Return to BSD News archive
Received: by minnie.vk1xwt.ampr.org with NNTP
id AA2050 ; Thu, 25 Feb 93 10:09:47 EST
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions
Path: sserve!manuel.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!cs.mu.OZ.AU!summer
From: summer@ee.mu.OZ.AU (Mark Summerfield)
Subject: HELP! Is 386bsd the OS for me?
Message-ID: <9305510.20399@mulga.cs.mu.OZ.AU>
Sender: news@cs.mu.OZ.AU
Organization: Dept of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne
Date: Tue, 23 Feb 1993 23:09:58 GMT
Lines: 63
Hi people!
I am considering buying a new PC. The specific requirements I have are
as follows:
* Need to run DOS/Windows/Word for compatibility with my workmates
* I want a genuinely portable machine I can easily carry from Uni
to home and back, possibly every day
* I would like to run Un*x and X11 for almost everything other than
wordprocessing! Mainly for general hacking around, and as the
platform for the number-crunching simulation programs I am developing
as part of my project
The sort of configuration I have in mind is:
* Laptop/notebook, 486/33, 8M+ RAM, 250M+ HD.
Having read the FAQ and the install notes for 386bsd, it seems that it
would be possible for me to set up the system I need. There are just a
few other questions I need to clear up before I get serious about blowing
the bucks:
1) Hardware compatibility. Are there any specific problems with laptops
or notebooks? What questions should I ask when shopping to make sure
the specific hardware configuration I end up with will allow me
to run 386bsd + X11?
2) I note from the FAQ that there are "unofficial" kernel patches required
to run X. What is meant by "unofficial" -- a lot of people must be
using them! Will they become "official" and are they stable?
3) I'll probably spend a lot of time just hacking around, BUT since I
have serious applications in mind, too, should I be concerned about
stability/reliability of 386bsd at this stage? Obviously, with the
kind of usage I describe, I won't be leaving the system up and running
for long periods -- a day or two at most (unless those simulations
get really heavy! :-)
I have been looking at Linux, too. My last two questions are based on
a comparison of the two OS's:
4) Shared (dynamic) libraries. I gather 386bsd doesn't have them, but
there are people working on it. As far as I can figure out, Linux "sort
of" has them, but not universally. How soon will 386bsd have them,
and in the meantime, what is the penalty (in practice) in not having
them?
5) Swapping. Linux really only pages. Does 386bsd do "real" swapping?
That's about it for now. Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me
out on this!
Mark.
--------------------------------------------------------
Mark Summerfield, Photonics Research Laboratory
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Melbourne
ACSnet[AARN/Internet]: summer@ee.mu.oz[.au]
--------------------------------------------------------
"This terminal is no more. It has ceased to be. It's expired and gone
to meet its maker. This is a late terminal. It's a stiff. Bereft of
life, it rests in peace. If you hadn't nailed it to the bench, it
would be pushing up the daisies. It's run down the curtain and
joined the choir invisible. This is an X-Terminal!"