Newbie Question - about newbie user support

[Max Laier]

On Wednesday 26 March 2008 15:15:30 Passive PROFITS wrote:
> Where/How to get started?!?

There is the very complete Handbook[1] which offers step by step 
instruction for almost every common task.  A look at the FAQ[2] doesn't 
hurt - esp. if something's seemingly strange.  The man pages that are 
installed with the normal installation are *complete* and "man intro" 
and "man apropos" should help to find the tools and documentation for 
them.

You were also mentioning that you plan to setup a firewall.  There we are 
spoiled for choice on FreeBSD.  The alternatives are IPFW, PF and IPF - 
details in the handbook[3].  If you choose pf there are several very good 
tutorials available online[4] and on the bookshelfs[5].

Obviously there are printed FreeBSD handbooks as well.  Esp. the newly 
released Absolute FreeBSD 2nd. Edition[6] is very worth the money.

If you still have questions don't be afraid to ask on any FreeBSD list.  
Just make sure you stick to the topic, provide adequate context and show 
(at least a little) that you have done your homework.  You'll find that 
the FreeBSD community in general is very helpful, even with very basic 
questions.

Last but not least, you can check the user group listing[7] for people in 
your area.

[1]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/
[2]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/faq/
[3]http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/firewalls.html
[4]http://www.bsdly.net/~peter/pf.html
[5]http://www.amazon.com/Book-PF-No-Nonsense-OpenBSD-Firewall/dp/1593271654/
   http://www.amazon.com/OpenBSD-PF-Packet-Filter-Book/dp/0979034205/
   http://www.amazon.com/Building-Firewalls-OpenBSD-PF-2nd/dp/8391665119/
[6]http://www.amazon.com/Absolute-FreeBSD-Complete-Guide-2nd/dp/1593271514/
[7]http://www.freebsd.org/usergroups.html

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