From owner-freebsd-questions Mon May 1 05:40:25 1995 Return-Path: questions-owner Received: (from majordom@localhost) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.10/8.6.6) id FAA23154 for questions-outgoing; Mon, 1 May 1995 05:40:25 -0700 Received: from glueserv1.umd.edu (glueserv1.umd.edu [129.2.70.69]) by freefall.cdrom.com (8.6.10/8.6.6) with ESMTP id FAA23148 for ; Mon, 1 May 1995 05:40:23 -0700 Received: from latte.eng.umd.edu (latte.eng.umd.edu [129.2.98.15]) by glueserv1.umd.edu (8.6.10/8.6.4) with ESMTP id IAA01654; Mon, 1 May 1995 08:40:20 -0400 Received: (chuckr@localhost) by latte.eng.umd.edu (8.6.10/8.6.4) id IAA00660; Mon, 1 May 1995 08:40:18 -0400 Date: Mon, 1 May 1995 08:40:18 -0400 (EDT) From: Chuck Robey To: mlk%bir.UUCP@mathcs.emory.edu cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.org Subject: Re: Potential user questions (CDROM/FAT/Mouse/Security)? In-Reply-To: <0D15DDF1.sh0o51@bir.bir.com> Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII Sender: questions-owner@FreeBSD.org Precedence: bulk On Sat, 29 Apr 1995, Michael L. Kornegay wrote: > Hi, > > I am considering tring FreeBSD (the CD-ROM distribution). > > I had several questions that were not clear for my looking at the > various web pages: > > o If the CD-ROM drive I have is not supported, does the CD-ROM > distribution come with an alternative install method (such as > the creation of install floppies or some other technique possibly > using the DOS slice) (I have looked at your hardware list and > believe it is likely I may have incompatible CD-ROMs)? Can use a floppy install, or use ftp. Utilities on the disk for the floppy, and the ftp is done for you. > > o I understand the DOS slice for allowing FreeBSD to access DOS > FAT file systems (I assume it allows access to the primary and > extended DOS partitions). Is there a way to store and use FAT > space for portions of FreeBSD (I believe Linux has a capability > like this?)? FreeBSD needs its own partition to run. > > o In the web pages, particulars about support of pointing (mouse) > devices for notebook computers was not clear. Is a device like > a ThinkPad TrackPoint supported? I'm not clear myself on this one, you'll have to look at the FAQ on FreeBSD.org. > > o If FreeBSD is setup in its stock form, how resistant is it to > probes from utilities like SATAN? Are the well known security > holes closed in this Unix variant? It depends on how you set up the system administration on your particular system. Some folks set up a very secure system, others bypass the security completely (although that seems insane to me). Certainly all the tools are there for you to make a secure system, and FreeBSD keeps up with all the latest security technology. > > o What would a good evaluation system disk allocation be for > FreeBSD (basic system, networking, and X)? From what I read in > the web pages it sounds like maybe 200mb would be required for > these components? It really depends on how many applications you're going to install, and how much of the source code you want to be able to browse through. I think 200 megs will get you either a good look at a lot of source, or a fair number of applications, or a limited mix of both. It seems a pretty fair value for evaluation. > > ***I am not on this mailing list. Please respond directly to me possibly > CCing the list***. I will join in the future if I decide to get the > CD-ROM distribution. Good luck! This system is a lot of fun to use. > > Thanks for your help, > > ___________________ > Michael L. Kornegay > Internet: mlk@bir.com UUCP: bir!mlk > ----------------------------+----------------------------------------------- Chuck Robey | Interests include any kind of voice or data chuckr@eng.umd.edu | communications topic, C programming, and Unix. 7608 Topton St. | New Carrollton, MD 20784 | I run Journey2 (Freebsd 2.0) and n3lxx (301) 459-2316 | (FreeBSD 1.1.5.1) and am I happy! ----------------------------+-----------------------------------------------