Re: New to Unix
From: jpd (read_the_sig_at_do.not.spam.it.invalid)
Date: 10/22/05
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Date: 22 Oct 2005 21:01:05 GMT
Begin <w2v6f.35903$Z8.23577@read2.cgocable.net>
On 2005-10-22, Neb <neb.radojkovic@gmail.com> wrote:
> I imagine that this question was asked a million times...
> I would like to learn (as much as possible) about Unix.
> Where do I start?
A good book.
For example, I heard good things about:
http://www.ora.com/catalog/lunix5
Do remember that unices are extremely powerful tools that lack a lot of
the padding (of the kind found in padded rooms) that windows features.
So you do need to invest a bit in knowning how it works. Installing it
for the first time may not be as easy as installing windows.
> What would be the best Unix System for me to start
> with? I am a many years Windows user and would like to get away from
> MS...
I could mention widely used unix-like[1] systems that can be had for
free[2], but which one is best for you I will leave as an excercise.
Technically, linux in itself is not a complete OS, but many people have
packed it up with all the tools you need it to make it more or less
complete, and this is called a ``linux distribution''. The ubuntu and
gentoo distributions seem to be widely popular, lately. If you like
windows-like installation menus fedora (previously redhat) or suse might
suit your tastes better, but you said you wanted to get away from that.
Not as widely known as linux are the descendants of BSD, to wit:
FreeBSD, NetBSD, and OpenBSD. These are true un*x derived OSen whereas
linux is rewritten from scratch. The results are high-quality and
stable software. FreeBSD is what I use for my daily workhorse, altough
the others I have used and on occasion still do use. The differences
between the three on intel hardware are mostly a taste issue, but
especially NetBSD supports a much wider range of hardware, from old
VAXen through suns, macintoshes and acorns to embedded systems and pdas.
FreeBSD/i386 and NetBSD/i386 can also run linux/i386 binaries if you add
the apropriate libraries, making things like skype and acrobat reader
also available. I would recommend FreeBSD for an easy start, as it has
the largest collection of applications (``ports'') of the three, and
high quality documentation.
[1] Technical term, has to do with ``unix'' being a trademark.
[2] Downloaded off the internet. If you want it on CD either download
iso images and burn, or buy a cd-set, which at least in the *BSD
cases includes a small donation to the volunteer project that
maintains the OS.
-- j p d (at) d s b (dot) t u d e l f t (dot) n l .
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