RE: [Fwd: BSDCon 2003 - Call for Papers]

from Stacy Olivas:

> Yes, the *BSD's can be difficult on some systems...  Were you
> able to report the problems you had to the respective *BSD
> teams so that they could look into it?  I think that one of
> the main reasons why Linux is so "easy" and "friendly" to
> install is because of the vast amounts of users (not to
> mention the numerous companies who all sell a different
> distribution of it).  

I mentioned my problems with NetBSD on NetBSD emailing lists but was unable to
send-pr, since I was unable to run send-pr due to being unable to boot and 
login to NetBSD, and for that reason I was unable to recompile the NetBSD
kernel for my hardware.  I never got around to trying from the installation
kernel, going to command shell and seeing if I could somehow make the hard
drive partition the root.  That was for NetBSD 1.5.2, now the incentive is
undermined since 1.6 is out and 1.6.1 is getting nearer.

Linux is less balky about booting because there are many more users than for
BSD, hence more computers to root out the bugs.  With Linux, you can boot a
kernel on floppy and mount root=/dev/hd.. and be able to run Linux as if it
were booted from the hard drive even if for some reason it can't be booted
directly from the hard drive.  Only Linux I have any experience installing is
Slackware and Debian, so I have no experience with a GUI installer.

I notice you posted a message about FreeBSD help list and newbie list.  I could
download the boot diskette images for FreeBSD 5.0 and see if I can get past the
stage of probing hardware devices, which was a fatal snag in FreeBSD 4.x.  Or
maybe there would be a way to force-install FreeBSD, bypassing the regular
installation procedure?  I download the boot diskette images and write the
diskettes as a test to see if it works before spending the money for the CDs.
If I have similar problems with 5.0 as with 4.x, I could ask on the
freebsd-questions list.