Date: Mon, 22 May 2000 22:38:08 -0500 (CDT) From: Brennan W Stehling <brennan@offwhite.net> To: y u r i k <koroby398@ifrance.com> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: newbie needs advice Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0005222222520.31753-100000@home.offwhite.net> In-Reply-To: <4626782230.20000522201852@ifrance.com>
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It sounds like I am very much similar in terms of computer experience. I was a Windows user all through high school and some in college but after one class on PowerPC computers I decided I was much happier using a Mac. So I stopped using Microsoft tools for just about everything. Eventually once college was over I took a job which stuck me in front of a couple very nicely built and configured FreeBSD servers. I had to administer them and I learned as I went. I found that the FreeBSD website was very helpful in most daily tasks as I relied almost entirely on the website for help with these systems. I drew further support for systems like DNS, Sendmail, and other common services from O'Reilly books, which I highly recommend. I would be lost without them. After about a years experience with FreeBSD the Linux movement was swelling and talk of hardware vendors jumping on the bandwagon encouraged me to look at Linux. I installed SuSE, Redhat and Caldera. I tried each one for a while but found that these more commercial products were not as helpful as the less commercial FreeBSD. When I wanted to do an update for my Caldera distro, I was only aware of one ftp server where I could get RPM update files. I would run the updates and frequently the ftp server would go offline and make it hard for me to continue with my updates. I am not sure if Caldera is trying to encourage me to go get a new CD each time I upgrade my system, and I do not care. Their service was horrible and it was largely the same with SuSE. Redhat I simply had problems with in general and did not give much time to it. So now I have stopped exploring Linux and now only use FreeBSD for my server systems. At home I have an iMac running OS 9 on a network which is fed by a DSL connection to the internet. I have a FreeBSD box acting as a firewall and Network Address Translator. It works great and it is very easy for me to keep running smoothly. And with each new release of FreeBSD it keeps getting even easier. And this list is also very helpful when the answer is hard to find on a FreeBSD website. But if you are really new to Unix in general, Linux may be a good solution. There is a frustration level with FreeBSD that you have to get passed. It's focus is on the server side, not the desktop as it is for Linux. It does not autodetect your video and sound card and that can be difficult to set up in FreeBSD if you have not done it before. With Linux it seems to get the video and sound working rather easily and you are all set to go. After learning enough in the Linux world, you could transition to FreeBSD more easily as you will be comfortable with a half graphical/half command-line system. I am comfortable with FreeBSD because my initial experience with computers was DOS. If you come from something like Windows95 and never used the command-line, you may not be very happy with FreeBSD at all. It may take some time to adjust, but if you have the time like you said, go ahead and dig it. It is a very nice system once you get to know it. Brennan Stehling - web developer and sys admin projects: www.greasydaemon.com | www.onmilwaukee.com | www.sncalumni.com Microsoft: Will you get a macro virus today? On Mon, 22 May 2000, y u r i k wrote: > Hello All, > > total newbie here: all I was subjected to was Apple(mostly) and Windows > before. Tried Linux. Installed several distros several times. Liked > what I saw. > > Could you, please, brief me on the differences between the two? > Main objective is to learn why would I go BSD way. > My understanding that BSD is better structured than Linux, but I have > no real knowledge of either one. All I have is plenty of free time and > curiosity. Or shall I try going both? > > I am not asking for "must die" kinda stuff, I just really never dealt > with "real systems" before. > > thank you in advance > > > > -- > Best regards, > Yuri > Vancouver, USA > mailto:koroby398@ifrance.com > > > > ______________________________________________________________________________ > message envoye depuis http://www.ifrance.com > emails (pop)-sites persos (espace illimite)-agenda-favoris (bookmarks)-forums > Ecoutez ce message par tel ! : 08 92 68 92 15 (france uniquement) > > > > > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org > with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message > To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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