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Date:      Thu, 06 Nov 1997 07:30:00 -0800
From:      "Jordan K. Hubbard" <jkh@time.cdrom.com>
To:        Elizabeth Puckett <pucketet@jmu.edu>
Cc:        www@FreeBSD.ORG, edwarddc@owl.jmu.edu, currycw@owl.jmu.edu
Subject:   Re: non-technical 
Message-ID:  <9031.878830200@time.cdrom.com>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 06 Nov 1997 09:28:15 EST." <3461D3FE.49C0@jmu.edu> 

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> In reviewing the WebCT page, I found that FreeBSD is listed as an
> operating system the courseware will run on.  I have read through much
> of your information and understand that your UNIX system runs on a PC. 
> I would like to know (before I read further or attempt the download) if
> our office would need a "technical support person" to operate this
> system.  

While it certainly does not take a rocket scientist to operate a Unix
system, it does require a reasonably large degree of determination on
the part of any beginner who wishes to become reasonably facile with
it.

This is not to say that Unix is particularly complex, it's simply
designed with much more of a "toolbox" approach than, say, a Windows
or Macintosh systems which tries instead to give you canned
applications which, in many cases, actually discourage customization.

To aid in you learning Unix administration are many good introductory
books commonly available in technical book stores.  See section 24 of
the FreeBSD handbook at http://www.freebsd.org/handbook/handbook.html;
"Unix in a nutshell", "What You Need To Know When You Can't Find Your
UNIX System Administrator" and "UNIX System Administration
Handbook. 2nd ed" being entries in the bibliography section which get
my personal recommendation.

As long as you have a PC to dedicate to FreeBSD's installation, the
actual installation should also be fairly straight-forward.  See the
installation docs on our web site or purchase a copy of "The Complete
FreeBSD" from Walnut Creek CDROM (http://www.cdrom.com) if you prefer
printed documentation on this topic.

Good luck!

				Jordan



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