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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!spool.mu.edu!usenet.eel.ufl.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!newsxfer2.itd.umich.edu!netnews.worldnet.att.net!ix.netcom.com!celestra From: celestra@ix.netcom.com (Arthur D. Jerijian) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Linux async vs. FreeBSD sync Date: 25 Aug 1996 08:16:06 GMT Organization: Netcom Lines: 42 Message-ID: <slrn520397.6h.celestra@celestra.adj.net> References: <4uc8cv$3ua@plato.ucsalf.ac.uk> <4vatvc$l1h@venus.os.com> Reply-To: celestra@ix.netcom.com NNTP-Posting-Host: sea-wa8-15.ix.netcom.com X-NETCOM-Date: Sun Aug 25 3:16:06 AM CDT 1996 X-Newsreader: slrn (0.8.8.4 (BETA) UNIX) In article <4vatvc$l1h@venus.os.com>, Craig Shrimpton wrote: >In article <4uc8cv$3ua@plato.ucsalf.ac.uk>, mark@plato.ucsalf.ac.uk (Mark Powell) wrote: > >> Linux installs are a damn pain. Redhat requires *three* floppy disks for >>it's install, whereas I only ever use one for FreeBSD. BTW Any chance of >>BOOTP/DHCP in the install program, that'd be a real treat. > >FreeBSD has one of the best installs around. I can configure a basic Internet >server with mail, www, proxy, DNS, gated, SOCKS, etc., etc. in about six >hours. My first Linux box took three months to get it right! My experience was the opposite, as far as the extra packages were concerned. The defaults were less than ideal. In fact, I couldn't get the version of fvwm95 included in FreeBSD 2.1.5 to work out of the box without tweaking a few paths here and there. The same goes for mtools 3.0. Also, the package installation confirmation box looks messed up when you have selected too many packages (I think this is a bug, but please correct me on this). Finally, I was kind of shocked when I saw Netscape listed in the packages menu, but it came as no surprise when the package wasn't found. I couldn't find any cue in any of the installation docs regarding packages that aren't included on the CD-ROM. Please note that I come from a three-year Linux background and I'm just getting the hang of FreeBSD. So far, despite the minor nitpics, I love this OS! I built my first kernel without a hitch (although a Linux- style "make menuconfig" would be nice. :*) and I successfully built a few more apps, such as slrn-0.8.8.4 and amiwm. I do have a wish list for FreeBSD, however. A packaging system similar to Red Hat Linux's RPM or Debian's dpkg would be nice. This would make package installs and uninstalls fairly painless along with an improved ability to perform in-place upgrades, say from 2.1.5R to 2.2.0R when ready. As it stands, FreeBSD packages are too much like (ugh....) Slackware Linux packages. I hope I didn't sound too harsh. To the core team: keep up the good work with FreeBSD. >-Craig --Arthur