FreeBSD for Linux users

[Ed Hurst]

On Wed, 26 Nov 2003, Bill Moran wrote:

> Ceri Davies wrote:
> > On Wed, Nov 26, 2003 at 03:25:37PM -0800, bri an wrote:
> >
> >>I am a Work-study at a University. I have allot of
> >>staff using Redhat. I have been working on helping
> >>people move to Freebsd. I have been using it for a two
> >>months. I would love to help in anyway. I am not very
> >>versed in Freebsd, But I know how to RTFM. I can be a
> >>great tester to see what the document needs.
> >
> > I think it needs writing. ;-)
> >
> > Seriously, on the doc team we are all long term FreeBSD users, and lack
> > the newcomer perspective to write this document.  A list of pointers to
> > things that people migrating find difficult would be useful to start.
>
> I recently gave a demonstration of FreeBSD at a Linux User's Group meeting,
> so I have a _little_ insight.  I'll put forward what I can remember here,
> as well as offering my assistance during the writing of such a document.
>
> 1) You'd be surprised how many hard-core Linux users drop FreeBSD just because
>     the default shell seems to suck compared to bash.  They often give up
>     before finding out how easy it is to install bash.  bash is so universal
>     on Linux distros, that they don't even realize it's seperate from Linux
>     and can be installed on any Unix-like system.  Just explaining how to
>     install bash and configure it for use would be a good idea.
> 2) The lack of an easy way to set up X during initial install seems to annoy
>     and confuse a lot of Linux folk.  Some explanation of how to install
>     Gnome or KDE (along with kdm or gdm) would put them in a more comfortable
>     environment in many cases.
> 3) Hard-core admins are confused by the fact that so much config info is in
>     /etc/rc.conf.  They're even more confused by the fact that the rest of
>     the config is in /usr/local/etc
> 4) /stand/sysinstall is not known by Linux users
> 5) The first thing a linux -> FreeBSD user is going to want to do is install
>     their favorite apps.  A brief explanation of ports/packages as well as
>     pointers to more information would speed things along.
>
> Hope this helps.
>
> --
> Bill Moran
> Potential Technologies
> http://www.potentialtech.com

New member here, and nearly clueless. However, I have much experience
in writing and education.

How do I submit my own work? I am a mere desktop user, recently
migrated from SuSE to FreeBSD. I some articles about that experience;
they were posted at Ofb.biz. I have zero experience with networking
beyond Internet connectivity, and that via dialup alone.

I can't write what I haven't experienced, but what I have is written up
in tutorials that assume very little prior knowledge. First, I put
together some very basic info for those making the transition from
proprietary systems to Open Source. I call them the "Clueless User's
Guide" series.

Building on those, I have so far 5 tutorials on installing and setting
up FreeBSD for the desktop/dialup user. They were posted on a couple of
forums for fact checking, and I believe they are about ready. They will
be published eventually at Ofb.biz as "FreeBSD on the Desktop".

I have them in plain text form backed up on my drive, and in HTML on my
website (referenced in my sig). Is there a particular process for this
submission? I'd rather they be posted in a more accessible place than
my little hobby website.

Ed Hurst
-----------
An Applied Bible Site
http://webs.tconline.net/softedges/

---
[This E-mail was scanned for viruses by Declude Virus]