Version of FreeBSD?

[chrisp at belgacom.net]

On Wed, Apr 30, 2003 at 05:17:51PM -0400, Adam Maas wrote:
> 
> > Hello, I am a windows user, but I'm planning to try a GNU OS, maybe
> FreeBSD. My question is about the minimum or recomended requirements for
> this OS. I wish to install it in a Pentium 200 MMX, 96 MB RAM and 3.4 GB of
> hard disk. ¿What version could I install in that machine, and which may I
> install if I want to get a minimal speed?                   Thanks for your
> time....
> 
> 
> FreeBSD 4.8 would be the version of choice for a new user. It will run fine
> on that system, provided you use a Lightweight Window Manager for X, rather
> than Gnome or KDE.
>
It all depends on what you like.  If you want the system to be really fast
and responsive, GNOME and KDE aren't ideal :-).  If you don't mind a delay
every now and then, GNOME and/or KDE (with eye candy, special effects and
unnecessary daemons turned off) could be usable on that kind of machine, maybe
about as fast as Windows Me/2000.
Window Maker is fast and responsive on that kind of hardware, you could also
consider XFCE (a more lightweight desktop environment).

(I once accidentally installed KDE (1.something) when installing a Linux distro
on a 486, now THAT was slow :-). )
 
> Note that FreeBSD is not a GNU OS (In fact there is only one GNU OS, Debian
> Hurd. Linux, or GNU/Linux as the FSF Zealots like to call it, is not
> entirely GPL either.),  It's a BSD, which happens to use some GPL software.
> The only piece of GLP software it depends on is gcc.
>