[UFO Chicago] Solaris 10 vs. Linux: Get the Real TCO Facts (fwd)

[Daniel Kelly]

Alright guys, so I have a fresh install of OpenSolaris 2008.05 (.11 has some
bugs with my laptop which are documented and not worth dealing with).  So,
overall I like it but can one of you direct me to some information on how to
compile linux or bsd programs for this OS?  I'd like to compile SyncTerm (
http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/) for it.  I'm not sure I even have to since I
see a Solaris binary there, but it looks like its a Sparc binary so I can't
use it.  There are also Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD binaries and of
course source code.  The source code doesn't have ready made configure
scripts and makefiles, and I don't know how to set up the build
environment.  Anyone know any good guides or faqs out there?

Thanks,
Dan Kelly

On Sat, Mar 28, 2009 at 12:02 AM, Daniel Kelly <daniel.jp.kelly at gmail.com>wrote:

> "Something vaguely memorish"
>
> I've been getting a feeling from this thread that I got when I logged onto
> a BBS via telnet about a year ago.  Nostalgia.  Even toying around with
> MacPorts on OSX brings me that feeling, and I was never a Unix user, I
> started out on DOS/Win 3.11.
>
> I can relate to the RPM nighmare, I gave up on Mandrake relatively quick as
> a noob.
>
>
> On Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 11:14 PM, Brian Sobolak <brian at planetshwoop.com>wrote:
>
>>
>> On Fri, March 27, 2009 1:06 pm, Christopher D. Heer wrote:
>>
>> > Having said that, I've got a few older boxes lying around and I'm
>> tempted
>> > to try BSD and others, but I'm curious as to what it is the proponents
>> of
>> > BSD, Solaris, etc. really like over Debian-based Linux, or even Linux in
>> > general.
>> >
>> > What's the hardware/driver situation like?  I'm thinking of things like
>> > printers, scanners, and even video...is this relatively painless these
>> > days?
>>
>> <!--  warning -- something vaguely memoirish follows -->
>>
>> I first tried FreeBSD in 1997 when I copied 17 floppies from the UIC
>> computer lab and then subsequently stayed up all night loading them onto
>> my *blazing* Packard Bell, only to have the thing fail on me at about
>> 5:45am.
>>
>> In 1999 I installed various flavors of Linux.  I worked at a tiny company
>> and pirated an old PC to play with.  I installed Red Hat, Mandrake, Suse,
>> BeOS (not linux but fun) etc etc.  They were fun to play around with what
>> came out of the box, but installing software *for me* was a nightmare.
>> RPMs didn't work too well.
>>
>> I switched to FreeBSD and have been running it off and on ever since.  The
>> reason I switched (and stayed) are:
>>
>>  - _Social Engineering_  As I said at the meeting last night, I like that
>> I can keep all of the URLs for support and technical materials in my
>> head and the development process is orderly.  (In particular, I liked
>> freebsd.org/handbook, freebsd.org/ports, and questions at freebsd.org)
>>
>>  - _GNU_ I was frequently exhausted by some Linux fora that would go at
>> great lengths to tell me how awesome GNU/Linux was, only to have my
>> compile fail.
>>
>> FreeBSD is fantastic for server needs.  I've run mail servers, web
>> servers, etc. off a DSL connection and appreciated running a real Unix
>> server.
>>
>> It's typically a bit behind Linux on support cutting edge hardware, but
>> hardware support, especially for an older computer, is good.
>>
>> brian
>> _______________________________________________
>> UFO Chicago -- Users of Free Operating Systems
>> Free Software Rules -- Proprietary Drools!
>> http://ufo.chicago.il.us/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ufo
>>
>
>
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