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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!news.adelaide.edu.au!gateway.dircsa.org.au!cleese.apana.org.au!apanix.apana.org.au!hart From: hart@apanix.apana.org.au (Leigh Hart) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions Subject: Re: freebsd vs. netbsd vs. linux Date: 30 Aug 94 08:58:58 GMT Organization: Apanix Public Access Unix, +61 8 373 5485 (5 lines) Lines: 90 Message-ID: <hart.778237138@apanix.apana.org.au> References: <33lef8$bov@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> <jmonroyCv9uCC.KIG@netcom.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: seldon.apanix.apana.org.au In an attempt to coerce Ryan into joining a vapourware religion, jmonroy@netcom.com (Jesus Monroy Jr) scrawls: > I'm going to get flamed for this, but here goes. How intuitive of you, Jesus, I'm impressed! > [indented ramble about vapourware deleted for the sanity of the reader] > 386bsd release 1.0 will, when available, be the easiest > to setup, start, compare and possibly use. What Jesus is saying, dear reader, is "I can't answer your question, because I have no idea how easy it is to install the current releases of FreeBSD, Linux, and NetBSD (nor 386bsd 1.0 for that matter) because I have never even seen them, let alone installed them". > Yes, 386bsd release 1.0 is said to be in a "production > stage". I am imformed that this means that the source > tree is finalized, the annotations are finalized and > that the "production stage" refers to the test nesseccary > to assure readability of the disk. The words "is said to be", "production stage", "I am informed", and "production stage" all translate to "I don't know the answer to your question, Ryan". Now, lets see if I can answer your question, without trying to sell you anything. Ryan Meegan (ryan@essex.ecn.uoknor.edu) wrote: > I'd like it to run on a 386dx (of some decent speed (yet to be > purchased)), 4 or 8 megs of ram, a monochrome monitor (hercules), > and about 500 megs of free hard drive space (ide drive most likely). Just a recommendation on your hardware selection, I would consider going for a 486DX based motherboard, with 8mb of ram as a minimum. This will give you "good bang for buck" - in other words, good performance for your hardware dollars. Also, although X windows can run on monochrome screens, it is much nicer on a VGA screen :-) > I'd like it to come with everything I need to network it pre-compiled > (all the daemon's, etc ready to roll). Now, in your opinion, which is > more suited to my application (personal workstation with internet > access, probably single user, though maybe a few of my friends would > use it occasionally), netbsd, freebsd, or linux. All three (NetBSD, FreeBSD and Linux) of these Unix variants come bundled with pre-compiled system and network software. In the case of FreeBSD for example, you can have a network connection up and running after installing only the first three disks. The rest of the installation can then be ftp'd or nfs'd from elsewhere. I believe that both NetBSD and Linux also have this feature, although I haven't installed a recent version of either to know for sure. I personally think that any of the three Unix variants will do your job nicely. Take a punt, draw straws, pick FreeBSD if it suits you. I'll answer any questions you have about FreeBSD installation, etc. I'm sure any number of other people will do the same for NetBSD or Linux installations. > What are the real differences between freebsd and netbsd? Both NetBSD and FreeBSD are derived from the original 386bsd 0.1. NetBSD is designed to run on multiple platforms, eg: Mac, Amiga, Sparc, (Alpha?), etc. FreeBSD is specificly aimed at the PC architecture (386, 486, etc). Hope that helps! Cheers Leigh >-- >Jesus Monroy Jr jmonroy@netcom.com >Zebra Research >/386BSD/device-drivers /fd /qic /clock /documentation /flame/intuition >___________________________________________________________________________ Look! Something else for your .sig, Jesus! -- | "By the time they had diminished | Leigh Hart | | from 50 to 8, the other dwarves | <hart@eppie.apana.org.au> | | began to suspect 'Hungry' ..." | C/- PO Box 758 | | -- Gary Larson, "The Far Side" | North Adelaide SA 5006 |