FreeBSD 5.3-BETA6 Available

ulib writes "The FreeBSD 5.3 testing cycle goes on with a brand new BETA Release. Eager for the Final? Then try this Beta out (mirrors) and help them find/fix bugs! Here are the announcement (check it for fixes, enhancements & known issues), the schedule (could be updated soon), and the todo list."

Comments

ULE scheduler?

[nacturation]

The open issues page shows the SCHED_ULE as "needs testing" for the 5.3 release -- the last release still used the old 4BSD scheduler. Have the issues with preemption been ironed out?

Re:ULE scheduler?

[endx7]

The open issues page shows the SCHED_ULE as "needs testing" for the 5.3 release -- the last release still used the old 4BSD scheduler. Have the issues with preemption been ironed out?

Work has been done to make it more stable, but SCHED_ULE (especially with preemption) still isn't stable enough, so SCHED_4BSD will be default in 5.3

Re:ULE scheduler?

[molnarcs]

The funny thing is that one of the reasons for switching back to 4BSD was problems with preemption. I tried options PREEMPTION with 5.3BETA3 and BETA5 _with SCHED_4BSD, and had exactly the same problems as with ULE (and preemption).

I've been using ULE since last year december (5.1) and I never had any problems with it. In fact, it performs much better, especially on the desktop (interactivity remains better while building in the background for instance). I will continue to use it for this reasons, despite not being the default.

Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[museumpeace]

I bought a cheap [e-mahcine] 2.4gHz box with the intention of just reformating XP to oblivion and loading up a Linux...but now here is BSD. Hmmm the install instructions at the BSD site look detailed. Last time I tried this was with RH 6.something, I was using an even cheaper machine with an oddball graphics card...never did get X windows or any thing but command line mode [which would have served my purposes]. I guess what I really want before wiping windows off my box is a throrough HW compatibility list...one size DOES NOT fit all PC's.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[beholder77]

You could try to load up the first install disc, or even better the miniinst disc if you don't want to waste bandwidth, and see during the boot messages if all the hardware in your box is probed.

Don't worry if it can't find your sound card though, install kernels don't have multimedia features.

However, as a hard core BSD user, I would say if you're looking for a desktop replacement, you may not find the joy here. First, getting BSD up and running as a desktop requires a bit of work and a certain comfort level working with the command line.

Being Bi-OS-ual (I swing Linux and BSD where necessary ;), I would recommend either Knoppix 2.6 or Fedora Core 2 as a better starter unix. With these, you won't be dropped to a prompt after a fairly mimimalist install to fend for yourself. You'll also get a chance to run a ton of pre-configured desktop applications, so when you finally do attempt the BSD desktop, you'll know what you want to install beforehand.

If however you're wanting to setup your first server environment, I would recommend FreeBSD over everything else. You will learn unix the proper way, which is at the command line and manually configuring your service config files. (Yes I've used Debian and Gentoo for this in the past, and I still think FreeBSD is better suited).

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[Brandybuck]

what I really want before wiping windows off my box is a throrough HW compatibility list

See the Hardware Notes page. This page is for 5.2.1 because 5.3 is still in beta, but you can get the latest page off of CVS or on the beta ISO.

While this page isn't thorough, it should meet most people's needs. Thoroughness would require a vastly larger document. For example, not every USB flash drive is listed, but 9999 out of the 10,000 available will work with FreeBSD out of the box.

If you have hardware that is not mentioned, then ask about it on a support forum.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[torako]

FreeBSD can make a pretty good desktop machine. It has a really lean base system and using the ports system you can get all the software you want.

Once you get your GUI running you won't notice any difference.

In terms of administration and setup I'd compare FreeBSD with Slackware Linux. You will need to do some config file editing to get stuff done, but FreeBSD has a very well documented and easy-to-understand configuration system (you can basically set all the important system preferences in the /etc/rc.conf file).

Give it a shot, you just might like it.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[Anonymous Coward]

you could also try FreeSBIE http://www.freesbie.org/, a very nice freeBSD live CD. it worked fine on my DELL laptop (except for the wireless card, but that's expected) and on another old DELL PIII desktop I had lying around but of course since your machine is new YMMV.

s.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[Bishop]

Install FreeBSD 4.10. It is the current stable version of FreeBSD. 4.10 will give you a good idea of all that FreeBSD has to offer. FreeeBSD 4.10 is not outdated. It was released in May 2004 and includes gnome 2.6 and KDE 3.2.2.

The FreeBSD install is easy provided that you follow the documentation. If you don't have a second computer on which to view the installation guide, print it out.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[Brandybuck]

Yeah, you can get everything with Ports, but you have to compile it!

If you don't want to compile ports, then use prebuilt packages! Why is this so hard of a concept to understand?

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[molnarcs]

As he ^ said. FreeBSD has package management similar to Debian's apt. Packages might be somewhat outdated compared to ports (but they are built from ports! once in a month if I know correctly).

apt-get install postfix = pkg_add -r postfix

or if you have portupgrade installed:

portinstall -PP postfix

But that's not all! You can combine the two:

portinstall -P postfix

will try to install the latest version from packages, but if it can't find it it will build the port! FreeBSD's port/package management is one (if not THE) best I ever seen.

Re:Am I ready to take the BSD plunge?

[ValourX]

I would say that OpenBSD is a better starter server; it's easier to secure and the afterboot man page tells you pretty much everything you have to know to get started with a variety of different services. The man pages in OpenBSD are just outstanding, and the quality of the code is unmatched.

If only it had the desktop apps I need, I'd use it as a desktop machine. As it is, I have it on my laptop so I can learn to do more through the CLI (email, IRC, learning vi, maybe get into C programming).

And this is coming from someone who uses FreeBSD as his main workstation OS.

-Jem

4.x series

[nurb432]

Since you are new to FBSD, dont try the 5.x series just yet.. Its not 100% done, yet.. almost..but not quite..

Stick with the 4.x ( stable, released ) series for the moment, if you are going to try it TODAY.. so you dont get left with a bad impression by starting out with a TESTING version.....

/. is great for plungers

[museumpeace]

/. posters:
Thanks for all the information for a newbie taking the BSD plunge. This is /. at its best: a lot of people who know what they are talking about and willing to pass on what they know.
BTW, entirely by accident, I found an HP site where you can try out BSD. They are running FreeBSD 5.2.1. You sign up for an account and get to play on their machine. HP puts up the service as a way to show off its high performance systems [alpha's, 64-bit itaniums and other cool tools headed for obsolescence:( ]. I wonder if HP's choice of BSD as one of the OS's for testdriving their hottest boxes implys that they think BSD is less likely to get in the way of demanding computations than some other OS's we shant name.

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