Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2001 20:55:24 -0500 From: "Andrew C. Hornback" <achornback@worldnet.att.net> To: "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@atkielski.com>, <questions@freebsd.org> Subject: RE: Tiny starter configuration for FreeBSD Message-ID: <00c401c160e5$f0e1ed40$6600000a@columbia> In-Reply-To: <006801c160cc$7fc36030$0a00000a@contactdish>
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> -----Original Message----- > From: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG > [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG]On Behalf Of Anthony > Atkielski > Sent: Monday, October 29, 2001 5:53 PM > To: questions@freebsd.org > Subject: Re: Tiny starter configuration for FreeBSD > > Michael writes: > > > I have a suggestion for you, though! If you are > > just contemplating your first BSD/UNIX system, why > > not get an evaluation copy of VMWARE and run > > FreeBSD within a VM on your WINNT system? > > The Windows NT system is a mission-critical production system for > me, so I don't > want to do anything to it that might destabilize it Okay then... don't get near the switch marked power. *grins* Being a former Microsoft system jockey, I've got license to make that comment. *grins* > and that includes > installing or changing anything that isn't absolutely mandatory. *nods* NT doesn't like being changed, period. > I'd rather get > a completely separate machine, with no connection to Windows or > my production > machine at all Very much agreed. The only machine that I've got that I dual boot is my laptop, and that's only because it won't play Age of Empires under VMWare... 'course, it is only a P133... > and install a pristine copy of FreeBSD on that. > The only link > between the two will be via the Ethernet hub (or rather switch) > that I bought > today. With 100 Mbps cards in both machines, it should be easy > to transfer > files quickly from one to the other, I should think. Just make sure you get a card supported by FreeBSD... avoid RealTek anything at all costs. For the price of a RealTek, you can get a decent card like an SMC. > To simplify > things, I plan > to just use something like FTP. I'm not going to try to make > either machine > "aware" of the other in the usual file-sharing sense (that would > require undoing > a lot of security tweaks I made to Windows NT, anyway). Eh, shouldn't make too much of a different to NT. But, if you run Samba or something that uses SMB, you're going to see a pretty good performance hit when transferring files from one machine to another via "drag and drop". In the time it takes to copy a file from a Windows machine to a Samba share via Explorer, you can do it three times via command line FTP. And people say that TCP/IP is inefficient... > > That is what I did from the start, and you have > > the advantage of being at the console of both your > > Windoze and BSD system without getting out of > > the chair. > > I plan to put the machines more or less on either side of me at > my desk, so I > should be able to access either of them by just turning slightly > in my chair. Same here... except that my "menagerie" has spread out all over my desk, my living room and is slowly creeping into my garage... *Grins* > > If you find that you really like it, then get > > dedicated hardware for it, or retire your current > > Windoze hardware for use with FreeBSD and get the new > > hardware for WINNT/2k/XP (God knows that they need it...). > > I already like FreeBSD, as I run my Web site on it. But the Web > site is on > rented server space, and I want to have a system of mine own that > I can fool > with freely, and that presents no risk to production (even if I > had unrestricted > access to the one running my Web site, I obviously couldn't afford to play > around with it, since it is handling all my site traffic and e-mail). > > As for retiring Windows, that isn't likely to be an option for > the foreseeable > future. While UNIX is undeniably useful in server environments and other > utility domains, it can't hold a candle to Windows on the > desktop. Hmm... if I didn't have this d@mn flu, I'd consider that to be flame bait. > And of the > hundred or so applications that I use regularly on Windows, the > great majority > do not exist on any other platform, so Windows is the only > option. Hundred or so applications? *shakes his head* Must be those Windows Entertainment Packs... *snickers* > Actually, > Windows NT is an extremely stable and well designed OS, so it's > not too bad. I see you haven't been patching it all that much. Sure, it can be stable... as for well designed... I'd argue this until I'm blue in the face. But, I'll also make the assumption that you're not running it on cheap hardware and certainly not trying to run it in SMP mode. > (I'd never risk my production on any of the inferior Windows > systems, like 95, > 98, ME, etc.) But with Microsoft bringing out a completely new > OS each year, > I'm just tired of being expected to chuck everything and upgrade every few > months. This may sound like marketing, but I wouldn't call 98 inferior to NT. They're built for different uses. As an example, you wouldn't use a 15 lb sledge hammer for assembling roof trusses, just as you wouldn't use a carpenter's hammer when splitting logs. > A FreeBSD system could easily run for a decade with no > changes at all. When you say that, I'm sitting here cringing. Any system that's been running for 10 years without any changes, updates or upgrades is going to appear to be extremely slow. 10 years ago, we were marvelling at the 486 DX2-66... now, we're running at speeds of 20-30 times that. 10 years ago, ping floods, DSL and the WWW were in their infancy... Now, I understand what you're saying, that you don't have to make sweeping changes to keep a machine running, but you do have to make changes to keep up with the times and issues going on... --- Andy "Hmm... 10 years ago, I'd just finished completing Pool of Radience on a Tandy 1000 EX" To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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