A few questions from a current linux user

[Krishna Mohan Gundu]

Hi,

I am currently using Fedora Core 4 linux distribution for my everyday
needs like programming, checking emails etc on my two year old HP
laptop. I feel that time has come for me to move away from Fedora. I
wasted a lot of time compiling libraries and their dependencies. I
could benefit from better packaging systems that come with systems
like FreeBSD.

I tried to gather as much information as I could from the
documentation available on freebsd.org, but the following questions
remain unanswered. I would be glad if you can take time to educate me

1) Is a feature similar to magic SysRq in linux necessary for FreeBSD?
(As I understand there is no such feature in FreeBSD)
2) Is it possible to compile multiple versions of gcc? If so what is
the best way to do it?
3) Is it possible to perform a binary update from one release to
another? If so can you please point me to the documentation? How are
config files updated in this case? (Could not locate documentation on
binup)
4) If a binary update leads to an unstable system, how easy it is to
backtrack to an earlier working version along with working config
files?
5) Does FreeBSD have support for PCMCIA-USB cards?

thanks,
Krishna.

PS: I am considering Debian as another alternative.