Date: Wed, 28 Feb 2007 14:44:07 -0800 From: Brian <bri@sonicboom.org> To: John Nielsen <lists@jnielsen.net> Cc: Dwight Smith <dsmith_60@hotmail.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Future of FreeBSD 7.0 and up Message-ID: <45E605B7.8060001@sonicboom.org> In-Reply-To: <200702281502.35926.lists@jnielsen.net> References: <BAY122-F87754EC1232D0B86FFC1699810@phx.gbl> <200702281502.35926.lists@jnielsen.net>
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John Nielsen wrote: > On Wednesday 28 February 2007 14:26, Dwight Smith wrote: > >> My name is Dwight Smith, and I only had a question or two in terms of the >> future useability of FreeBSD. I have used it on and off and found it to be >> a great UNIX operating system for servers, but my only major concern was >> the amount of time it takes to prepare a server such as an Apache Server >> with PHP and MySQL support as opposed to a Linux system which is what I am >> currently using now as well as my company. I guess my question is that will >> the ease of building or installing software for FreeBSD ever streamline to >> where you do not have to do as many steps and text config file entries? >> > > If you don't need any customizations, "pkg_add -r packagename" will > automatically download and install almost everything available in the ports > system. It will even get the newest version appropriate for the version of > FreeBSD you are running. > > If you prefer to compile from source or need a non-default setting, going into > the relevant directory in the ports tree and typing "make install clean" will > again do everything automatically. In most cases the same command will also > present you with an easy-to-use menu of options available for the port, if > any. > > Which of those one-line commands strikes you as being less than easy from the > point of view of a systems administrator, developer, technical end-user or > Computer Coordinator? > > If you have concerns about a specific piece of software, sending a message to > this or another appropriate list or directly to the port's maintainer will > typically yield good information, and if you have ideas for improvements they > should be well received in the appropriate forum. > > >> What had me curious to asking this is this article I read about a review on >> FreeBSD 6.2 (http://www.softwareinreview.com/cms/content/view/67/) The >> reviewer had a lot of criticisms that seemed harsh, but at the same time >> raised some valid points. I only ask this question as I would like to see >> FreeBSD get the same recognition as Linux as FreeBSD is a powerful OS that >> should not be overshadowed and I hope it doesn't cause it saved my IT job >> many a times when a server crashes and I have to piece together an old PII >> with 32 MB RAM and install FreeBSD with Samba. So thanks in advance for >> your attention in this and I wish all of you the best. >> > > My initial take on that review is that the reviewer had an earlier bad > experience with FreeBSD (perhaps as a result of failing to understand that > 5.0 and 5.1 were developer preview releases), tried installing 6.2 once on a > single system, ran down his pre-existing checklist of complaints to see if > any of them had magically been fixed (as a result, perhaps, of the FreeBSD > developer community reading his mind and finding themselves in agreement), > did little if any troubleshooting of the hardware compatibility issues he > mentioned (even reporting such occurences is a good way to contribute to a > volunteer-based project), and wrote the whole thing off as being stagnant. > > Some of his points and recommendations might have merit, but many seem to be > the writer's wishlist for making FreeBSD into something it isn't (some hybrid > of Gentoo and Fedora, perhaps). That and his general attitude of hopeless > negativism[1] make it hard to take his review seriously. > > Personally, FreeBSD 6.2 is the best OS I have ever used and I find it > extremely well-suited to my needs and tastes for both server and desktop use. > The only way to see if that is the case for you is to try it (again). If > there are shortcomings, be proactive about reporting them. FreeBSD's user > community is one of its biggest strengths. > > JN > _______________________________________________ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscribe@freebsd.org" > If you use pkg_add -r then a sunsequent cvsup or portsnap, followed by portupgrade is advised. I have seen it happen often where the package is older than the port. Brian
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