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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!newshost.marcam.com!zip.eecs.umich.edu!panix!not-for-mail From: rpritz@panix.com (richard) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc Subject: Re: Why *BSD's have smaller user base ? [WAS: Can we quit with "Linux Sucks" ?] Date: 17 Nov 1994 20:31:52 -0500 Organization: usenet central Lines: 38 Message-ID: <3ah068$a8n@panix2.panix.com> References: <3a9205$bqj@mall.sinica.edu.tw> <BENJY.94Nov15074901@blackjack.ai.mit.edu> <UWP.94Nov17173358@hydmech.fb12.tu-berlin.de> NNTP-Posting-Host: panix2.panix.com X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2] Udo Wolter (uwp@hydmech.fb12.tu-berlin.de) wrote: : In article <BENJY.94Nov15074901@blackjack.ai.mit.edu> benjy@ai.mit.edu (Benjamin B. Thomas) writes: : »My suggestions for improving BSD's user base: : » : »1) Make it easy to install the system and a complete binary set of every : »program anyone would ever want to run. Make sure that binaries of the : »newest versions of these programs are announced on the bsd.announce. : Easy installing is ok. But binaries which weren not needed by the system have : to be extra ! I don't want to have every damned shit as binary in the standard : distribution. If I need it I'll get it. If I get it as binary or source doesn't : matter, so should exist ! I believe that the slackware linux distribution gives you a menu, and you can install as much or as little as you want, from a base operating system to a bloated disk full of everything under the sun. This type of approach allows for easy installation, without forcing you to take every damned shit binary. It would be nice if FreeBSD adopted this approach (or, to be more precise, someone created such a package) : I don't think that's a good idea to make this noise. I listen often to people : which began with Linux and now switch to FreeBSD so they have no trouble with : overcrowded newsgroups anymore, better technical help etc. Sure, you can get : help faster for Linux cause there are more Linux-users but is it a better : help ? IMHO, the level of support for FreeBSD through the mailing lists is orders of magnitude better than the linux support through the heavily trafficed newsgroups. FWIW, upgrading kernals seemed easier when i used linux then under FreeBSD. Maybe I don't understand the situation, but I fear that I will have to erase my existing system (save that which i backup) in order to move from 1.1.5 to 2.0. What I'd like to do is replace the kernal, but keep my old programs and config, at least until i can get newer versions of everything. THis was easy under Linux, is it as easy under FreeBSD?