Some Simple Questions

[Matthew Seaman]

On Sun, Jun 13, 2004 at 09:28:16PM -0700, Spuds wrote:

> 1) Is FreeBSD truly free, as in I don't have to pay for it and can download it at no charge or is FreeBSD just a name?

Yes.  It's free.  You can download it and use it with out worrying
about license fees.
 
> 2) Is FreeBSD in any way affected by the SCO lawsuits against Linux distributors and commercial users, as I am aware that FreeBSD is based on Unix? I believe it is the fact that Linux may have Unix code, but I am not sure, as I have read many different opinions.

SCO are blowing a lot of wind right now, but it's all bark and no
bite.  Basically the AT&T lawsuit in the early nineties resolved all
questions about intellectual proprietary and AT&T Unix code within any
of the *BSD family.  That has not prevented SCO directors making
threats, but then they would, wouldn't they.  In any case, FreeBSD is
not going to be high on SCO's target list, as there's no money to be
wrung out of the FreeBSD organization.

For the opinions of a former member of the FreeBSD core team and
generally interested party, see: http://people.lemis.com/grog/sco.html
 
> 3) Is FreeBSD compatible with Linux software? I believe I read that somewhere.

If you install the Linux compatability port, you can run most Linux
executables directly under FreeBSD.  Sometimes the applications even
seem to perform better under FreeBSD than they do natively...

> 4) Can FreeBSD run on a laptop that is hardware compatible, as I know some OS's cannot run on laptops but can on desktops?

Yes, in general.  However, laptops are much trickier to deal with than
usual desktop style hardware, and getting FreeBSD to run properly on a
specific model can be difficult.  Check out the
freebsd-mobile at freebsd.org mailing list as a resource to find out what
works and what doesn't.

	Cheers,

	Matthew

-- 
Dr Matthew J Seaman MA, D.Phil.                       26 The Paddocks
                                                      Savill Way
PGP: http://www.infracaninophile.co.uk/pgpkey         Marlow
Tel: +44 1628 476614                                  Bucks., SL7 1TH UK
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