From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Nov 18 07:45:13 2008 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A3AD5106564A for ; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:13 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (gate6.infracaninophile.co.uk [IPv6:2001:8b0:151:1::1]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id DC3A68FC08 for ; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:12 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) Received: from happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk (localhost [IPv6:::1]) (authenticated bits=0) by smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk (8.14.3/8.14.3) with ESMTP id mAI7j5QW055012; Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:06 GMT (envelope-from m.seaman@infracaninophile.co.uk) X-DKIM: Sendmail DKIM Filter v2.7.2 smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk mAI7j5QW055012 DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=simple/simple; d=infracaninophile.co.uk; s=200708; t=1226994306; bh=QNiVTP3go9dcgV p4WgVtPlkFUtmUx0e7yy0i/ZOdJqQ=; h=Message-ID:Date:From:MIME-Version: To:CC:Subject:References:In-Reply-To:Content-Type:Cc:Content-Type: Date:From:In-Reply-To:Message-ID:Mime-Version:References:To; z=Mes sage-ID:=20<49227279.8040607@infracaninophile.co.uk>|Date:=20Tue,=2 018=20Nov=202008=2007:44:57=20+0000|From:=20Matthew=20Seaman=20|Organization:=20Infracaninophile|User -Agent:=20Thunderbird=202.0.0.17=20(X11/20080929)|MIME-Version:=201 .0|To:=20stephen=20jackson=20|CC:=20freebsd -questions@freebsd.org|Subject:=20Re:=20FreeBSD=20and=20hardware??| References:=20<7f8a05a80811171609h2f5742cfo2ae003415a99e45f@mail.gm ail.com>|In-Reply-To:=20<7f8a05a80811171609h2f5742cfo2ae003415a99e4 5f@mail.gmail.com>|X-Enigmail-Version:=200.95.6|Content-Type:=20mul tipart/signed=3B=20micalg=3Dpgp-sha256=3B=0D=0A=20protocol=3D"appli cation/pgp-signature"=3B=0D=0A=20boundary=3D"------------enig56C478 AC16CF0AD238CD7138"; b=JtIf+ywycLX4j/GcBkg6T7cJl657LzlkYL8/4IotZkJl KTp01FUtfDVL33N/7OZCspZ3nrqTFCwguJswDKvML0XrOtgngUwQ2oMpi4RmyOdLOEX kD12wPuocpj8rIoXz+7nYLyEKMwoelJsoGAGVYqze4RDS64ktyjAkCh3PDA0= Message-ID: <49227279.8040607@infracaninophile.co.uk> Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:44:57 +0000 From: Matthew Seaman Organization: Infracaninophile User-Agent: Thunderbird 2.0.0.17 (X11/20080929) MIME-Version: 1.0 To: stephen jackson References: <7f8a05a80811171609h2f5742cfo2ae003415a99e45f@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <7f8a05a80811171609h2f5742cfo2ae003415a99e45f@mail.gmail.com> X-Enigmail-Version: 0.95.6 Content-Type: multipart/signed; micalg=pgp-sha256; protocol="application/pgp-signature"; boundary="------------enig56C478AC16CF0AD238CD7138" X-Greylist: Sender succeeded SMTP AUTH, not delayed by milter-greylist-4.0.1 (smtp.infracaninophile.co.uk [IPv6:::1]); Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:06 +0000 (GMT) X-Virus-Scanned: ClamAV 0.94.1/8645/Tue Nov 18 04:30:32 2008 on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk X-Virus-Status: Clean X-Spam-Status: No, score=-2.9 required=5.0 tests=AWL,BAYES_00,DKIM_SIGNED, DKIM_VERIFIED,NO_RELAYS autolearn=ham version=3.2.5 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.2.5 (2008-06-10) on happy-idiot-talk.infracaninophile.co.uk Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: FreeBSD and hardware?? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 18 Nov 2008 07:45:13 -0000 This is an OpenPGP/MIME signed message (RFC 2440 and 3156) --------------enig56C478AC16CF0AD238CD7138 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable stephen jackson wrote: > I have read briefly on FreeBSD and it seems to be the winner on speed a= nd > stability versus Linux and of course MS Windows. > I have just experienced 2 days of never ending problems with a Sony lap= top > and Windows XP, which cannot run Norton 360 virus nor AVG. > They need an XP 2.0 update which I downloaded, but it then refused to > install. Even the Symantec CHAT and remote control of my PC couldn't ge= t it > working. I am about ready to wish unimaginable woe upon Microsoft... If you're thinking of trying out FreeBSD, then this is the right place to= come. A word of warning though: it's not at all like Windows, or even MacOSX. You will be expected to learn quite a bit about the low level nitty-gritty of the OS in order to achieve the best results. Of course, the "best results" are very good indeed, and in my humble opinion, well worth the effort required. Installing on laptop type hardware is a tricky proposition: it's very muc= h luck of the draw whether your particular model has sufficient driver supp= ort to satisfy your requirements. You should check out this site to see what= other people's experiences are with your laptop or similar models: http://laptop.bsdgroup.de/freebsd/ > Anyway, how about you plus Google cash, and others (?), putting a simpl= e > easy partition of MS hard disks and FreeBSD install with a nice GUI. A= nd > getting Google to distribute it to the World. My question is, how much > hardware can you produce drivers for. Presumbably Apple Mac OSX have mo= st of > the hardware drivers, so can you?? Distribution is not the difficult part. No need to involve Google -- the= FreeBSD project already has a very good world-wide on-line distribution system. If you want a pre-packaged desktop oriented version of FreeBSD, then chec= k out the PC-BSD project: http://www.pcbsd.org/ Driver support really is the kicker in all of this. Apple MacOSX doesn't= have this problem, since it only runs on Apple proprietary hardware. If = the hardware side of Apple wants to, say, change to a new graphics card, then the OS development team will be involved at an early stage and there= will be a simultaneous release of the new hardware and of system updates so that hardware is supported. That's a very different problem than tryi= ng to provide support for all (or even a large fraction) of the readily avai= lable devices on the market at the moment, which is what FreeBSD faces. Even if Apple does have a driver for a piece of kit not already supported= in FreeBSD, it cannot be assumed that Apple will automatically donate the co= de to the FreeBSD project. Apple is frequently constrained by proprietary agreements with equipment manufacturers. They simply can't reveal the low= level information necessary to be able to write an effective driver. The= Mach kernel and driver architecture in MacOSX are also significantly different= to the FreeBSD equivalents, and it's not possible to just lift code from one= and drop it into the other with minimal effort. Cheers, Matthew --=20 Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil. 7 Priory Courtyard Flat 3 PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey Ramsgate Kent, CT11 9PW --------------enig56C478AC16CF0AD238CD7138 Content-Type: application/pgp-signature; name="signature.asc" Content-Description: OpenPGP digital signature Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="signature.asc" -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v2.0.9 (FreeBSD) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iEYEAREIAAYFAkkicoEACgkQ8Mjk52CukIyQ3QCfa1od4u3fR8jU/RtCkCMpjBbH wRYAniZvn+oNOMX3wnlDvNjKaVVOZTcm =KOkb -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- --------------enig56C478AC16CF0AD238CD7138--