From owner-freebsd-doc Wed Aug 9 3:48: 7 2000 Delivered-To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Received: from horns.ctrllab.com (horns.ctrllab.com [203.63.54.81]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 906CF37BA00 for ; Wed, 9 Aug 2000 03:47:52 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from chuckd@horns.ctrllab.com) Received: by horns.ctrllab.com (Postfix, from userid 1000) id B000476FF; Wed, 9 Aug 2000 20:47:50 +1000 (EST) Date: Tue, 8 Aug 2000 23:10:58 +1000 From: Chuck Dale To: freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Subject: Some Thoughts on the Handbook Message-ID: <20000808231058.S16708@aphid.net> Mail-Followup-To: Chuck Dale , freebsd-doc@freebsd.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline User-Agent: Mutt/1.2i Sender: owner-freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.org Dear Most Respected Documenters, I just finished reading (almost) all the Handbook. I have a few thoughts - take them for what they are worth. A lot of things would be more useful if I just went and did them myself but no I'll just talk. Organisation ------------ The handbook seems to be organised by how much material has been contributed on a given subject rather than on what would be useful to the "typical" FreeBSD user. In a similar vein, hyperlinks aren't used to best advantage - there's a lot more reading required than simply to find what you're looking for. But then again, is a book format even the best arrangement of all this information? Perhaps the facilities of hypertext could allow better navigation of the material. Networking ---------- SERIAL Is it just me or are text terminals rare these days? If so, I am assuming that most people who will be setting them up will already know most of how to do it. Obviously some people will still be interested, but I'm sure the number of people using FreeBSD to do networking far outweighs those doing serial comms (except modems obviously, but they are covered in the PPP section). So why not farm off the Serial Communications section to a separate guide or at least take it out of #1 position in the Networking section. ETHERNET Why is there so little on setting up a FreeBSD box to operate on a LAN? Or did I miss it. ifconfig, route, NIC drivers etc. Kernel ------ Need more information on KLDs/LKMs - whatever they are called. I understand module operations in Linux but after reading the handbook all I know is that the kldstat command (or something similar) lists the currently running modules. Even a little section referring to appropriate manpages and commands and directories in the source would be useful. SSH --- The instructions for getting OpenSSL installed (particularly international versions) are very unclear. It doesn't actually say what to do - it explains lots of issues but that's about it. This would have to be a very common thing for people to be doing. Packages/Ports -------------- The explanation of ports is very good. Yet there is almost no explanation of packages and how they relate to the ports. I understand that the packages are simply created before distribution by doing a "make package" in the ports tree but I only know this from using OpenBSD. Example Installations --------------------- It would be very useful to provide a section that gives example installations - for example installing a FreeBSD dedicated web server, installing as a gateway, as a workstation etc. This would simply provide pointers to more information. In gateway you would have references to the firewall section, networking section etc. Otherwise it is a long slog picking out the bits of the manual which are applicable. I was gleeful watching the 700 pages of Handbook pour out of the printer, but as I read I was disappointed that the system was not explained clearly and some things were skipped altogether. I really like the idea of a comprehensive guide (the Handbook) to a comprehensive system (FreeBSD) as opposed to a haphazard guide (LDP) to a haphazard system (Linux), but there is still a ways to go. (Of course..) Thanks for listening! Chuck [ charles hamilton dale ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message