Date: Wed, 15 Jul 1998 18:42:13 -0700 (PDT) From: Joseph Koshy <jkoshy> To: andrsn@andrsn.Stanford.edu Cc: freebsd-doc@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Linux-FreeBSD Q&A Message-ID: <199807160142.SAA22565@hub.freebsd.org>
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(http://freebsd.stanford.edu/FreeBSD/linux.html) Some answers to your questions with parenthetical comments needing further discussion by the list in curly braces "{}". Q: Do gcc and cc work the same under FreeBSD as they do under linux? A: Fundamentally yes. The version of GCC in the current FreeBSD release is "v2.7.2.1" and this should behave identically to a GCC v2.7.2.1 compiler under Linux. Numerical programs using floating point may sometimes show different behaviour; FreeBSD does not by default mask off floating point exception conditions like numeric underflow or loss of precision and will attempt to notify the program using a signal when this happens. If the program has not arranged to handle this signal, it will be terminated by the kernel. Some {all?} versions of the Linux kernel do not enable detection of these numeric exceptions by default, and consequently the same programs will run without apparent errors under Linux. The accuracy and reliability of the results generated may not be that expected however. { Is this description accurate? } Q: Does FreeBSD run ELF binaries? (Is that the right question?) A: Yes, FreeBSD can run ELF binaries without any problem. Linux ELF binaries work fine too under Linux emulation, though older binaries may need to be "branded" before use using the `brandelf' utility. { There is a (small) section on "branding" in the Handbook, we could point people to this: ``23.1.4. Installing Linux ELF binaries''.} Q: Will I be able to mount Linux file systems under FreeBSD? A: Yes, you can mount Linux "ext2" file systems under FreeBSD. Use # mount -t ext2fs /dev/wd0s1 /mnt ^^^^^^^^^^ this is the device name for your linux partition Note that the device numbering scheme used by Linux is different from that followed in the BSD world. For example, "/dev/hda" under Linux could appear as "/dev/wd0s1" under the BSD naming scheme. Q: Can I install FreeBSD on the same hard drive as Linux? A: Yes. You can install FreeBSD in another primary partition on the hard disk. { You can even arrange for FreeBSD to use Linux's swap partition, (there was a discussion on this point on -hackers sometime back), but this may be a bit advanced for a introductory howto. } { Note: I think that the default bootloader "booteasy" doesn't support booting from a secondary ("extended") partition. Is this correct? } { We could point people to the FreeBSD+LILO HowTo on the WWW and the FAQ entry on this topic too. } Q: If I install FreeBSD on the same computer on which I've got Linux, will Linux lilo work? A: Yes. See the FAQ ``How do I boot FreeBSD and Linux from LILO?'' and ``How do I boot FreeBSD and Linux using BootEasy?''. -- Koshy <jkoshy@freebsd.org> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-doc" in the body of the message
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