) to help. But there is a lot of
help available here...
> 2) Given the scenario (and post discussion with other "inux" users) it has
> been suggested that I try Linux initially to get my feet wet in the "inux"
> environment. My buddy says to stick with BSD. In the endless documentation
> I've perused, mention was made of Open & Net BSD. My perception was that
> those flavors maybe better suited to my goals. Frankly I don't know & want
> to gather some feedback.
There are some big differences in Linux and FreeBSD. Linux is just a
kernel with software placed around it and the flavor changes with
different distros. With FreeBSD the entire thing is an operating
system. Everything is made to work together. The FreeBSD 5.0 you have
is no different (in its initial package) than the one I have, where as
Red Hat is a lot different than SUSE and so on. If you are just a
casual user and want to learn a Unix, either FreeBSD or NetBSD is the
way to go as OpenBSD is more directed at security and servers. (I am
going to get in a lot of trouble for that, but it is mostly true.) It
does depend on your goals though...
> So, if someone is out there & cares to perhaps elaborate, it would be
> appreciated. I have several computers, Windows & Macintosh & want to learn
> UNIX.
FreeBSD, in my opinion is the way to go. I use it as my primary
computer os, and will never change. Amazing what you can do. Welcome.
> Thanks
Good Luck.
Curt Micol
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