Date: Thu, 5 Jul 2001 10:43:51 +0300 From: Giorgos Keramidas <keramida@ceid.upatras.gr> To: ftrk <ftrk@uaf.edu> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: which *BSD to choose? Message-ID: <20010705104351.B2044@hades.hell.gr> In-Reply-To: <3B41F171@webmail.uaf.edu>; from ftrk@uaf.edu on Wed, Jul 04, 2001 at 10:28:24PM -0800 References: <3B41F171@webmail.uaf.edu>
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Hello Raj,
On Wed, Jul 04, 2001 at 10:28:24PM -0800, ftrk wrote:
> Dear all,
> I haven't used *BSD at all, but been using UNIX(Solaris) and LINUX
> for awhile.
Linux is ok, Solaris is also nice but it's not free in the manner of
Open Source operating systems like Linux or the BSD's. It's a nice
thing that you are thinking of 'trying BSD'. You should go ahead and
try it :) Who knows, you might like it better than something else
that you have seen until now.
> I would like to play with it on my laptop which is kinda old, but I
> was wondering about drivers for display chipsets etc:
> Intel PIII Processor
> ATi Rage 128 display chipset(14" SXGA display)
> Xircom 10/100 cardbus PCMCIA card
> Internal Lucent Gold v50 modem( I am sure this wouldn't be supported:( )
Since, you have posted this on a FreeBSD list, I'm assuming here that
you are thinking of trying FreeBSD on that laptop.
o Intel PIII Processor
The processor you have is supported, yes.
o ATi Rage 128 display chipset (14" SVGA display)
The default FreeBSD environment (unless you install some version
of X11, to provide you with a graphical interface) uses an 80x25
text-mode console. This is supported by ALL modern VGA-compatible
display adapters, so you should not worry if FreeBSD will be able
to 'display' its default console mode.
When it comes to X11 and GUI programs, I think that ATi Rage is
supported by X11, but since I'm not sure I will not say 'yes' or
'no'. Read the XFree86 documentation and release notes at
www.xfree86.org to see is Rage128 is supported by some version of
X11 and which version is that.
o Ximrom 10/100 cardbus PCMCIA card
I don't know :-/
o Internal Lucent Gold v50 modem
This is a Winmodem IIRC. It will not work with FreeBSD, if that
is true. Sorry 'bout that. You'll probably have to find some
other modem to use with FreeBSD.
> I would definitely like to use and support FreeBSD. However I am
> unable to make up my mind as to which one will suit me and an
> assessment of the three flavours.
The BSD operating systems are not `FreeBSD flavors'. Therefore there
are not many 'flavours'. There is only one FreeBSD, with that
wonderful and fulfilling cocoa-bean-wrapped-in-chocolate taste, that
makes it our favorite for years and years.
Seriously now, you can check all of them and see which you like best.
They all (they referring to FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD) have their
advantages and good points, their disadvantages and limitations, their
beautiful and ugly parts, etc. For me, when I chose which one to
install one of the BSD's, it was ease of installation that made me
decide to stick with FreeBSD. For you, it might be the way packages
are organized. For somebody else, it is the security consiousness of
the developers. The ultimate choise is upon you. Just try them all
> and see which one fits your style/taste/personality.
> Would you have any pointers as to where I can find some info?
The web sites of all BSD operating systems usually include lots of
documentation. You will find the articles, tutorials, and books
available at www.freebsd.org to be very helpful, if you are looking
for information on what FreeBSD can do for you, and how things can be
done. A visit at www.netbsd.org and www.openbsd.org will also give
you a chance to see what the other BSD Unixes support, what programs
are available for each one of them, what platforms (hardware) they run
on, how to obtain and/or install them, etc.
> I am also interested in knowing the packages, like compilers(like
> gcc, g77, perl) etc.
FreeBSD comes bundled with source for everything (well, almost
everything). Among the programs installed are:
o BIND, the name-server software that dominates the Internet.
o Sendmail, the popular MTA (mail transfer agent).
o GZIP and BZIP2, compression tools.
o CVS, the concurrent version system.
o The GNU C Compiler.
o IPFW and IPFILTER firewalls.
o Support for DHCP with isc-dhcp/
o Perl version 5
o Lots of other programs and tools that I forgot to mention.
From the Ports system, whose files are in /usr/ports, you can install
more than 5,000 other software packages. You can read more about
ports, at <URL: http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/ports.html >.
Lots of other useful documents can be found at www.freebsd.org
explaining a lot of things. See the site for details.
> Also does this come with any crypto software?
Yes, FreeBSD has support for various ways to use cryptography and
related tools. What is it that you are specifically interested in?
> Pardon my ignorance, I tried to look around, but couldn't find info
> on compilers etc..
Well, look at the site.
You'll find lots and lots of documentation to get you started and
going a long way, there.
Ciao,
I hope I've helped a bit.
-giorgos
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