Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 09:41:02 -0800 (PST) From: Doug White <dwhite@gdi.uoregon.edu> To: "EDWIN R. PYLE" <erpyle@panama.c-com.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: DO I KNOW SOMETHING Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.971103093302.25743D-100000@gdi.uoregon.edu> In-Reply-To: <199711031300.IAA25447@internet.panama.phoenix.net>
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Please turn off CAPS LOCK -- otherwise we think you are shouting. Thanks!
On Mon, 3 Nov 1997, EDWIN R. PYLE wrote:
> I DO HAVE AN INTEREST IN UNIX... HOWEVER I'M CONFUSSED ABOUT ALL THE
> PROGRAMS
> THAT CLAIM TO BE UNIX BUT ARE NOT CALLED UNIX ( FREEBSD - LINUX - ETC )...
> I VISIT YOUR SITE OFTEN HOPING FOR INLIGHTENMENT BUT I DON'T SEEM TO BE
> GETTING ANY
> WHERE ON MY OWN.... I HAVE IN THE PAST BEEN ABLE TO FIGURE OUT MOST
> COMPUTER STUFF ON MY OWN, BUT NOT IN THIS CASE....
:-) UNIX style operating systems take some learning, especially if you
come from a DOS/Windoze background. FYI, UNIX is actually a trademark
owned by AT&T/USL/Novell/SCO/whoever-has-it-now. Generally, that code is
referred to as System V (or SYSV or SVR4 fro System V Release 4).
FreeBSD is based on code that was meant to emulate the UNIX look and feel
but was from a different code base put out by the University of
California, Berkeley. This set is called `BSD' for `Berkeley Systems
Distribution'.
The various names are implementations of this set. FreeBSD, for instance,
ports the 4.4BSD code to the Intel i386 architecture. Linux, well, is a
bit of it's own beast, a mix of BSD- and SYSV-isms.
I would highly suggest going to your local bookstore and picking up some
books, particularly `UNIX System Administration, 2nd Ed.' by Nemeth et.
al.
> YOUR SYSTEM IS FREE, I CAN CERTAINLY AFFORD THAT, BUT I DON'T SEEM TO HAVE
> A STARTING DOWNLOAD POINT...
FreeBSD is split into `distributions' which are components of the system.
They come as 240k archived chunks. This guide may help you select which
parts you need:
FreeBSD File Requirements:
REQUIRED:
floppies/boot.flp (boot floppy image)
tools/fdimage.exe (DOS bootfloppy image writer)
bin/*
RECOMMENDED:
manpages/
compat*/
doc/ (at your discretion)
src/ssys.*
> MOST OTHER SOFTWARE HAS SEVERAL DISKS NUMBERED DISK 1. DISK 2., ETC...
> THERE IS A BEGINNING A MIDDLE & AN END OF INSTALLATION...
FreeBSD doesn't follow this model since you can select to install various
parts. All you do is download the pieces you want, saving you time and
money.
> " TO DOWNLOAD TO HARD DRIVE YOU MUST HAVE XXXXX AMOUNT OF HARD DRIVE SPACE
> AVAILABLE. AFTER DOWNLOADING GO TO THE DIRECTORY, INSTALL THE PROGRAM ,
> FOLLOW THE ON SCREEN INSTRUCTIONS "
> THIS IS NORMAL TO ME......
FreeBSD is reasonably straightforward if you buy the CDROM. I'll put
that out right now.
> I'M AFRAID OF RANDOM DOWNLOADING ANYTHING WHEN I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M
> DOWNLOADING, NOR DO I KNOW WHAT IT'S FOR, NOR WHAT IT WILL DO, NOR WHAT
> AFFECT IT WILL HAVE ON MY CURRENT SYSTEM.......
You should check out http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/install.html.
> IS THERE SOME WAY THE FILES CAN BE ORGINIZED INTO A LOGICAL INSTALL FORMAT
> FOR
> DUMMIES LIKE ME ???
Read the documentation and all will come clear.
Doug White | University of Oregon
Internet: dwhite@resnet.uoregon.edu | Residence Networking Assistant
http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dwhite | Computer Science Major
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