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Date:      Wed, 13 Aug 1997 20:03:23 -0400 (EDT)
From:      Tim Vanderhoek <tim@x22>
To:        two-step@macatawa.org
Cc:        freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Free BSD
Message-ID:  <Pine.BSF.3.96.970813193512.479B-100000@x22>
In-Reply-To: <3.0.32.19970813190754.0079f5d0@macatawa.org>

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[You sent this to the right list initially, -doc, but I'm switching
it to -questions since I'm answering a question or two you
implicitly asked]

On Wed, 13 Aug 1997 two-step@macatawa.org wrote:

> >From what I understand, freeBSD is an operating system and webserver?  I
> made a boot disk, but don't understand 1/10 of all the documentation.  I

If I remember correctly, what you have to do basically boils down to 

run fips
run fdimage on the boot.flp file
write down IPs for your ISP's DNS (sysinstall will ask for other
  numbers and names in addition to this, but I think that you can lie
  about most of them)
boot your computer with the boot.flp floppy in A:

FreeBSD is an operating system.  It runs webservers.  Notable
webservers running FBSD: Yahoo!

> would like to experience this system, but don't want to chance screwing up
> my present win95 system.  Maybe a programmer can understand all your

It is wisest to backup essential files from Win95 before starting.
Of course, you backup your essential files _anyways_, so this isn't
a problem!

[That said, I've screwed-up my FBSD partition multiple times while
installing, but never my Win95 one].

> documentation, but it is a far cry from user-friendly.  and easy to
> install? what a laugh,  maybe easy for a programmer.  To install win95 I
> didn't need to know all about my hardware.  I'm an A+ certified PC
> technician and still can't understand your documentation.  Even making the

It's not being a programmer or a PC technician which is required for
a newbie to install FreeBSD.  In fact, we don't even know what is
required, yet.  However, we do know it has something to do with
having lots of interest and free time.  :-)

These mailing lists are filled with people who were at one time in
the same position you are in now WRT to FreeBSD/UNIX.

> Maybe your OS/Server is good, but most people will never know it until you
> make it much more user-friendly.

This, of course, is the crux of the matter.  When you find errors or
things that could be more clear in the documentation, you are
encouraged to use send-pr (a command available once FBSD is
installed, or also available through a web interface from
www.freebsd.org) to report them.  If you include a Fix, that's even
cooler (since the problem isn't that people think the docs are
perfect, its that people don't feel like fixing them).

PS.  It is good.  :)  But it can take time to appreciate this,
largely due to what you would call user-unfriendliness.


--
 tIM...HOEk
OPTIMIZATION: the process of using many one-letter variables names
              hoping that the resultant code will run faster.




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