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List:       openbsd-misc
Subject:    Re: guide newcomers better
From:       Ralph Forsythe <rforsythe () centerone ! com>
Date:       2002-01-03 19:29:26
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Yes, but this has also been said many times before.  OpenBSD is NOT a good
beginner OS, like you mentioned.  It IS a great OS, however it was
designed for a specific purpose, not to be the "everything to everyone"
system that Linux has become.

Personally, I consider Linux to be a beginner UNIX OS anymore.  This has
it's merits, but also it's downsides.  I cut my teeth on FreeBSD back in
the late 1.x/early 2.x days, and I finally tried Linux a year later when I
needed it for a project that just *had* to run on Linux.  I'm glad I
started that way too, because it gave me a bit more of a hands-on approach
to how the OS worked, instead of the Linux GUI-for-all solution which IMHO
doesn't teach you much of anything on system functionality.

Just starting out, I still recommend FreeBSD over Linux.  The 4.x releases
are great, and have come a long way from when I started.  Installing it is
almost fun now! :)  The OpenBSD docs are magnitudes better than some
others I've seen, however it's not a "jump right in and play" system
whereby a newbie can explore without knowing anything.  However after
playing with FreeBSD for a little while, the transition to OpenBSD isn't
hard (especially if you glance through the pertinent FAQ sections before
installing ... I can't stress this enough).

-rf
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Ralph Forsythe         rforsythe@centerone.com
"The Internet?  Is that thing still around?"  - Homer Simpson


On Thu, 3 Jan 2002, Eric Timme wrote:

> I agree that OpenBSD is a bit overwhelming at first, and I would also
> say that it has an extremely high learning curve as compared to
> comperable OSes...I would never suggest it to a new user unless he had a
> headache fetish.  I started off running Linux before I moved to BSDs,
> and used FreeBSD before thinking about moving to OpenBSD.  Depending on
> your needs I would say that FreeBSD is a much better choice for a
> workstation operating system, and it helps to ease you into the
> migration to OpenBSD.  FreeBSD has the most comprehensive and useful
> handbook I've seen, with many sections applicable to new users and
> people setting up things for the first time.
>
> OpenBSD has a wealth of well documented things, however, you have to dig
> around for them, which newer users aren't used to doing, and which might
> not be readily apparent to them.  I appreciate the manpages, but I don't
> know if the migration would have gone as smoothly as it did had I not
> been comfortable with the BSD operating system first.
>
> Just my two cents..
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