FreeBSD newbie general and SMP questions for i386

[Barney Wolff]

On Wed, Dec 17, 2003 at 04:40:52PM -0800, Mark Wolfskehl wrote:
> 
> I'm a FreeBSD newbie.  I'm considering installing either FreeBSD i386 or 
> Linux on a 2 AMD Athelon CPU machine.  The motherboard is an ASUS 
> A7M266-D, and the machine has 2GB memory installed.  I'm working on 
> trying to answer some key questions before making a final decision which 
> OS to install (right now the other alternative is SuSe Linux), but 
> perhaps if anyone has some quick answers that would be a help:
> 
> 1. How stable is SMP support in 5.1, especially compared to the 
> stability of single CPU FreeBSD and Linux in general?

I'm running 5-current on an A7M266-D with 2xAthlon 2200+ and 1GB ECC.
Excellent stability.  No crashes at all.  But remember, -current
is strictly bleeding-edge and there will be occasional times when
things don't work well.  So running 5.2-release (due any day now)
may be better for you.  Then you track security fixes with RELENG_5_2.

> 2. In general, how could I characterize the relative performance of 
> FreeBSD and Linux under an SMP kernel and/.or single processors?

I can't answer*, but I claim that it's the wrong question.  OS choice
has more to do with issues that are impossible to quantify.  FreeBSD
just feels more comfortable than Linux to me - and yes, I've run both.
* Other than to say "comparable."

> 3. I'm looking into whether my motherboard conforms to the FreeBSD 
> requirements.  I don't know if the 'Intel MP' means you have to have 
> genuine Intel processors, in particular.  If anyone can get a quick 
> answer to this, that would be critical, of course.  ASUS's website is 
> www.asus.com, and you can just do a search for the motherboard model.  
> They have all the specs and the users manual in pdf online.  Thanks in 
> advance.

See above.

> 4. How compatible is FreeBSD with Linux in practice?  I understand there 
> is a Linux compatibility module for the kernel?

Most stuff is available as native ports.  Other things (Acroread, for
example) do run via Linux compatibility.  But again, you just install
the port and can't tell whether it's native or compat.

> 5. Will FreeBSD run VMWare Workstation virtual machine SW for Linux (in 
> practice)?

I've seen other people run it but have not myself.

> 6. Anything else I should know as a newbie?

You should at least sign up for the security or announce lists to hear
about the (rare) security fixes that are announced.  Questions (like
yours) should normally go to the questions list unless they're fairly
technical.

Come on in, the water's fine!

-- 
Barney Wolff         http://www.databus.com/bwresume.pdf
I'm available by contract or FT, in the NYC metro area or via the 'Net.