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Date:      Thu, 2 May 1996 14:52:19 -0700 (PDT)
From:      Jim Dennis <jimd@mistery.mcafee.com>
To:        adamg@padd.press.net (Adam Greenwood)
Cc:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   Re: Specific questions about FreeBSD
Message-ID:  <199605022152.OAA02491@mistery.mcafee.com>
In-Reply-To: <318916E2.41C6@padd.press.net> from "Adam Greenwood" at May 2, 96 09:11:14 pm

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> 
> Greetings,
> 
> As a Software Developer setting up on my own, I'm currently trying
> to decide between FreeBSD and Linux for the PC I'll be using. I've
> checked the hardware compatibility lists, and all looks well there
> apart from perhaps the graphics card - I have a Diamond Stealth 
> card, but they seem fairly popular so I imagine it will be fine.
> 
> I'd much prefer to use FreeBSD, as I'm a SunOs 4.1.2 user at the
> moment, and have heard good things about FreeBSD from people who
> have tried both. So, if you could answer a couple of questions
> for me, hopefully I'll be ready to go with it.
> 
>  - Will FreeBSD allow the PC to be easily booted in either
>    Windows '95 or FreeBSD? I will unfortunately have to use
>    Win 95 for a few things.	

	Yes (for highly variable values of "easily").

>  - Will FreeBSD happily mount a Windows '95 drive, long filenames
>    and all (cos I know I can't hope for it to work the other way
>    around).

	Not that I know of.  Linux adds 'VFAT' (Win '95 long file name)
	support in the later 1.3.x kernels).

>  - Is there a source for advice on partitioning the PC hard drive
>    for a Windows '95 and FreeBSD system?

	Readme's & docs, newsgroups and mailing lists.

> 
> If I had more time to spare, I'd just get it and play, but things
> seem to be a bit of a rush at the moment.

 Adam,
	You can support all three (Linux, FreeBSD, and Win '95) on one 
	system.  

	Get a couple of removable drive racks (IDE or SCSI) and you can 
	support as many OS as you like with far fewer headaches.  Better
	yet -- find an extra machine -- configure one as a Linux or FreeBSD
	system (server) and the other as your Windows box.  Run ethernet
	(and/or even a null modem) between them.  Now run you favorite 
	telnet and/or terminal programs and/or any X server software for 
	Win '95 and you can have the best of both worlds.

	It's always struck me as a shame to set up *ix on a laptop or 
	on a system where you're frequently shutting the system down.
	Some of the really neat things you can do with *ix rely on it's
	cron and at functions, and its suitability as an applications
	*server*.  Servers should be *up* as much of the time as possible.

	In addition running your boxes in a networked environment (at home)
	will keep you much closer to the issues that your businesss customers 
	face.  My home network is basically a lab. Having the Linux box 
	up and running all the time allows me to have dial in access, and
	automated mail fetching in addition to local job scheduling.
	Also any sort of CGI or Java development should be tested through 
	a network link before you try to install in at a client site.  
	Likewise for any client/server database or applications development
	(which I venture a guess is the large bulk of the custom programming
	market these days).

Jim Dennis,
System Administrator,
McAfee Associates
 



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