Date: Mon, 23 Feb 1998 16:01:00 +0000 From: stuart henderson <stuart@internationalschool.co.uk> To: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: The Boston Globe Message-ID: <34F19D3C.7B575320@internationalschool.co.uk> References: <34F1940B.41C67EA6@asme.org>
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Pedro F. Giffuni wrote: > > My local newspaper translated an article from The Boston Globe > written by Hiawatha Bray, about Linux and the Netscape strategy. She > (or he?) says that Linux would be an alternative if netscape > distributed it, but notes that Linux is difficult to install. She > also has that crazy idea that Linux has 5 million users ! Which reminds me (Computer Shopper suggested that Netscape should buy Caldera buried away in some editorial :-) here are a few points of the FreeBSD review in the same issue, I chose to pick out the more negative points in the feeling that they're the ones that need most work on, they mainly concentrated on installation and not any of the things that matter whilst it's working, save a few comments near the end like "In use, FreeBSD seems as stable as a commercial version of Unix". etc. (sysinstall) "I have to admit that this isn't 100 percent solid software; for example, if you make a mistake, backtracking can be difficult, if not impossible"......."Compared to a linux installation, this stage is better and seems to have fewer glitches and peculiarities" :-) (also comments about the most likely errors during installation being to do with lack of disk space). "Don't be shy about admitting to be a novice, because this really should be labelled 'quick, easy, painless Unix installation even for an expert'". (well, that won't fit on the screen, but for anyone that hasn't had the misfortune to have had to use Windows recently, it is very rare to use the Novice bit of any setup program because at least that way, you usually get to find out how many 100s of mb it will eat or what it will scribble over :-) "It could do with a good printed manual" (or rather, it could do with a good easily locatable UK source of them that doesn't involve airmail :-) (about X) "In one case I discovered that the set-up routine wouldn't run - it appeared to completely lock the system. Later I realised that it was just that the monitor couldn't cope with the refresh rate."....."I never did make the set-up program work except by swapping the monitor for another one"). "Not many users are going to be happy working with the TWM environment" and "To swap windows managers is a matter of editing a line in the configuration file, and there doesn't seem to be an easy way of doing this". "In use, FreeBSD seems as stable as a commercial version of Unix. Subjectively, it seems more stable and has fewer rough edges than Linux. If you can do without the back-up of a help line and technical support, I see very little reason for not using it seriously, and even" (for, I presume!) "mission-critical, tasks. It makes a very capable internet server." "It is Linux and SCO-compatible, and I certainly prefer it to Linux, which is around the same sort of cost...It could do with a good printed manual giving guidance on the bundled software and some simplification of the post installation configuration" (I think Xfree is a large part of this ;-) "but apart from this, you can't really complain at so much really high-quality software for so little cash." The accompanying screenshots were a couple of /stand/sysinstall disklabel etc. and one of X with a Mosaic hidden under a couple of xterms. They obviously didn't see the screenshots they could have borrowed from www.cdrom.com (mind you they aren't that easy to find :-) Stuart To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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