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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!inferno.mpx.com.au!brian.telstra.net!news.telstra.net!nsw.news.telstra.net!news.syd.connect.com.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.Hawaii.Edu!news.caldera.com!enews.sgi.com!ix.netcom.com!zdc-e!super.zippo.com!newsfeed.gte.net!news.he.net!cnn.nas.nasa.gov!not-for-mail From: Hugh LaMaster <lamaster@nas.nasa.gov> Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Gotta Love Those FreeBSD Installs Date: Fri, 11 Jul 1997 13:00:46 -0700 Organization: NASA Ames Research Center Lines: 54 Message-ID: <33C690EE.167E@nas.nasa.gov> References: <5p9v93$ncp$1@207.18.94.16> <5pkl7h$kf8$1@the-fly.zip.com.au> NNTP-Posting-Host: win144.nas.nasa.gov Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.0 (X11; U; IRIX 6.2 IP22) Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:44307 > pavanas abludo incusus (pavanas@meridio.ccia.com) wrote: > > > > Each and every time am install is a real adventure unlike those ho-hum > > sedate Linux ones. This last escapade brought up a few questions. Actually, although I'm new to FreeBSD, I have to say that it (now) installs more easily than almost all commercial systems. [It wasn't so nice under 2.0.x etc.]. Also, the basic operating system is more stable and secure than some commercial Unix systems, not to mention vastly more stable than some popular commercial non-Unix systems. However, I can't compare it to linux since I have no experience there; perhaps linux is even easier to install and even more stable. At this point, though, FreeBSD seems easy enough. In short, I'm very impressed by the basic OS; it seems surprisingly mature for "server" applications. So, I'm surprised to see complaints specifically about the installs, either on 2.2.1, 2.2.2, or 3.0-current. My only complaints have to do with the X implementation and minimal "multimedia" device support. [e.g. SB16 drivers, etc. are not up-to-date. Admittedly not the best card for full-duplex operations, but these cards are ubiquitous, for good or ill.] I have heard that linux users are more active in "multimedia" things than ___BSD users. Some basic X things are a little buggy [e.g. xterms not always resetting properly when programs die], and, the S3 server doesn't seem completely optimized - in particular, big "image" or block pixel paint operations are not (or don't seem to be) making use of hardware acceleration (very well). (Then again, it could be another instance of pilot error.) In any case, these appear to be "XFree86" issues, not "FreeBSD" issues. From the standpoint of a "casual" user, that is probably the biggest drawback that FreeBSD (and other BSD's) have - the X Window System development is done in a separate track by a separate (the XFree86) group. However, X is very usable, and I'm grateful to XFree86 for doing the X ports. -- Hugh LaMaster, M/S 258-5, ASCII Email: hlamaster@mail.arc.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center Or: lamaster@nas.nasa.gov Moffett Field, CA 94035-1000 No Junkmail: USC 18 section 2701 Phone: 415/604-1056 Disclaimer: Unofficial, personal *opinion*.