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Date:      Fri, 30 Jan 2004 02:00:52 +1000
From:      Q <q_dolan@yahoo.com.au>
To:        Mike Machuidel <machuidel@yahoo.com>
Cc:        freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Retired Linux user wants to switch
Message-ID:  <1075392051.725.161.camel@boxster>
In-Reply-To: <20040129102229.85256.qmail@web40912.mail.yahoo.com>
References:  <20040129102229.85256.qmail@web40912.mail.yahoo.com>

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On Thu, 2004-01-29 at 20:22, Mike Machuidel wrote:
> I've been using Linux for about 7 years. At the
> beginning the Linux community was still very small and
> very little people ever heard about it or even knew
> what is was. Many people called me crazy/stupid/dumb

Be prepared to get that all over again.. with people wondering why you
use FreeBSD instead of their beloved Linux.
...
> really turned me off. They called me "a troll", that I
> should "go back to Windows", I'm "too dumb to use
> Linux" and because I told them "I've been on this
> channel even before you began using Linux" they kicked
> me off. This is 1 of the many examples.

I started using Linux about 10 years ago, and switched to FreeBSD almost
exclusively about 2 years after that. While I still have one machine in
my home using Linux, I do so only due to hardware requirements and I
have grown to loath it. I can sympathise with your experience.

> It may sound weird, but because of what the Linux
> community has become I would like to try and switch
> some of my systems over to FreeBSD. First I have some
> questions about what to expect:

You should find the FreeBSD community very supportive, in even the most
basic of issues, provided you first have a read through the FreeBSD
Handbook and other supporting documentation (all available through the
freebsd.org website), and ask your question in the appropriate location,
as you have done here.

> Is there any alternative for Shorewall? If not, would
> it be wise to port it to FreeBSD?

Not exactly. Shorewall relies on Netfilter (IPTables), which is a Linux
only thing. Depending on what your requirements are there are a few
alternatives to Netfilter. There is IPFilter & IPFW (both included in
recent FreeBSD releases). There is also the 'PF' packet filter ported
from OpenBSD (in ports under "security/pf").

Whichever firewall/filtering method best suites your requirements will
determine what your options are for pursuing configuration tools like
Shorewall.

For appliance like firewall applications you might want to check out the
following BSD based solutions:

ClosedBSD - (http://www.closedbsd.org/)
m0n0wall - (http://m0n0.ch/wall/)
NetBoz - (http://www.netboz.net/)
PicoBSD - (http://people.freebsd.org/~picobsd/picobsd.html) - dated
theWall - (http://thewall.sourceforge.net/)
MicroBSD - (http://www.microbsd.net/) - based on OpenBSD

> Is FreeBSD using PAM by default? Will the combination
> of pam_ldap + nss_ldap + OpenLDAP work?

Yes, PAM is available out of the box, and NSS can be used this way, but
your success may depend on the release of FreeBSD you choose to use.

See here for a starting point:
http://www.cultdeadsheep.org/FreeBSD/docs/Quick_and_dirty_FreeBSD_5_x_and_nss_ldap_mini-HOWTO.html

> Can FreeBSD resolve reverse dependecies? Is there
> something to clean up orphan dependecies?

If you are referring to package management. Yes, there are a number of
support tools available for this very purpose. All packages are handled
through the ports system in /usr/ports (also see www.freshports.org),
and dependencies are never a problem if you use these tools effectively.
Check out 'sysutils/portupgrade' for package management and
'sysutils/pkg_cutleaves' for dealing with orphans

> Does FreeBSD have something like SYSV modules (just
> asking, of course there's kill)?

I'm not sure what you mean by this. If you mean basic compatibility like
semaphores, shared memory and IPC, then yes. If you mean a SYSV style
init and run level structure, then no.

> How well does DRM/DRI work in FreeBSD?

That will probably depend on the video card.
See http://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm-kmod/

> Is it possible to PXE boot the FreeBSD installation
> and install from the network (without setting up NFS)?

This is possible, check the handbook for the "Jumpstart Guide" section,
and use FTP as the media type instead of NFS.

> Are there any recommendations for managing a hosting
> server? Software? Configurations?

Read the FreeBSD Handbook, and other supporting documentation. Use the
ports collection!

> These were all question for now. I hope the story at
> the beginning wasn't too much and didn't violate the
> rules of this forum.

That's basically what this list is for.

-- 

Seeya...Q

               -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
                        
                          _____  /   Quinton Dolan q_dolan@yahoo.com.au
  __  __/  /   /   __/   /      /          
     /    __  /   _/    /      /         Gold Coast, QLD, Australia
  __/  __/ __/ ____/   /   -  /             Ph: +61 419 729 806
                    _______  /              
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