nilson Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 I want to learn more about freeBSD. Like, does it use a kernel similar to Linux's?How easy is freeBSD to set up? Worse than Gentoo? And does it come with X by default or do you have to get that separately? I know FreeBSD is more of a server OS, and I'm not plannig on getting it anytime soon but I want to know more about it.EDIT: Oh, and can you use emacs on FreeBSD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greengeek Posted December 1, 2003 Share Posted December 1, 2003 I installed FreeBSD awhile ago and found it very fast and stable. It's easy to install as long as you read everything carefully along the way and yes you can use emacs. It's based on Unix so it's very much like Linux and if you use KDE it's pretty hard to tell the difference. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 1, 2003 Author Share Posted December 1, 2003 Oh, so KDE/Gnome both work on FreeBSD as well? (A different compilation I presume)I'm looking on Ebay for a set of 5.1 cds, so I may try it out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 2, 2003 Author Share Posted December 2, 2003 Don't guess anyone likes BSD in here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LilBambi Posted December 2, 2003 Share Posted December 2, 2003 Yes, KDE and Gnome work on the X Server port for freeBSD...and they run very fast too!Joy is right...the syntax for things are slightly different but device names are totally different as is the file system structure.Definitely need to read up on it ... but it is a true UNIX system...it's geeky but it's cool.Most programs for Linux have already been ported to freeBSD, or been ported from BSD to Linux. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 2, 2003 Author Share Posted December 2, 2003 I'm wanting to get a book on the design philosophies of UNIX and how the open-source came to it and how it differs. This type of stuff interests me. Any reccommendations? I'm thinking of going into Computer Science with a concentration in Unix network administration maybe, but I'm not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 A FreeBSD installation is rather like a slackware or debian installation. I've never gotten it working personally (but the only one i've tried it on... is this anti open source computer i have here lol.) Nothing like that usually works so i wasn't surprized.It uses that semi-GUI installation style like slackware. I'm pretty sure KDE and Gnome come with it by default.I'd like to go for a computer science degree too. But, i've still got a while to decide also Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted December 3, 2003 Share Posted December 3, 2003 BSD is quite easy to learn as opposed to Linux.BSD file structure is alot simpler and easier to understand as opposed to Linux messy structure.The way you perform program installation is pretty much the same as Gentoo Linux.You can get a basic black box up and running within 15 minutes or less (you can get it running within much less time with OpenBSD). You get to have the choice of installing binary package of KDE/Gnome, but if you are like a Gentoo fan, you can optimize the code and compile the whole thing yourself as well.There are a few downsides with BSD systems however. BSD has 8 Gb limitation. That means you can't install BSD anywhere above the 8Gb limitation. For example, if you have a 40 Gb hard drive, you must install BSD in the first 8 Gb space available. Otherwise, BSD will not boot. It is a lagacy bug that BSD never fixed. OpenBSD is also affected as well.Also, theoretically, there are a lot of ports for BSD, and you should be able to get any Linux binarys to run on BSD as well, but the truth is that a lot of Linux apps don't run on BSD. You often have to wait for people making ports out of certain packages to run on BSD. For example, it was only last year that people were able to run Open Office 1.0 on FreeBSD. I don't think you can run OOffice on OpenBSD yet, but SlashDot had reports awhile ago that some hacks will do the trick (you have to install Linux first.. and then Open Office and then BSD.. mm hassle)Well, if you truly want to learn UNIX commands, BSD is actually the way to go.If you are a programmar, your introductory platform is actually Solaris/BSD, and everything you compile will be on BSD as well. Why? You get less buffer overrun error in BSD for your compiled program than in Linux.GCC compiler actually works a lot better in BSD than it is in Linux.Lastly, OpenBSD is the gold standard for server if you plan to turn your machine into a server. FreeBSD can be a server, but the chance of having it hacked is a lot higher than OpenBSD, same for Linux Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 3, 2003 Author Share Posted December 3, 2003 So, I must install it in an 8-gig partition, but will it be able to access the other 78 gigs of the exclusive drive it will have? I was planning on using it as a home network server/router/firewall, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greengeek Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Yes it can be installed on larger than 8GB drives (mine's on a 40GB), it's just that if you have a multi boot system it has to be installed somewhere on the first 8GB. Hope that makes sense! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 4, 2003 Author Share Posted December 4, 2003 Yes, it makes sense.... so if it's installed on its own empty drive it doesn't matter the size, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greengeek Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Well it works OK on my 40GB and I also had it on a 60GB and no problems with it. I'm still finding my way around the file system and getting used to some of the differences between BSD and Linux but it's all fun and I learn something new every day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 I would recommend creating a single 8 Gb primary partition in the beginning of the HDD just for FreeBSD.BSD can also refuse to boot up if its kernel is outside the 8Gb limit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ThunderRiver Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Yes, it makes sense.... so if it's installed on its own empty drive it doesn't matter the size, right?It does matter. Once again, in the beginning you should be fine. However, if you install more and more applications on it, and eventually there is a possibility that kernel will reside over the 8Gb limit, and that's where you run into problem. The only way to make sure the kernel stays within 8 Gb, is to create a primary partition somewhere from 2 Gb to 8 Gb just to host the FreeBSD OS.. and perhaps if you want to separate apps from the OS you can create another partition just for it.There are quite a few web pages that actually talk about the 8Gb limitation with BSD systems.. and I am sure you can find more information from there. Just google around.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greengeek Posted December 4, 2003 Share Posted December 4, 2003 Might be a good idea to check out some of the sites with Google, some say there's still an 8GB limit and some say it doesn't matter. A few I found mentioned having FreeBSD on 60GB drives and mine works ok on it's 40GB.Experimenting is the best way to learn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Yes it can be installed on larger than 8GB drives (mine's on a 40GB), it's just that if you have a multi boot system it has to be installed somewhere on the first 8GB. Hope that makes sense!Maybe that's why it has never worked for me Why haven't they fixed the bug yet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nilson Posted December 5, 2003 Author Share Posted December 5, 2003 Really... will fixing the bug require a rewrite of huge portions of code or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SonicDragon Posted December 5, 2003 Share Posted December 5, 2003 Really... will fixing the bug require a rewrite of huge portions of code or something?I don't know. Even if it did, you'd think that it would be something they would want to fix... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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