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FreeBSD 5.2 Review
JigSaw writes "OSNews published a review of FreeBSD 5.2. They found the OS very solid as a server but pretty lacking as a desktop. The author finds FreeBSD very fast overall, easy to configure and that it feels integrated and mature. On the other hand, it has limited modern hardware support, small annoyances at places and that not many binary packages are available and so compilations from ports may take long time."
Packages are auto-generated on the FreeBSD build cluster and posted periodically; most FTP mirrors carry them.
So I don't know what this crap about "not many binary packages are available" is coming from.
Pros: excellent speed, memory management very mature, kernel options much more tunable and meaningful than the 4.x branch. Hardware support usually better but sometimes a little worse on exotic SCSI hardware.
Cons: it's dying.
I use FreeBSD every day as a desktop, and it works great for me. At least the reviewer appreciated the integrated feel that come from a real Unix, that was planned rather than hobbled together. It's also good that they noticed how solid FreeBSD is as a server. *BSD performance under heavy loads is something that can't always be proved by benchmarks. It has to be seen to be believed.
My main dissagreement though, is his complaint about the ports system. Debians apt-get system is the only thing that comes close, but with ports I find it much easier to maintain my own changes to the source tree.
I moved to FreeBSD after bad experiences on Linux, with licensing, the ad-hoc design, and spagetti code. Now I stay with FreeBSD because of it's engineered design, and because it's nice to have a truly free system.
Expert in software patents or patent law? Contribute to the ESP wiki!
So what does pkg_add -r packagename do then? I thought it downloaded the pre-compiled binary
Rus
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Somebody should tell this gal that 5.2 is NOT a stable release. Maybe I missed it, but she fails to mention that 5.2 is a "New Technology Release" and is not yet intended for production use.
Many of the problems that the author experienced will probably (hopefully) be resolved by the time that 5-STABLE is released.
I don't argue that there are problems in the 5-series (I still stick with 4-STABLE), but if you're going to review it, at least make it obvious that it is not a finished product.
I haven't used apt-get, but freeBsd has a nice package system. Most people use ports and compile from source, but you can also use pkg_add with some options to fetch the binary package and install it. Portupgrade and source installs rock, unless your system is very limited.
That said, why didn't you do a apt-get to install your packages on a local network machine, and nfs export it?
I had 5.1 installed and running perfectly fine on my box, tried to format and do a fresh install of 5.2 and it won't write to the HD.
did drive scans, installed various other OSes, all fine. but freeBSD hates me now.
so i installed 5.1 again and all is good.
that's my 5.2 experience. while googling for a solution I ran across a bunch of other people with the same problem and no resolution.
Drive geometry on Seagate barracuda drives doesn't seem to play nice with the 5.2 installer.
"You worthless post!"
-Shakespeare, 2 Gentlemen of Verona, 1. 1. 147
Absolutely relevant comment on BSD architecture, but somewhat irrelevant on the WTC side :P In fact "they" have already admitted that WTC 7 was in fact blown up. We have just to wait on 1 and 2.
To be on the safe side with offtopic moderators, I want to stress that when upgrading to 5.2 via make world, one should be sure to build and install kernel _before_ building and installing world. And yes, 5.2 is extremely stable.
The desktop side is as always second priority, Most people still use FreeBSD as a server platform, and those who already master it can always use it for dekstop also.
__
L.
10,000 apps, but I'll bet cash the majority are command-line utilities, not desktop applications.
Wrong, see http://www.freshports.org/categories.php
A busy window can be moved provided you haven't got the application running in that window stuck in a loop that prevents the windows API messages from being sent to and from that application.
VB Example
bad:
Do
x=x+1
Loop
Better:
Do
x=x+1
Doevents
Loop
The doevents returns the system control to process something besides the loop.
1. A busy window cannot be moved.
This is the fault of the application programmer. If a programmer knows how to write a decent message loop, you won't have this problem. Despite this, even poorly written program windows can be moved, they're just slow.
2. Viruses abound, and they are a bitch for an unexperienced user to remove.
3. Spyware apps abound, and they are a bitch for an unexperienced user to remove.
4. Problems are left unfixed. MSIE exploits are unpatchable even after months of MS being informed of them.
Do what I do -- install Mozilla on Windows. The only non-OSS software on my Windows box is Windows itself. I have zero problems with viruses, worms, etc. Oh, I am behind a firewall too, on a separate box.
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
What do you mean by "lack of a large, centralized resource for FreeBSD binary packages"? The FreeBSD FTP site contains binary packages for all supported branches and architectures (almost 9000 binary packages for FreeBSD 4.x on i386 at the present time). They're indexed at http://www.freebsd.org/ports and you can download them easily with pkg_add -r.
I'll preface this by saying that I do most of my work in Linux. I prefer the Linux licensing model and the overall "experience". That said, I do lots and lots of work with FreeBSD and am active on various lists, answering mostly Unix related questions (rather that so much FreeBSD specific ones).
Here is an article about the Linux and BSD performance. I refer to this one because it matters most in what I do (deploy Linux/Unix machines for clients).
FreeBSD is good, damned good, but I think Linux is better.
Well I was worried about not getting "bleeding edge" enough if I went to FreeBSD.
/ handbook/x-config.html) and the instructions worked precisely as they were supposed to.
S D_Basics.html).
Nearly any app I was using in Linux is available on FreeBSD. FreeBSD even allows Linux binary capability right from the start (simply by clicking a "yes/no" prompt when running installation from the disc for the first time).
Mouse and keyboard is done right from the installation wizard as well, with simple "Are you using a PS/2 capable mouse?" I bypassed X set up from sysinstall and did it from the command line using the handbook (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books
But back to the bleeding edge thing - there's a tool called "portupgrade" that checks currently installed software against the version that's listed in ports and will upgrade it if there is a newer version (http://www.onlamp.com/pub/a/bsd/2003/08/28/FreeB
I consider myself luckier than others, and i am sure it is bound to have its share of problems for some users.
And yes, Freebsd can run vmware (its in ports) but I think i'm too newb to try that yet.
-j
I disagree. I'm a rank newbie: I installed FreeBSD last Friday.
/usr/ports and poked about. In next to no time I got Python installed... and it installed the latest v3.3 even though the default ports list didn't include v3.3. Hit up Apache, Zope, ZWiki. No problems.
It was a delight, and thoroughly kicked ass on the half-dozen Linux installations I've experimented over the years.
Right out of the box, for instance, it's configured sensibly. It autodetected all the hardware just peachy, and connected itself to the net without issue. None. No issues. At all.
I did the mini-Install. While it was doing its job, I glanced at the FreeBSD Handbook and discovered the Ports chapter. Very cool.
So after it installed I cd'd over to
Did a quick bit of kernel tweaking, based on the Handbook. Compiled on the second try (I think a concurrently compiling application conflicted it the first time.)
The box is currently compiling KDE and Mozilla. It reaches out and fetches what it needs from FTP, resolves all its own conflicts, and a simple command will update all the ports simultaneously.
This new user is finding FreeBSD to kick thorough ass on Linux. I'm one happy camper!
--
Don't like it? Respond with words, not karma.
Freesbie is what you want.
http://www.freesbie.org/
It's weird because I had the opposite impression. I'm using FeeBSD 5.2 release on my laptop. It solid and has everything I need. Getting java will be a hassle because I don't have room to compile it but I think it makes a great desktop.
On the other hand, I couldn't get the 5.2 kernel to boot on my HP Pavilion that I'm re-purposing as a server. OpenBSD proved an excellent solution. Now I think of OpenBSD as my main server OS and FreeBSD as my desktop. Of course I still have a linux box for java and whatnot.
I think FreeBSD is very user friendly. Most stuff just works.
A dyslexic man walks into a bra.
You can find it here: FreeBSD HandBook
Instead of doing this:
using the installer, I typed /bin/bash as the shell
I could edit the passwd files
It took me over an hour trying to find on Google clues
I had to create links for /dev/dvd and /dev/cdrw
I also had to edit rc.conf to enable Samba
Further remarks:
The ports system does come with preconfigured applications, this is what I really like about FreeBSD. I don't need long time to setup things.
Instead VLC (which is a really buggy thing), better use mplayer.
ext2fs has an evil license (GPL), that's why it is not default.
I am happy with my X11-speed on 5.2R, I have 2700fps using glxgears on my P3-500.
Ports is the best thing about FreeBSD. Talking differently is typical for Linux users.
I consider FreeBSD as the best desktop ever, but I don't use Gnome2 (does not mean, I don't like it), I rather use Xfce4, which looks good and is lightweight.
I actually think that you need less experience to install FreeBSD. I recently tried to install Debian, but it failed to find my Intel Ethernet Express Pro 100, because Debian is using ancient kernels. Such things and all networking (including PPPoE) works out-of-the-box on FreeBSD.