FreeBSD on an IBM P75?

[Frits Westra]

Hello all,

The last couple of weeks I've been browsing through many FreeBSD
websites but I still can't make up my mind whether switching to
FreeBSD is a good idea or not.

This is the vintage pc that's available for FreeBSD:

IBM PC330 (Pentium 75)
16 MB RAM
540 MB IDE HDD
33k6 Modem
There is no CD player (yet)
Currently it has Win95, which I want to remove.

This is what I'd like to have (in order of importance):

1. Excellent email handling capabilities with a good searchable
email archiving system.

2. A swift wordprocessor with multiple language spell check that
can import Word docs, but doesn't need to generate them.

3. Internet browser (Opera?)

4. Maybe some simple astronomy software.

That't all I want to use.

I'm used to DOS command line operations and don't need a
graphical interface. A few simple menus here and there would be
nice though.

My question: Is FreeBSD the way to go?

Thank you very much for your advice.

Best wishes,
Frits Westra -- fwe...@hetnet.nl

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[Annelise Anderson]

On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, Frits Westra wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The last couple of weeks I've been browsing through many FreeBSD
> websites but I still can't make up my mind whether switching to
> FreeBSD is a good idea or not.
>
> This is the vintage pc that's available for FreeBSD:
>
> IBM PC330 (Pentium 75)
> 16 MB RAM
> 540 MB IDE HDD

This is enough for installing the ports collection and kernel
source, but not enough for using full source to upgrade the system.
However, you can do binary upgrades; just don't waste 350 MB
installing full source. For everything else (including X) this
is enough space.

> 33k6 Modem
> There is no CD player (yet)
> Currently it has Win95, which I want to remove.
>
> This is what I'd like to have (in order of importance):
>
> 1. Excellent email handling capabilities with a good searchable
> email archiving system.

Several text-based programs (pine, elm, mutt) handle email and
there are various searching capabilities--and there's glimpse, a
third-party program for searching text files.

> 2. A swift wordprocessor with multiple language spell check that
> can import Word docs, but doesn't need to generate them.

The antiword program imports Word docs, converting them to text.
So does StarOffice, but that requires a GUI.
>
> 3. Internet browser (Opera?)

There are several text-based browsers; for graphical ones, you
need to be running X.

>
> 4. Maybe some simple astronomy software.
>
> That't all I want to use.
>
> I'm used to DOS command line operations and don't need a
> graphical interface. A few simple menus here and there would be
> nice though.
>
> My question: Is FreeBSD the way to go?

I think what's available to you for what you want to do is
quite similar in FreeBSD and (for example) Linux. FreeBSD
installs less by default than many versions of Linux, giving
you more control over a small hard drive to make it suit your
purposes.

>
> Thank you very much for your advice.
>

You'd get a wider range of advice on freebsd-...@freebsd.org,
but the above is one view.

Annelise

--
Annelise Anderson
Author of: FreeBSD: An Open-Source Operating System for Your PC
Available from: mall.daemonnews.org and amazon.com
Book Website: http://www.bittreepress.com/FreeBSD/introbook/

[Anthony M. Magsino]

If that's all you're looking for in your type of hardwware,unix is the
way to go. Either FreeBSD or Linux is best.

On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, Frits Westra wrote:

[Marc Smits]

On Tue, 20 Nov 2001, Frits Westra wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The last couple of weeks I've been browsing through many FreeBSD
> websites but I still can't make up my mind whether switching to
> FreeBSD is a good idea or not.
>
> This is the vintage pc that's available for FreeBSD:
>
> IBM PC330 (Pentium 75)
> 16 MB RAM
> 540 MB IDE HDD
> 33k6 Modem
> There is no CD player (yet)
> Currently it has Win95, which I want to remove.
>

Hello Fritz,

I started using FreeBSD a couple of months ago on a pentium 133, which
would work fine. If I would know how to operate properly. According to
the Complete FreeBSD Handbook' it should even work on a 486 with your
specifications.

Please note that all graphical applications (as Netscape / opera) do use a
lot of CPU. And do not try the FTP-install through your modem :-)

Grtz, Marc

Wanadoo, http://www.wanadoo.nl/
Marc Smits, Wanadoo helpdesk
Muiderstraat 1; Postbus 11095, 1001 GB Amsterdam
T +31 20 5355 666, F +31 20 5355 195, E ma...@support.wanadoo.nl

[Deff]

If u are not sure wether to change or not...
I advice to start with soemthing like Pico-BSD.
Virtualy similar to Free BSD but reall small and lite.
Boots from a floppy so u do not have to kill yer old install.

Deff