Some Questions about Installing freeBSD

cOde13 · 10-28-2012, 04:12 PM

Hi,

I want to try a freeBSD & (I think) I need to know these:

1) Need a graphical desktop (Gnome/Xfce) for Internet browsing.
2) Hardware is P4 - i386 - 1GB Ram , Fedora 16 installed on it, so I guess freeBSD's installable too, right?
4) Want to Install on a single partition & multi boot with Fedora 16 with fedora's Grub (using "chainloader +1"), possible?
5) Is this ISO installable on harddrive: FreeBSD-8.3-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso
source: ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...SO-IMAGES/8.3/

Also, please suggest anything else I should know.

Thanks for reading.

jmccue · 10-28-2012, 09:03 PM

Hi

Quote:

Originally Posted by cOde13

1) Need a graphical desktop (Gnome/Xfce) for Internet browsing.

gnome 2, I do not think gnome 3 is 100%.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cOde13

2) Hardware is P4 - i386 - 1GB Ram , Fedora 16 installed on it, so I guess freeBSD's installable too, right?

Should not be an issue, I have 8.3 on an old AMD 333MHz with 512mb, works fine but I do not use any desktops on it but it is quite usable. I also have it dual boot on my 'main' machine.

Quote:

Originally Posted by cOde13

4) Want to Install on a single partition & multi boot with Fedora 16 with fedora's Grub (using "chainloader +1"), possible?

I do not know grub, I dual boot with lilo and have no issues

Quote:

Originally Posted by cOde13

5) Is this ISO installable on harddrive: FreeBSD-8.3-RELEASE-i386-disc1.iso
source: ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...SO-IMAGES/8.3/

I believe so.

1. Check the handbook out, Handbook, lots of great information,

But after install and you reboot, I would do this first:
2. freebsd-update

Code:

# freebsd-update fetch
# freebsd-update install

3. reboot then update ports, see "ports link", which can be confusing. I do:

Code:

cd /usr/ports
portsnap cron
portsnap extract
portsnap update

In a background script, but it will execute for a while.

4. then isntall the apps you want from ports

Enjoy, you will find the docs and man pages a good resource.
John

Knightron · 10-29-2012, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cOde13

Hi,

I want to try a freeBSD & (I think) I need to know these:

1) Need a graphical desktop (Gnome/Xfce) for Internet browsing.

Just a heads up; although you can run a desktop environment on FreeBSD, you will not get one on install.

Quote:

4) Want to Install on a single partition & multi boot with Fedora 16 with fedora's Grub (using "chainloader +1"), possible?

What Most of the Linux community call a partition, the FreeBSD community call it a slice. Each slice may be split into partitions, eg, /usr /boot ect. In my opinion the whole slice thing is stupid but maybe i just don't get it. FreeBSD must be installed on a primary partition. I also can't speak for grub 2 chainloading, but it's worked fine chainloading from Grub Legacy.

cOde13 · 10-30-2012, 07:50 PM

@jmccue
Thanks for comment specially for the Handbook.

@Knightron
Thanks for comment.

Quote:

...FreeBSD must be installed on a primary partition...

I may need to use a different harddrive then for older data safety