Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2006 03:04:15 -0500 From: Xn Nooby <xnooby@gmail.com> To: jozef.baum@telenet.be Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: A strategic question Message-ID: <bdf25fde0601280004o17863480m6b2111f245f4496d@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <GEEBILKJFGOEBNHGLKIHIEONCBAA.jozef.baum@telenet.be> References: <GEEBILKJFGOEBNHGLKIHIEONCBAA.jozef.baum@telenet.be>
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I have had a lot of frustration in learning Unix, but I stick to it because I know it is the last OS I will ever need to learn. Unix doesn't change, s= o the effort you put in to learning it will never be wasted. If you stick with commerical OS's, they are going to drag you through every release of their OS - as that is how they get you to give them your money. If you can master Unix, you will never have to purchase software again, and will rarely need to upgrade hardware. You will be free of nag-ware, spy-ware, entering license codes, etc. You will never be a software pirate or fear an audit. If you want to simplify things, try this. Install FreeBSD without a GUI, and use it for 1 month. When you remove all the fluff, you will be left with the core system. You will be forced to learn the fundamentals, and in a simplistic environtment. So many variables will removed from the equation, that the math will be very simple. Once you are proficient using the shell, enviroment, you can add a GUI, lik= e Fluxbox, KDE, or GNOME. You will have deep a understanding of how they wor= k because you will already know the fundamentals. You can also do a lot from a shell-enviroment. You can rip/burn/play cd's, browse the web, word-process, email, newsgroups, program, etc. You will also be able to do all those things *remotely*. As far as I know, the people that work on FreeBSD work on it to suit *their= * needs. As a user, it might suck that they don't have to please you - but there is also nothing preventing you from becoming a developer. Not having to answer to anyone cuts both ways, the developers are not controlled by an= y commercial interest or non-commercial interest. It's very likely that bein= g "popular" is not as important as developing something they find useful for themselves. If you want the freedom that FreeBSD offers, you have to make the journey t= o where it is at. If it turns out FreeBSD is not for you, there is still good news. The more experience you have with the different Linux and BSD distros, the more free you become. All these system are based on the same fundamentals. Everything you learn will be useful forever. If you want software to be Free, you can always pirate Windows apps. If *you* want to be Free, you are going to have learn how the Free systems work. I have tried many linux and BSD distros. FWIW, FreeBSD is generally regarded as one-notch above all the Linux distros. Even before I tried FreeBSD, I had heard it was the best in a number of ways, but also the hardest to learn. Most linux users seemed to think of the FreeBSD crowd as older, better trained, and more disciplined - and that the software reflected this. I have basically found this to be true. People use to tell me that the FreeBSD lists were extremely unfriendly, and I have found that to be completely untrue. Usually if you show you made an attempt to figure something out, and ask in the generally correct way, people really try to help you. I think the more focused lists expect more focused questions, but that is understandable. Ironically the linux forums are where I have seen most of the "OMG RTFM NOOB!" type comments. Well, I could go and on. One thing I'd really want you to consider is that the goal is - to free yourself.
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