Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 12:16:32 -0800 (PST) From: Ken Bolingbroke <hacker@bolingbroke.com> To: Sebhat_Tenna <stenna@foxinternet.net> Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Very New User.... Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.21.0003081201540.27596-100000@fremont.bolingbroke.com> In-Reply-To: <B0008562770@mailsite.foxinternet.net>
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On Wed, 8 Mar 2000, Sebhat_Tenna wrote: > I am 17 and have been a Windows user since I started to use PCs 1 1/2 years > ago. I have never used UNIX. I have taught myself Java programming for 3 or > so months, and I am learning C++ now. > I just ordered FreeBSD 3.4 Power Pack. > > My questions are: > 1)Does it take a computer scientist to install it? No. It does take the ability to read and follow instructions though. Keep in mind that it's most unlikely that you'll be the first to find a particular problem, so search the archives and benefit from all the mistakes others have made and learned from. I particularly like searching via Dejanews's Power Search feature, entering *freebsd* in the forums field. > 2)What are the major benefits of UNIX over Windows NT? Too many to list here, and I'd probably forget to mention most of them anyway... > 3)I hear UNIX is open source. What does this mean? Can I change my > operating system? Is my operating system one big application to be tinkered > with? UNIX isn't necessarily open source--UNIX includes a bunch of proprietary systems, Solaris, AIX, Irix, etc. FreeBSD is Open Source, and that means you can freely redistribute it and get all of the source code. And yes, you can tinker with the OS, make your changes, adjustments, whatever. > 4)Can I get software for UNIX for a reasonable price(word processors, > editors, compilers, etc...)? I mean, do many people use UNIX? If so, who? If you consider 'free' to be reasonable, then yes. All the apps you mention are available, and hundreds more. I don't know statistics, but almost everyone I know who works with computers, either professionally or as a hobby, uses FreeBSD or Linux. Who? Mostly other computer geeks, but all sorts of people use FreeBSD. > 5)I hear UNIX has a big following with crackers and hackers. I don't want > to be a hacker or anything, but they are the ones that seem to know the > most. Can I be part of their group to learn about UNIX and programming with > out being dubbed a hacker and end up on the eleven o'clock news? Will they > receive me with open arms or shun me? A hacker is someone who knows the internals of the system and code and can modify them to suit their needs. This is not to be confused with a 'cracker' who illegally gains unauthorized access to systems and messes around with them. Hackers do good things, they most likely run all the systems that give you access to the Internet. There is no shame in being a hacker. And yes, they'll receive you with open arms if you don't go out of your way to annoy them (hint: read the documentation first). Ken Bolingbroke hacker@bolingbroke.com (hmm, am I biased?) To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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