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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!hp9000.csc.cuhk.hk!saimiri.primate.wisc.edu!sdd.hp.com!usc!wupost!csus.edu!netcom.com!blake From: blake@netcom.com (Blake McBride) Subject: 386bsd Questions Message-ID: <blakeC61pop.KvE@netcom.com> Summary: Questions about 386BSD Keywords: 386 Organization: NETCOM On-line Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest) Date: Sun, 25 Apr 1993 15:29:13 GMT Lines: 139 I am currently using a System V.4 unix on my system and am looking to change to a unix that comes with full source. I believe the three choices I have are Linux, 386BSD and 386 BSDI. Among the various factors which will determine my choice are as follows: compatibility with my existing hardware, system features (such as types of file systems), software compatibility with existing unix software (at the source code level), system stability and support. I really appreciate any responses to this query! Please send responses via e-mail to: blake@netcom.com My existing hardware consists of the following: Machine: Gateway 33mhz 386DX, 33mhz 387DX, 16mb RAM, 1 parallel, 2 serial Disk controller: Ultrastor 12F-24 AT / ESDI disk controller C Drive: Micropalis 1518-15 (1.3GB, ESDI, 2600 logical cylinders) D Drive: CDC 320MB ESDI Tape drive: Wangtek E5150-EQ 1/4" drive Tape drive controller: PC-02 host adapter (QIC-02 interface) Addition serial ports: Qua Tech QS-100D four channel adapter (16550 chips) VGA board: STB PowerGraph VGA with 1MB RAM (TSENG ET 4000AX chip) Monitor: Sony CPD-1304 Modem: 9600 HST dual standard Printers: HP Laser printer (parallel), Dot matrix printer (serial) Mouse: Logitech serial mouse CD ROM drive: None (need recommendations) I am a competent C programmer with about 10 years of C/UNIX experience so I am not afraid of installation procedures or applying patches. I don't, however, want to make a career out of finding and fixing bugs just to keep the system up. How stable is the system? Will the OS support my disk controller and drives? One problem I have always had is that no disk partitioning software or OS I have found can access all 2600 cylinders of my C drive (a real waste). Although no partitioning software I know of will allow the last partition to start after a certain point (512MB or 512 cylinders?) or extend beyond a curtain point (512MB or 1024 cylinders?), my current unix allows access to 2048 cylinders. Can the OS access (or be made to access) my entire C drive? Will the OS support all 6 of my serial ports? My current unix OS (as well as a previous unix OS I had) can't access my modem at a full 9600 (19.2?) baud without occasionally loosing characters. To fix this I got the Qua Tech serial board with the 16550 chips and installed the FAS serial driver. This solved the problem just fine. Will the OS support the full 9600 rate of my modem without dropping any characters when using my 4 port board? Does the OS support auto configuration of the ports so I can dial out from a port which is also used as a dial in line? Does the OS support my tape controller / drive? Will the OS support my parallel and serial printers? What, cost effective, external CD ROM drive do you support and recommend? Does the OS support the BSD new file system (including cylinder groups and fragments)? Is there a file system which supports long file names (how long?) and symbolic links? How large can a unix file system be? Can I have more than one unix file system per disk partition? Can my swap space be on the same partition as my unix file systems? Does the OS give access to MS-DOS partitions? Large DOS partitions (>32MB)? Extended DOS partitions? MS-DOS Floppy disks? Can I run DOS programs from unix (not very important)? Would there be any problem sharing my C Drive with DOS, OS/2, Windows NT and UNIX (in different partitions)? Does the OS support shared librarys (runtime linking)? Will the OS share text space when multiple applications use the same shared librarys? Does the OS support demand page virtual memory (as apposed to program swapping)? Are all the man pages available? Does the system support virtual consoles? I presume all three support X-windows and networking. BSDI only ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Initial system cost? Support cost? Available on what media? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Blake McBride Home (615) 790-8521 3020 Liberty Hills Drive Work (615) 790-1088 Franklin, TN 37064 blake@netcom.com U.S.A.