From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Mar 7 17:34:18 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9AAE41065674 for ; Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:34:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mike@sentex.net) Received: from smarthost1.sentex.ca (smarthost1.sentex.ca [64.7.153.18]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 597D68FC17 for ; Fri, 7 Mar 2008 17:34:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mike@sentex.net) Received: from lava.sentex.ca (pyroxene.sentex.ca [199.212.134.18]) by smarthost1.sentex.ca (8.14.2/8.14.2) with ESMTP id m27HYFW4034086; Fri, 7 Mar 2008 12:34:16 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from mike@sentex.net) Received: from mdt-xp.sentex.net (simeon.sentex.ca [192.168.43.27]) by lava.sentex.ca (8.13.8/8.13.3) with ESMTP id m27HYFCf014595 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NO); Fri, 7 Mar 2008 12:34:15 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from mike@sentex.net) Message-Id: <200803071734.m27HYFCf014595@lava.sentex.ca> X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Version 7.1.0.9 Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 12:36:21 -0500 To: "Darran" , "FreeBSD Mailing List" From: Mike Tancsa In-Reply-To: References: <200803071637.aa04380@walton.maths.tcd.ie> <47D16FA5.5070008@scottevil.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed Cc: Subject: Re: FreeBSD and Apache, is it safe out of the box ? X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 07 Mar 2008 17:34:18 -0000 At 12:02 PM 3/7/2008, Darran wrote: >Hello all, > >I want to run a (FreeBSD 7) server facing the internet and running Apache and >wondered if its safe out of the box .. so to speak ? Yes, today it is. But that does not necessarily mean you will not need to do updates, apply patches, perhaps change your configuration to deal with new threats. In my experience, FreeBSD makes the later part easier than Windows or Linux (IMHO and experience) >Do i have to do a degree in configuration to allow it to face the wild west >(internet) ? >I also want to use it for storage of media and serving of media .. >using windows >and freebsd clients .. is it possible .. again .. out of the box ? If you mean turn it on, click a few buttons and "it works" ? no. You will need to install and configure samba and apache. e.g. cd /usr/ports/net/samba3;make install will get the application installed, but you still need to configure it and later maintain it. With Windows, I find you can initially get things working without understanding how it works. But when you run into problems, you wont understand how to fix them. In general I find with FreeBSD, you are expected to understand some basics, but you are then better prepared to understand the problems you will face in running a server.... That being said, the defaults FreeBSD 7.0 it comes with are pretty sane and you should be able to get going quickly to the point where you are doing "stuff" ---Mike