What do you get if you buy the freebsd 5.3 four cd set that you don't get from downloading the two cd set besides two extra cd's and a warm,fuzzy feelng?

I dunno, but usually you're just paying for support when you buy a Linux distro.

Well, that warm fuzzy feeling is pretty darn filling.

But aside from the two extra CDs... which are full of packages you won't need to download or build for yourself (think time-saving) there isn't much more. A jewelcase (possibly)... nice professionally pressed CDs (again possibly... don't buy from shady people and this will be true)... and the feeling that you have contributed to the project.

Personally, when I first got FreeBSD I bought the 3.4 4-CD set with the book (The Complete FreeBSD). I spent over $70 -- I forget the exact amount after shipping -- and felt it was worth every penny. Five years later, I still don't regret buying the CDs... and I plan on doing it again when I get my tax return this year... just to keep supporting the project. If you think about it, I have paid less then $12 a year for this operating system... and felt it was superior to any commercial OS I could have been paying a lot more for.

I'd only buy from BSDMall as they give back to the project(s). OpenBSD I purchase straight from the Open folks.

You get the satisfaction of knowing you're helping support the project.