FreeBSD starter machine

[Chris Hill]

On Sun, 11 Dec 2005, Matt S. Gann wrote:

> I have a few questions about FreeBSD.  I am just beginning to get 
> into UNIX.  I know a few line commands, but really want to get 
> familiar and comfortable with the OS.  I have been intrugued by 
> FreeBSD for many years now, but I own a windows-based PC and am not 
> keen about running dual OS's.  I would like to get a cheap, used, 
> small desktop or laptop to "tinker" with Unix/Linix and FreeBSD. 
> However, I know little to nothing about system requirements and/or 
> hardware compability.  I was thinking of an old 486 or Pentium 1 to 
> get started.  Any thoughts on what I could start with?

Please press Return (or Enter) every once in a while. Your message was 
one long line.

As for the question, I think you'd want a relatively "modern" machine to 
start with; in your example, I'd go with the Pentium over the 486. But 
either one might give you grief. I've had problems installing "late 
model" FreeBSD on truly ancient hardware, so I'd suggest you go with 
something that's not too long in the tooth. The website recommendations 
regarding CPU, RAM and disk space are really bare minima; in reality, 
you can't have too much of any of these, just as with any OS. Here's a 
comparison of extremes: I built my newest machine earlier this year with 
a 3.4GHz P4, 1GB of RAM and 160GB disk. My oldest machine dates from the 
late 1990s and has a 266MHz AMD K6-2, 32 MB of RAM, and 4GB of disk. The 
old machine works fine, but building anything is excruciatingly slow.

I think you're right about not being "keen about running dual OS's" - I 
prefer to keep one OS per machine. Lots of people dual-boot with no 
problem, but it just doesn't feel right to me. Maybe it's a personal 
preference issue.

Here's a thought: Since it's the holiday season, many retailers are 
offering deals on new computers. If your current Win* box is a few years 
old, how about upgrading to a new machine? Once your stuff is tranferred 
over, install FreeBSD on the old machine. At least you'll get known-good 
hardware (assuming everything worked before), and it will be somewhat 
modern since your current box is probably not more than three to five 
years old.  Also, since the box is not brand-new, there's a good chance 
that the hardware is fully supported under FreeBSD - it sometimes takes 
a little time before the newest hardware is useable under FreeBSD, 
depending on what it is.

Good luck, and welcome to sanity :^)

--
Chris Hill               chris at monochrome.org
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