FreeBSD 7 on the $0 Laptop

While I was all set to slap the Ubuntu 8.04 beta on the $0 Laptop (the Gateway Solo 1450 with 1 GB of RAM), I had the FreeBSD 7 install CD already burned ... and while it didn't work so well on the $15 Laptop (Compaq Armada 7770dmt), it booted right up on the Gateway.

After a few OpenBSD installs, during which I followed the well-written FAQ religiously (and as a result had no trouble whatsoever), I felt I was more than ready to throw FreeBSD on the laptop.

And while the FreeBSD Handbook is legendary for its comprehensiveness, I figured I could just fly by the seat of my proverbial pants.

And so I did.

Things were going well before I did a thing: the FreeBSD 7 installer automatically managed the Gateway's CPU fan. I'm able to get most Linux distros to do this with some easy configuration work once the install is done, but I have no clue whatsoever how to accomplish this very task in OpenBSD and NetBSD, no matter how hard I've tried. But having FreeBSD do it automatically is a great thing, indeed.

Once in fdisk, I deleted the PCLinuxOS partition and replaced it with one for FreeBSD. I created a 500 MB swap "slice," then one big slice for the rest. I followed the instructions for the rest of the install.

I chose the generic "user" array of packages, along with X, and once I went through all the menus and the system was installed from the first CD (I didn't bother to download or burn the ISOs for discs 2 and 3).

The last time I tried a FreeBSD install -- quite some time ago -- I chose a whole bunch of packages (or was it ports?) for my default install, and my partition ran out of space before the whole thing finished.

So this time I figured it would be better to start with the basic install and X. After using OpenBSD with its basic install (Fvwm window manager, Lynx browser ... and quite a bit more), I figured I could get around well enough in the basic FreeBSD install to make things happen.

After the install, I booted to a login prompt. After logging in, I did startx and found myself in the Twm window manager. I needed to test whether or not my static IP was working. I became the superuser and tried to ping google. Nothing. I pinged local machines on the network, and everything was fine.

I thought networking was broken and searched awhile for a solution.

If I even had Lynx (which is in the default install of OpenBSD) I would've tried it first, but even that text-only browser is not preinstalled.

Like I said, after awhile, I suspected that I was having trouble with ping and not with networking.

In OpenBSD, I've always installed packages, never ports, but since I opted in the FreeBSD install to download the ports tree, I figured I'd try to install my first port.

I needed a Web browser. So I started with Dillo.

This time I did consult the FreeBSD Handbook. I followed the instructions, going into the ports directory for Dillo, then running:

# make
# make install
# make clean

I read another paragraph down and learned that I could have just done:

# make install clean

At any rate, I did have Internet connectivity (despite the inability to ping Internet IPs, as root or otherwise), since files began downloading and building. In addition to Dillo itself, I needed GTK plus a bunch of other stuff. It took quite a long time -- for me anyway. The whole process lasted maybe 10 minutes. I'm used to apt-get install dillo ... and a minute later it's done.

But I do understand -- if tentatively -- the whole philosophy behind ports, and while the whole thing looks complicated, it worked perfectly.

I ran dillo from an xterm window and had a working Web browser.

I'm sure someone will enlighten me as to why this doesn't work:

# ping google.com

I imagine it has something to do with the firewall, but at any rate, I did install FreeBSD 7, I do have Internet working, I've got a browser running, and ACPI fan management and automatic configuration of X were perfect without any intervention from me.

Truth be told, it's more than most Linux installs can do.

While I couldn't imagine sticking with Fvwm in OpenBSD, I've grown quite fond of it -- I pretty much like it better than Fluxbox at this point. I'd hazard to say that I won't stick with Twm in FreeBSD, but it could grow on me in much the same way -- especially since, if I'm correct, Fvwm is based on Twm).

Final note: Why didn't I just install DesktopBSD or PC-BSD, you ask? Here's my answer: While I'm OK with running KDE, I'm not exactly comfortable with it. I really wanted to experience FreeBSD in a more, shall we say, "organic" way. After having such a good experience with OpenBSD, I see the value in building your own desktop, adding the apps you want and keeping everything a bit lighter.

If, as in the world of Linux, there was a FreeBSD-based project that allowed for an easy install with a full desktop based on Fluxbox, Fvwm, Xfce, JWM ... or even GNOME, I would be all over it. But the choices in DesktopBSD and FreeBSD (KDE and KDE, although I remember somebody telling me that DesktopBSD does install Fluxbox) don't exactly move me.

And since, like in OpenBSD, the basic FreeBSD install goes so well, I'm happy to start at the beginning.

Absolutely final word: Every time I write about a BSD project, I feel the need to praise the extensive, high-quality documentation that goes with it. The OpenBSD FAQ and man pages, the FreeBSD Handbook and man pages -- both have been and continue to be invaluable resources worth much more than their cost (which just happens to be "free"). It's one area in which the BSD projects are well ahead of their Linux counterparts, which generally feature documentation that is smaller in quantity, often out of date and lesser in quality. I wish it weren't so, but that's what I've seen.

OK, just one more thing: The fact that OpenBSD automatically configured the sound card in the $15 Laptop (the Compaq Armada 7770dmt), something no Linux distribution has ever done, coupled with FreeBSD's instantaneous management of the CPU fan in the $0 Laptop (Gateway Solo 1450), something done as well only by Linux kernel 2.6.18 (and with a little fiddling in subsequent kernels) is nothing short of astounding -- and a sign, in my little world at least, that Linux needs to watch its back.

Yes, competition, even for the hearts and minds of geeks, is a very good thing, indeed.