Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 11:31:24 +0200 From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: Sebhat_Tenna <stenna@foxinternet.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Very New User.... Message-ID: <20000310113124.B78233@hades.hell.gr> In-Reply-To: <38C7282A.BD06D2FC@buckhorn.net>; from bob@buckhorn.net on Wed, Mar 08, 2000 at 10:27:22PM -0600 References: <B0008562770@mailsite.foxinternet.net> <38C7282A.BD06D2FC@buckhorn.net>
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I seemed to have missed the original posting, but since Bob wrote such a nice and informative reply, I think I'll concentrate on anything else the original questions might have been there for :) Bob, I'm sorry if a lot of this posting seems to be a reply to Sebhat, although it's threading denotes that I'm replying to you. On Wed, Mar 08, 2000 at 10:27:22PM -0600, Bob Martin wrote: > >Sebhat_Tenna wrote: > >> I am 17 and have been a Windows user since I started to use PCs 1 >> 1/2 years ago. I have never used UNIX. I have taught myself Java >> programming for 3 or so months, and I am learning C++ now. I just >> ordered FreeBSD 3.4 Power Pack. >> >> My questions are: 1) Does it take a computer scientist to install it? Sebhat, No, of course not. I'm no computer scientist myself, and have felt rather comfortably with Unix, ever since I got my hands on a computer in the right place. This is not so long back, only since 1993, and I'm constantly amazed at how open to investigation and learning new things this OS can be. From what you've said so far, I can see that you will like it a lot, especially the fact that a lot of different languages and development tools exist for Unix. Apart from Java and C++, there are a whole range of different languages you can play with, some of them scripting languages, others compiled. You're in for a lot of fun, if I'm right in my guess that you like learning new things :) > It's actually quite easy to install. Read the directions at > http://www.freebsd.org/handbook first > >> 2) What are the major benefits of UNIX over Windows NT? > > This is a hotly debated issue. It's more stable, has much better > documentation, and doesn't need as much RAM or CPU to do the same > amount of work. Even the issues of stability or open-ness cause much debate, but since you're probably going to be using FreeBSD, you're not in for any surprises as far as stability and open-ness are concerned. FreeBSD is used by many ISPs, precisely because of it's stability, and it's probably as open as one can get from a piece of software. The most important characteristic of Unix, which Windows (or other 'closed' platforms, for that matter) fail to meet, is the inherent open-ness of the OS. All the programs, and their interfaces, are documented in the greatest possible detail, and if you have the need to look at "how" or "why" something is like the way it is, all the necessary resources are there for you. Then, if you can't find information about something, there are always a million places where you can look for help. A lot of the other users of FreeBSD will be there to help you. I'm not new to Unix in general, but I'm fairly new to FreeBSD, and people on this list have helped me more than a few times understand why something works like it does, or how it works, in FreeBSD. >> 3) I hear UNIX is open source. What does this mean? Can I change my >> operating system? Is my operating system one big application to >> be tinkered with? No, this is false. "Unix" is not a single OS, but a family of operating systems, that work more or less similarly. Not all of them are `open source', though. There are, of course, those that are `open source', like FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, Linux, etc. The basic meaning behind the term `open source' is that if you want, you can, somehow, get the source of the system and it's accompanying applications. Now, there are a lot variations of this basic theme, but their differences are not important in this discussion. The advantages of having the source code are too numerous to list in a single mail, but a few of them are: a. Having all the source, you can read what others have written and learn how other people program. b. If you want to make some local modification to your operating system, or one of it's libraries, you can go ahead and make it, NOW, not after some months that the company you bought the thing from will announce it's new fangled 'innovation'. Now both of these, combined with the way that Unix can be customized in an infinite number of ways, makes it a very powerful thing. >> 4) Can I get software for UNIX for a reasonable price(word >> processors, editors, compilers, etc...)? I mean, do many people >> use UNIX? If so, who? I'll reply backwards. If you want to find out how people are already using FreeBSD, you can find out so, if you visit the FreeBSD home page, and browse the site. It contains quite a lot of information on this topic, although I seem to forget the exact URL that mentions people already using FreeBSD in real world applications. About software now. Well, all of the types of applications you mentioned and much more do exist on Unix, as you would already suspect. You can find compilers for a large variety of programming languages (like C, C++, and some more exotic ones like Modula, for instance), interpreters for some of the most popular scripting languages (like Perl, AWK, and TCL), debugging tools (i.e. gdb(1), and interfaces for it running under X or the console), etc. Of course, there are editors -- a whole bunch o' them -- with some of them being the source of many a hot debate on mailing lists, newsgroups, and what not. You'll probably find more than one that you'll love and certainly some that you'll, err, 'hate' among these :) Watch, however, for the trap that's hidden in this abundance of tools. If you're trying to find a good replacement of Windows, and all your efforts are not towards learning to *use* Unix, but towards making it more and more like your original Windows setup was, you've lost. If the point is to make Unix look like Windows, you're better off sticking to what you already know -- no offense meant here. But if you're prepared to learn the `Unix way' of doing your work, you'll find it quite a pleasing and learning experience. Shebhat, as for the 'hacker' question, I've nothing more to add to what Bob has already said. We (you'll forgive my use of plural here, I hope, everyone on the list) will certainly be glad to know that you're using FreeBSD, or any other variation of the Unix theme, and will certainly be here to help during those first days/weeks/months, that you'll be in need of a helping hand now and then. Welcome aboard :) -- Giorgos Keramidas, < keramida @ ceid . upatras . gr > For my public PGP key: finger keramida@diogenis.ceid.upatras.gr PGP fingerprint, phone and address in the headers of this message. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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