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Date:      Tue, 14 Jul 1998 03:01:47 -0400
From:      Michael Graziano <mikeg@hoflink.com>
To:        stable@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Disgruntled Linux User... questions about FreeBSD
Message-ID:  <35AB025A.4A18E43A@hoflink.com>
References:  <009501bdae88$70e84f20$6e2f87d0@ws-47-110.selectaswitch.com>

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Jeremy Domingue wrote:

> Hey all...
>

<Snip (it does sound like linux bashing, or an average linux experience for me
:P)>

> 1) First and foremost, I am wondering what issues I will face being a user
> very accustomed to linux. I know there will be differences between linux and
> FreeBSD, but can anyone outline some of the major ones?

To ME, personally, UNIX is UNIX, and the differences are not major enough to
cause ME any problems (But I adapt quickly).  If you use bash as your shell, you
probably won't have much trouble adjusting. The in some file locations (man
pages, mail folders, stuff like that) might cause problems with specially
configured shell scripts, but from your <omitted> tale of woe, I can assume that
you didn't have Linux up long enough to write many of those.

> 2) Is there a way I can install FreeBSD without losing all of the stuff on
> the server right now such as user files, web pages, programs, etc? And
> possibly keep linux on there somewhere in case I ever decide to go back?

Stick FreeBSD on a seperate drive/partition.  It can read the Linux drives just
fine to transfer files.  The best thing to do would be make a tape of any
important files and restore them to the FreeBSD system later.

> 4) I know that the current build of FreeBSD is listed as development and
> should not be used in a mission critical environment, however, what are
> people's experiences with it so far? If it seems to be fairly stable, I
> would be willing to give it a shot... I really need the SMP support.

Nobody I know uses -current, since we're all paranoid skitzes, and I see 3.0.0's
release looming on the horizon quickly so I don't know if you shouldn't just
wait for it and get the added features in a more stable, well-tested
environment.  If you REALLY need the SMP support, go for it, the worst that can
happen is the occasional bug slipping into code (Nobody would gamble if it
wasn't for the risk of loosing everything!).

> 5) Are there any other problems or issues I may face with my hardware
> configuration (listed below)?

The only thing I'm not sure about is the ethernet card. It should be fine, but
maybe a bit slow.

> I would also be very interested in hearing from other previous (or current)
> Linux users' experiences with FreeBSD, and what comments they may have about
> the differences and advantages (especially stability-wise) to using FreeBSD
> instead of Linux.

FreeBSD is more stable, slightly faster, and MUCH easier to configure than Linux
(Debain, Caldera, Redhat).

> Only 24 hours till the next Linux crash... woo hoo!

Really? That long?  Wow!

> TIA,




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