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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.rmit.EDU.AU!news.unimelb.EDU.AU!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!fizban.solace.mh.se!nntp.uio.no!Norway.EU.net!telepost.no!oslonett.no!sn.no!oslonett.no!sn.no!not-for-mail From: peternm@oslonett.no (Peter N. M. Hansteen) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.misc,list.freebsd-questions Subject: Re: NetCafe needs BSD advice - WHICH n' WHY 8-] Date: 4 Jan 1996 09:08:24 +0100 Organization: SN Internett Lines: 61 Message-ID: <za46w0FDA22V083yn@oslonett.no> References: <4cfkfi$4op@news.mistral.co.uk> Reply-To: peternm@sn.no NNTP-Posting-Host: sinsen.sn.no Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:11975 comp.unix.bsd.misc:432 In article <4cfkfi$4op@news.mistral.co.uk>, whereits@mistral.co.uk (Me) wrote: > in March, and my research has led me to believe that I can serve my internal > LAN (30 PCs and/or Macs) on a Pentium with Linux and FreeBSD (which will > give the simplest step-by-step installation for a Web/mail server). Heh. This looks like the beginning of a 'linux or freebsd' thread. I'll do my best to answer your questions and make the thread as short as possible. First, unless you are planning to boot linux and freebsd alternately, you shouldn't need both on the same machine. Which one you choose, _in my opinion_ depends on who your friends are, ie what they are using. When you run into trouble (most people do, configuring their computer), it's always better to be able top ask your friends for help. The Usenet isn't half bad, but still. > Is FreeBSD this easy ? I'm trying to find out, too. Also, see above. > Can it handle (or is there support for) a news server ? yes and yes. This is also true of linux. > Do I need additional software for LAN support ? If you have a reasonable distribution (like the ones on CDs from various sources), no. Just follow the install instructions. Again, likewise for linux and most other unix variants and clones. > WHAT IS the difference between FreeBSD and NetBSD ? I'll pass that one on to the veterans. > Why are Linux and FreeBSD compared against each other, don't you need > Linux to operate FreeBSD ? Linux and FreeBSD are frequently compared to each other _because_ you do not need one to operate the other. Both are unix variants (or in the linux case, sort of a clone). I've been lead to believe that code seems to migrate father freely from one camp to the other, though. > What platforms are FreeBSD and NetBSD available on, and are there any other > BSD (freeware or commercial) that are better on any platform ? BSD-based unixes include (correct me if i'm mistaken, fill out if you feel like it): various Sun OSes, NeXT, Ultrix and a few others on Digital VAXes, several x86 variants, and so on. A huge number of Motorola-based machines (68k and PowerPC (I think)) use bsd variants. The list goes on and on. > Oh, and why are there so many freebsd.hacker newsgroups ? 8-] Free software is written and maintaned by hackers. (says the humorless Norwegian). All the best, Peter ============================================================ Peter N. M. Hansteen peternm@sn.no Datadokumentasjon A/S, Bredsgaarden 2, N-5003 Bergen, Norway Tel: +47 55 32 08 02 Fax: +47 55 32 14 95