From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Sep 9 20:14:58 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 59023106564A for ; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 20:14:58 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx01.qsc.de (mx01.qsc.de [213.148.129.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 1A17A8FC08 for ; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 20:14:57 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-14-151.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.14.151]) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id 121DA3D72E; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 22:14:57 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id p89KEu5l002002; Fri, 9 Sep 2011 22:14:56 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Fri, 9 Sep 2011 22:14:56 +0200 From: Polytropon To: "Thomas Mueller" Message-Id: <20110909221456.4aa3af15.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <0MNbT8-1R4iI71L3K-007E7I@mx.kundenserver.de> References: <0MNbT8-1R4iI71L3K-007E7I@mx.kundenserver.de> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: get rel 9.0 iso X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 09 Sep 2011 20:14:58 -0000 On Fri, 9 Sep 2011 11:29:28 +0000 (GMT), Thomas Mueller wrote: > FreeBSD 8.2 slice on old computer is about 12 GB with 1.3 GB > free; RAM is 256 MB. Depending on your particular software needs, a full FreeBSD installation _with_ programs can fit onto an 8 GB slice (or disk) with 50% free space. :-) > So a better way to upgrade to 9.0 might be to build on the > new computer onto a 16 GB USB stick, I wouldn't even need > to keep the ports tree or system source on the USB stick. You should just pay attention to building parameters (see "man make.conf" and "man src.conf") to keep the system in a minimal state, and make sure not to tie it to the hardware characteristics (especially CPU) of the building system. > I assume booting a USB stick with Plop would work on the > 2001 computer with FreeBSD as it did with NetBSD 4.0.1 > and NetBSD-current. Just try it, it should be possible. > Due to insufficient RAM and insufficient disk space for > the bigger packages/ports, I feel like I'm at the end > of the line with FreeBSD, NetBSD too, on the 2001 > computer; would need to build on my new computer. Yes, even if the system runs flawlessly, upgrading gets more and more complicated, so maybe migrating to a new machine would be better here. Just an addition: I still run a Pentium (yes, no numbers after the name!) with 150 MHz and 128 MB RAM here as a small server, using FreeBSD/x86 8.2. I did install from CD and then via Internet. Packages are fine to use in this case (see "man pkg_add"). Depending on _what_ the server does, even this over-obsoleted configuration might fit perfectly well! So I do _no_ claim it's impossible to run and install FreeBSD on older hardware. In fact, it _IS_ possible, maybe just a bit complicated in special cases (e. g. as the P1 server I mentioned does not even have USB, only a CD-ROM drive), but _POSSIBLE_, which may be fully sufficient in some cases. So "old iron" can still be a valueable citizen of the IT infrastructure. :-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...