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Date:      Thu, 17 Aug 2000 13:51:39 -0700
From:      "Kevin Oberman" <oberman@es.net>
To:        "James A Wilde" <james.wilde@telia.com>
Cc:        "cyberstorm" <cyberstorm@prodigy.net>, questions@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: BSD Inquiry... 
Message-ID:  <200008172051.e7HKpdU14247@ptavv.es.net>
In-Reply-To: Your message of "Thu, 17 Aug 2000 17:23:51 %2B0200." <000201c0085f$25e1e350$8208a8c0@iqunlimited.net> 

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> From: "James A Wilde" <james.wilde@telia.com>
> Date: Thu, 17 Aug 2000 17:23:51 +0200
> Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG

> If you use Linux with one of the windows managers, such as Gnome or KDE, you
> will find it much easier to stick to Linux which usually loads these in
> working fashion for you and adds a phenomenal amount of applets.  FreeBSD
> doesn't do this.  First you have to install X and then you have to install
> the window manager.  I have up to now used FreeBSD entirely as a text based
> cli since I haven't had time to read the relevant man and handbook pages nor
> the relevant chapter in The Complete FreeBSD, a book you should not tackle
> FreeBSD without.  You can even get a copy of FreeBSD - not the current, but
> the most recent stable - included with the book for a very
> favourable price.

Huh? The standard sysinstall will install and configure XFree86 quite
easily. Just pick the level of X support you want. (user,
developer,...) Installation of KDE, fvwm2, Gnome, Afterstep, or
Windowmaker is similar. FOr Gnome you even have the choice of
Enlightenment or Afterstep flavors.

I see no advantage to Linux on this issue.

> Hope this gets you started.  But don't expect the bottle-feeding from your
> FreeBSD CD-rom set that you get from most Linux distributions.  FreeBSD,
> like other non-Linux UNIXes, is based on the maxim 'no pain, no gain' and
> there's a bit of Churchill's 'blood, sweat and tears' in there, too, not to
> say fighting them on the beaches!

I think you make this sound much worse than it is. FreeBSD puts a lot
of effort into making installation and modification of the system
simple. The FreeBSD ports/package system, for example, seem far more
advanced than Linux.

I see the big wins for Linux in two areas.

They have LOTS of people working on support of things. It may not be
as well coordinated as FreeBSD, but things like PCMCIA and DVD hit
Linux first. Maybe they are buggy, but if you want bleeding edge,
Linux tends to sit there. It is not as robust, but it's hard to be
both.

The other is commercial software. You can reportedly use a Winmodem
with Linux. Oracle and several other major packages are available for
Linux and the Linux emulation, while very good, is not quite the same
as the real thing. And, if you want support on those packages, don't
say the word "FreeBSD".

On the whole, I think FreeBSD is a much better choice for most users,
but most potential users don't know about it. Working where I do, it's
hard not to have heard about it.)

R. Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer
Energy Sciences Network (ESnet)
Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab)
E-mail: oberman@es.net			Phone: +1 510 486-8634



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