[Linux-Anyway] Re: FreeBSD version and installation disks
- From: Scott Robbins <scottro@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: Linux-Anyway@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Tue, 27 Apr 2004 07:07:25 -0400
On Tue, Apr 27, 2004 at 12:57:41PM +0200, Horror Vacui wrote:
> I guess this one is primarily for our NYBSDFreak...
>
> I suddenly find myself with about 1.5 GB download volume left, a 1.2 GB
> HD ready to wipe and some time on my hands. Since installing Gentoo I've
> little incentive to play with other GNUlinuxes; and I already have
> OpenBSD acting as a router/firewall for my home network. So I want to
> test BSD on desktop, and that'll be FreeBSD.
Good choice. Sigh, I remember when I used to keep MS for desktop
stuff-then it was FreeBSD for work and Linux for desktop, now it's
almost at the point where FreeBSD can do everything.
>
> But I'm not quite certain as to what I should download (and if there's
> something explaining that, it's been well-hidden). There are four
> images: xxx-bootonly.iso, xxx-disc1.iso, xxx-disc2.iso and
> xxx-miniinst.iso.
I forget what the boot.iso does. Probably gets you on a broadband
network to download everything. The mini install gets you a basic
system, no X, no packages, no Linux emulation--you can do all that
later, after the install is up and running, depends upon what you want
to put in from the beginning and what you want to put in from ports. I
usually just put in the very basic stuff, ports and Linux emulation. I
then put in everything else, including X, from ports.
You would only need the first disc1.iso. The other stuff has additional
packages, but as things are always being upgraded, and backwards
compatibility isn't always perfect, you're usually best off putting in
most things from ports. One of the first ports you'll want is
/usr/ports/sysutils/portupgrade which does pretty much what it says. :)
I'm pretty sure I don't need the miniinst, I think
> it's a good guess that I don't need the bootonly, and I shouldn't wonder
> if disc2 is unnecessary too. I'd rather not repeat the Debian- and
> Gentoo screwups where I downloaded 3 and 1 images respectively, and
> ended up downloading virtually all software that was on those once
> again. On the other hand, I want to have an installation CD that I can
> use to set up a box (with xserver and apps) without having to use the
> network.
Ok, bag the mini install then. :)
>
> Also: should I take the 5.2.1 (which if BSD also uses the
> major/minor/microversion scheme is a development version) or should I
> rather use 5.2. Mind you, I'm quite comfortable living on the bleeding
> edge of development, and I don't need Debian with its 2 major-versions
> lag to have the feeling I'm running a stable system. I don't want to
> hack each package to make it install or run either, but I don't mind
> doing so for several.
5.2.1--in this case, it fixes some problems. You shouldn't have to hack
too much.
I have a couple of FreeBSD pages,
http://home.nyc.rr.com/computertaijutsu/bsd.html which is rather dated,
and one that's probably more helpful at
http://home.nyc.rr.com/computertaijutsu/cvsup.html
Their forums at http://www.freebsdforums.org are also quite helpful as
is the us.undernet.org irc channel--while people get the RTFM a bit, if
you ask intelligent questions, or even say, hey, I read the manual but
don't understand this part you'll find that people are knowledgeable and
helpful. Not to mention the handbook, one of the better examples, imho
of *nix docs.
--
Scott Robbins
PGP keyID EB3467D6
( 1B48 077D 66F6 9DB0 FDC2 A409 FA54 D575 EB34 67D6 )
gpg --keyserver pgp.mit.edu --recv-keys EB3467D6
(In response to being asked to fight a troll)
Spike: I would, but I'm paralyzed with not caring very much.
To unsubcribe send e-mail with the word unsubscribe in the body to:
Linux-Anyway-Request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx?body=unsubscribe
Other related posts:
