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FreeBSD 5.1 Released
LogicX writes "FreeBSD 5.1 is now available. Mirrors and press release are at FreeBSD.org. Enjoy." Here are the release notes for this new version. Update: 06/09 18:15 GMT by S : Here's a BitTorrent link at scarywater.net, and another BitTorrent link from the original poster.
but if SCO wins we might all be using BSD!
...whenever they announce the release of free software distributions (or large applications).
That would be a nice value added service.
BlackNova Traders
You could always Switch to OS X. I hear it is a Free BSD based OS that has Java built-in.
Java is so easy to install, why don't you just install it yourself? FreeBSD is kind of a minimalist system, that you can customize how you want it. It's not a KitchenSink Distro.
If you had nuts on your chin, would they be chin nuts?
Ports worked out well until they broke during an upgrade.
/usr/ports/sysutils/portupgrade, it makes managing ports much easier/cleaner/more reliable. Pretty much impossible to screw up installs using it, and even if you screw up installs when not using it (don't upgrade depends and sibling ports of those depends), portupgrade can fix them. The learning curve is pretty much nill as well. AFAIK it's only not part of the "base" system because it, like cvsup and other "must have" utilites, is written in Yet Another Funky Language that would also need to be added to the base.
/etc/ttys if you really care that much (maybe the same for Linux, but honestly one of my major Linux complaints is that I can't ever find a "basic" Unix config where it's "expected" and it's likely different per distro anyway).
.doc files, run my AIW-TiVo, etc. If someone finds a way to make EQ, PlanetSide, Unreal II, etc run on FreeBSD that's great for someone, but myself and the vast majority of FreeBSD users won't really care; We'll still use our Windows boxes. In the Linux community however, it often seems like if the lastest game or whatever doesn't have Linux support (at the Windows level or better to boot), then it's some kind of personal afront to the entire Linux world.
Install
Switching terminals was just plain wierd,
Er, virtual terminals? Alt-F#, just like Linux AFAIK? From XFree86 it's the same Ctrl-Alt-F# as Linux as well.
coming from the more logical Linux perspective, and I only had four of them (five with X-Windows when I could get it running.)
So you're bitching that FreeBSD has more enabled by default then Linux? (FreeBSD IIRC has 8 by default). Is this even an argument? Comment ones you don't want out of
I suspect I would have had a better time of it if I had gone scavenger hunting for that magical bit of hardware that wasn't too old or too new to work, but in the end I figured screw it -- just about any distribution of Linux seemed to install properly and run efficiently, so why torture myself?
Hmm...if anything, FreeBSD tends to be leaps and bounds more compatiable on older hardware then Linux. "Bleeding edge" and "junk" hardware is another story, however. The FreeBSD world historically hasn't wasted too many brain cycles on making Joe's Fly By Night $5 eModem play nice, as it's mostly targeted at "power users" (server and workstation) that don't buy hardware based on what's available this week from Fry's for FREE (w/mail in rebate).
That said, FreeBSD's hardware support is within a percentage point or two of Linux (sometimes sooner, such as FreeBSD getting USB support ages before Linux did), and what is supported is often supported better.
So basically I've been running with Gentoo for the last couple of years. Has FreeBSD gotten any friendlier lately?
Depends. For a Unix system, FreeBSD has pretty much always been "friendlier" then most/all Linux distros. For a Windows desktop conversion/political statement system, stick to Linux. FreeBSD has Wine support and such, but it's really more of an afterthought and so far as politics go...M$ tends to like FreeBSD (witness Mono on FreeBSD).
In the end it's really a question of being an "anti" person or a "pro" person.
Linux: Anti-Microsoft
FreeBSD: Pro-Unix
Personally I want/need a Better Unix and I've got no problems keeping a Win2k box on tap to play games, deal with
Seriously, whatever. If/when I ever publish desktop software (games, whatever) it's highly unlikely I'll ever bother with a FreeBSD version, much less a Linux version. If I'd publish for a non-Windows system it would be OS X ages before Linux...and I don't even own an OS X system.
My
But there's no risk really. Any professional organization will read the licences of any copyrighted material they want to use in their products. If there's a problem with what a professional organization wishes to do with GPLed material, they will decide not to use it and look elsewhere. That is their choice.
A company that gets into trouble for using GPLed software without releasing the source is not "poor" in the sense of deserving sympathy.
Reality is defined by the maddest person in the room
How can the linux hardware support be so much better when freebsd is more stable?
Linux supports more varied hardware but FreeBSD crashes less. What's so complicated about that?
Windows 98 supports more hardware than Linux, so it must be more stable, right?
"Easy to install
FreeBSD can be installed from a variety of media including CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, floppy disk, magnetic tape, a MS-DOS partition, or if you have a network connection, you can install it directly over anonymous FTP or NFS. All you need is a pair of blank, 1.44MB floppies and these directions."
Oh, well. I have a ultra-modern portable that doesn't ship with a floppy drive. Easy? Not for me.
You're ignoring the possibility that companies will be accused (in the court of public opinion) of violating the GPL when, in fact, it hasn't been violated.
Did you read the recent Slashdot story regarding Linksys and Linux/GPL?
Overall it seems safer for a company to take the safe road and choose FreeBSD for their embedded devices. I can only imagine there is a technical reason embedded device companies choose Linux/GPL over FreeBSD/BSD, a reason so overwhelming that they're willing to risk accusations of violating the GPL (whether they are justified accusations or not).
-Teckla
The parent post only got a score of 4? Sheesh... I think Alan deserves his own story. What do you need a hot-shot (Bill, Steve, Linus, Richard) to pass away to get noticed. Bad /.
R.I.P Alan
Because in more code you have more bugs? ;)
I have actually seen "hardware support" in Linux which was a major headache to force to work. Linux guys are just being too optimistic - if it looks like works - than it works! If it blows out later -it's a pilot error than ;)
This very sad news should remind us that many very good people have been hurt in the last few years by the IT implosion.
Sometimes nothing we do can make a difference. Sometimes the tiniest gesture can save a life.
Please remember to say "Hi, how are you?" to someone who might need it.
grow some sack and quit posting AC
You have earned my greatest contempt. People like you are the reason horrible things like this happen.
scott
Funny, I used Linux off and on for a couple of years.
I then switched to FreeBSD and I thought the install was so much easier and ports was so much easier I never went back, and never plan to.
Not saying folks should switch just that I much prefer freebsd over the lini I have tried. I just found it to be much easier in almost everyway.
Do you want it done fast or do you want it done correctly? You can't have both.
well, from what i have read about the guy, he did a lot for the FreeBsd community as well as the Linux community and will be missed.
you can read his blog here >>
http://www.fruitsalad.org/people/alane/
and there's is a lot about him on google.
looks like he's another person screwed by the system.
but as he say's, what goes around, comes around...sometimes it just takes a little bit longer...
I sure there will be a lot of people out there waiting for that time to come...