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Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msunews!uwm.edu!cs.utexas.edu!news.sprintlink.net!news.indirect.com!wes From: wes@indirect.com (Barnacle Wes) Subject: Re: Switching From Linux to FreeBSD Message-ID: <D2wBp7.LKI@indirect.com> Sender: usenet@indirect.com (Darin Wayrynen) Organization: the briney, briney deep Date: Tue, 24 Jan 1995 06:07:55 GMT References: <3fvdhg$34i@myrddin.imat.com> X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Lines: 60 Michael_Nelson (nelson@seahunt.imat.com) wrote: : But I'd like to know.... is there anyone else here who's made the switch : from Linux to FreeBSD, and if so, are you glad you did? A couple of years ago, I took short detour from 386bsd 0.2 to Linux, and then moved on to NetBSD 0.9 as soon as I got my hands on 4meg of RAM. Since then, I've upgraded to FreeBSD 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. I've never regretted it. When I moved from Linux to NetBSD, it was for the networking support, which was rather weak in Linux *at that time,* and because NetBSD was closer to SunOS. I was working at home on applications that had to run on SunOS at work, and involved rather detailed kernel work - looking through the process table, etc. SunOS and 4.4 BSD are different enough in this area that the old matchup isn't quite so good now. : How 'bout the availability of utilities and programs for FreeBSD? I'm : familiar with the archive sites for Linux stuff, but don't really know : where the major FreeBSD archives are, other than FreeBSD.cdrom.com. I : didn't see much there except the FreeBSD source and OS itself. Does the : FreeBSD community have archive sites on the order of Linux's : sunsite.unc.edu site? If you're a member of the "build/port it yourself" GNU crowd, *BSD is a pretty good environment to be in - BSD support comes with most, if not all, GNU products these days. Most UNIX code available on the net was developed on SunOS, Ultrix, or another BSD drivative even today, and ports rather easily to *BSD. If you're looking for pre-compiled binaries, there is a small but growing list of install kits in the 'packages' directory on the FTP servers. Most of these packages install and run without a hitch. The selection is smaller than Linux (I think), but still considerable. : One of the major reasons for considering the switch is that I would like : to get more UNIX work (I'm a fledgling consultant), and many of the jobs : I see offered are looking for either SunOS experience or experience in : another "BSD-based" UNIX. In other words, I would like to learn more : about the BSD side of the UNIX coin, and FreeBSD appears to be a good way : for me to get some of that experience, especially since I cannot afford : to buy any of the commercial BSD UNIXes. Most people who know a little about UNIX are willing to bite off on "4.4 BSD" experience as being roughly equivalent to "SunOS" experience. Whether or not this is "fair" is debatable, but it is true as far as I've seen; I even assume this myself (a little bit). This kind of goes hand in hand with the observation in the BSD FAQ: Linux = "Wow, my PC can run UNIX!" *BSD = "Wow, UNIX can run on my PC!" : I love learning new things and fiddling with UNIX... do you think : switching to FreeBSD would be a good move for me in light of the above : discussion? Sure, or NetBSD for that matter. I'd keep the Linux disk around *at least* until you get BSD up, though. We'll be watching for your questions here. ;^) Wes Peters