Date: Thu, 17 Apr 1997 08:37:08 -0400 (EDT) From: The Classiest Man Alive <ksmm@cybercom.net> To: jbryant@tfs.net Cc: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>, freebsd-hackers@freebsd.org Subject: FreeBSD availability Message-ID: <Pine.BSI.3.95.970417082628.10017A-100000@shell1.cybercom.net> In-Reply-To: <199704170215.VAA15005@argus>
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I've been rather fortunate here in Boston, Massachusetts (USA). There are a number of computer stores and bookstores in the area, and at least a couple sell Linux and FreeBSD along with other suppoting utilities (e.g., various Motif implementations, GNU utilities, C source, etc.). I think that's because we have an expanding professional computing industry. More importantly, this is a college town with too many universities to count; stores have learned how to cater to this market. I just consider myself lucky. :-) Anyway, the CDs on the shelves here sell for between $11 and $20 (US), and since that time, FreeBSD usage has increased. Linux usage has as well, with many hobbyists (like myself) jumping on the bandwagon at this lower-than-mail-order cost. One of my biggest concerns about FreeBSD is that the installation is difficult compared to most Linux distributions. The core team does a great job on the kernel/tools, but the installation seems to be a bit of an afterthought for them. Compare that to Slackware, Red Hat, and Debian which have dedicated teams working on nothing but the installation program. The end result is that even among those I've met who know of FreeBSD and believe it superior to Linux, many choose to go the Linux route. I know many of you consider this a trivial issue, but it would definitely help to extend FreeBSD's reach. Not all of us hack filesystems and write device drivers during lunch. :-) Let me know what you think, K.S.
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