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I just installed FreeBSD (V5.2) last night and was wondering about a few things-
is freebsd Unix?
what CPUs does Unix normally run on?
and is it possible to boot FreeBSD from grub?
what's the difference between freebsd and openbsd?
Cheers for any answers
p.s. if anyone could mention a good site that would answer any of these questions and clear up a few things, that would be great, cheers guys
2. Depends. NetBSD, for example, runs on everything from a watch to a dreamcast video game system.
3. Sure! Here's a tutorial for booting FreeBSD with Grub: http://www.daemonnews.org/200102/grub.html
4. Okay, I'm going to get lambasted for this one, but here's the *VERY GENERAL* (and probably wrong, according to anyone who replies) idea: FreeBSD concentrates more on being a webserver, desktop, all around idea. OpenBSD strives for a bit stronger security, and NetBSD runs on nearly anything, just to toss it in there.
Go tofreebsd.org and click the handbook link on the left. Lots of good info there. I'll be downloading freebsd, this weekend, hoping to get it installed next weekend.I have never tried any of the bsd's but looking forward to it.
ryancoolest, mysterio: This has been a huge education for me! I had not payed attention to what BSD really is, seeing it here in LQ. But I have to say I'm really impressed. I just wish I had some hardware to try running it on.
I had some isos of earlier versions. One was pulled right off the official CD and the other was made by myself. Note: The iso layout is "copyrighted" so you can't download it. ;-) There are places online that carry the iso image but you never know what is on it. You can download the whole distro through FTP and burn a CD if you want. Read the information on their ftp site. You should be able to figure out how to do it.
Distribution: OpenBSD 4.6, OS X 10.6.2, CentOS 4 & 5
Posts: 3,660
Rep:
Quote:
Originally posted by frob23 OpenBSD is only up to 3.4 I thought?
I had some isos of earlier versions. One was pulled right off the official CD and the other was made by myself. Note: The iso layout is "copyrighted" so you can't download it. ;-) There are places online that carry the iso image but you never know what is on it. You can download the whole distro through FTP and burn a CD if you want. Read the information on their ftp site. You should be able to figure out how to do it.
Yep, 3.4 is the latest -RELEASE, -CURRENT is working towards a 3.5 -RELEASE (the documentation for new features in -CURRENT states "first appeared in 3.5...").
Ryan, if you want an OpenBSD ISO I highly recommend buying the CDs. They're cheaper than the "Pro" version of Linux distros (Mandrake, SuSE, etc) and they're well worth the cost. I would especially recommend buying the CDs for 3.4, since there was a major change in the binary format between 3.3 and 3.4 (for the i386 platform). After you have it installed, you will be able to upgrade by simply downloading the latest bsd.rd file and installing from sets (over FTP or HTTP) when 3.5 comes out. Of course, this is assuming that there aren't any more flag days, but it doesn't look like there will be.
I HIGHLY recommend buying the CDs if you can afford it. At least once. Of course, if you just want to try it to see if you will like it you may not want to invest any cash. When I switched to FreeBSD I had been using Linux for a couple of years and made the choice to try FreeBSD. God, looking back at release dates that would have to have been in January of 2000! I had just gotten my school loans, had the cash, and decided to splurge. At the time I did not know just how easy it was to install the *BSDs over the net and figured the CDs would be worth the reduced hassle.
If I remember I think I spent around $80.00 buying the 4 CD set with the book. I was pleased as heck when it came. Even now I am happy that I spent that money. I could have got it for free but I had the cash to invest towards supporting the project and I got a product that was well worth the money. So, if you have the money please invest it in these groups. It won't hurt and you will be very happy with the product. Sure, you could get the same exact product for free and should if you cannot afford to purchase it right now.
These operating systems will save you time and money for years to come after you get them setup and running. They will be your silent workhorses that need attention on very rare occasions. You are getting a commercial grade product for a desktop price. When I get a real job I plan on either donating money to the projects or maybe picking up a bunch of CD sets to hand out at LUG meetings.
Anyway, if buying the CDs is an option -- and it won't hurt you gravely -- do it. And, no, I do not work for any of these groups. I just believe in giving back to groups that give you something you find very beneficial.
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