Hi!

I just installed PC BSD on VMWare. The one thing that I notice is that it seems the implementation of the OS itself is different from other linux distributions that I have used. I used Ubuntu, Mepis, Red Hat and other desktop oriented distributions. I am planning to find a career in Unix and since most of the experts agreed that the nearest open source distribution that I can use to simulate the Unix OS is the free bsd. Now, I'm kinda lost on PC BSD though KDE is installed by default. I don't know where to start on installing packages using the pkg_add and pbi. Is there a repository in this distribution or you really need to install everything from scratch? I am really kinda lost. Another friend told me that its easier to install in BSD since you don't need to worry about broken dependencies and changing the sources.list because it is already centralized. They also told me that BSD consumes less processing power than other distribution which means it would run on low-end machines compared to other linux distro such as mepis, ubuntu and red hat. Also, BSD is known to be a stable one on this aspect. Can someone enlighten me on the difference on other linux distro and BSD and how to get started? Thanks.

In my book, FreeBSD is the way to go. Not just because its a BSD, but rather because it has a plethora of docs and handbooks. I think a great place to start is http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO...ooks/handbook/ and just skim through it. If you're hesitant about installing FreeBSD (use 6.2 if you do), try FreeSBIE (http://www.freesbie.org/). Its a FreeBSD live disk. I've also had good luck with FreeBSD's mailing lists, of which there are many. They're very responsive and helpful.

Actually, I started down the Windows abandonment path with FreeBSD and then hopped over to Slackware Linux and LFS.

PC-BSD is not a Linux distribution.

I'd probably start here: http://docs.pcbsd.org/

BSD isn't linux. Linux uses a large monolithic kernel, BSD uses a micro kernel. (I'm not a kernel hacker, so if you want a better description of the differences between the kernels, google for Linux and Minix.) There are around 400 different linux distro's, all of which use the GPLv2 as a license. BSD isn't GPL, which means companies are free to take the code, change it, distribute those changes, and not give the changes back to the community they took the original code from. There are only a few BSD variants, each with a different focus. NetBSD runs on everything, including your toaster. OpenBSD is so secure, you can't use it in a hacking contest at a black hat convention. Only 2 remote holes in 10 years, so I read. I've never used it myself. FreeBSD is for everyone else. There are a few others, dragonBSD and PC-BSD, I don't know their focus. I believe there are quite a few more people and companies behind linux, as everyone can be more certain of continued development, as all changes are given back to the community. Linux has all the momentum at the moment. The BSD's have a great reputation, but Linux has a huge user base. If you are looking for "real unix" linux does qualify, but I think BSD has to win that contest. Another real unix you might want to check out is solaris. I think Sun is going to release Solaris as GPLv3 to steal some thunder from Linux, as linux will have to stay GPLv2, even if Linus wanted to change to v3 (he doesn't), he couldn't, as 1000's of people have contributed code under GPLv2, and every one of them would have to be tracked down and give permission to go GPLv3. No one is even going to make the effort. As for getting started, exactly what is it you want to do ?

No it doesn't.

Guess I was wrong, sorry about that. I was sure I had read the BSD's use a micro kernel, might have been darwin I was reading about. Found this on the net, which leaves me more confused than I was before. Maybe I'm not the only one confused.

``MacOS X's FreeBSD microkernel-based architecture makes it an ideal basis for a high-stable (if hi-fis and VCRs don't crash, neither can consumer electronics Net appliances) yet compact (store it in Flash RAM) appliance OS. Just add a cut-back Mac GUI and you're away.''

Found that here... http://bsdnews.com/view_story.php3?story_id=681

Anyway, have fun.....

David

That's correct; MacOSX (and Minix, as you mentionned) use microkernels. But classic BSDs do not.

Note: NetBSD has a lot more going for it than just being able to run on just about everything. It's very clean, well organized, tiny [this is a benefit], and ridiculously stable. The majority of my server's downtime was related to a hurricane which took out the power for two weeks. It has been running for thousands and thousands of hours (somewhere between 25,000 and 50,000) and it can go months before I even remember it's there. It just works all the time.

Still, I think NetBSD would be a very hard one to come directly to after Linux (especially modern distros). But, I highly recommend it be given a shot after you become accustomed to the command line and how the BSDs tend to do things.

What I really want is to be familiar with UNIX environment. And they said that BSD is the nearest one. HOw about packages? Can I make it as a server to run httpd, postfix and ftp? I mean can you port special linux apps on it? How stable is it compare to Linux?

Yes, they have packages.
Yes, I run numerous services (including Apache, NFS, Postfix, SSH, and Yaws) on my FreeBSD machine.
Linux emulation mode is available. This translates Linux kernel system calls into BSD ones on the fly. It usually works fairly well, but sometimes it has problems.
In my experience, they're generally more stable than most Linux distributions.

Every Unix compliant O/S has its own peculiarities, so no O/S can really be the "nearest" to this hypothetical "UNIX environment".
However, you'll certainly learn by experiencing different ones like BSDs and Solaris.

Another question, do I still have to worry about broken dependencies and all those stuff? I am currently using Mepis 3.4.3 (a debian-derivative) and sometimes its really a pain installing applications because of dependencies and incorrect entries on the source.list. I just hope bsds have centralized repository. Do you think I should first use freebsd rather than the pc-bsd? Thanks.

I don't remember having broken dependencies problems on FreeBSD. For that matter .. I don't remember having broken dependencies anywhere for years.

All the BSDs have centralized "repositories" for 3rd party applications. They reduce the amount of broken dependencies.

PC-BSD offers many packed applications on www.pbidir.com and all you have to do is click and anter root password.

pkg_add collects from a common ports repository I believe.

pkg_add -r nameofappliation