FreeBSD

Today, I will be discussing FreeBSD. FreeBSD of course is a UNIX-derived distribution based on the Berkeley Software Distribution that was developed by the University of California in Berkeley, California.

Even though, the name FreeBSD, may not ring a bell with you, it actually is a very well known and trusted secure operating system. In fact, it is even used by Yahoo to run their servers. Proof of this is not only on the FreeBSD site but also on other sites.

As stated on the FreeBSD website:
"Yahoo Inc. runs the ultimate index of the Internet, serving scads of daily net surfers with information about the World Wide Web. Yahoo, as well as the companies that advertise on Yahoo, rely on FreeBSD to run reliable and responsive web servers." (Link)

Also, you can just enter the search terms "FreeBSD" & "Yahoo" in to the Google and get other results to prove this statement. Some sites even claim that the webmaster(s) of Yahoo felt that no other OS besides FreeBSD could handle what they wanted in the Yahoo site.

But enough with all of the talk about who uses FreeBSD, but now down to what FreeBSD is known and trusted for.

FreeBSD is said by many to be rock solid and stable. Also, it is said to be wonderful in a networking environment that many only trust it to be there server. Again these statements can be proven just by searching Google.

I have slightly used FreeBSD before, but always found there to be a learning curve. By this I mean that even if you are basically a Linux Guru or have experience in various versions of Linux, you may very well have to learn a whole new way of doing things for FreeBSD. Though, from what I understand about FreeBSD, it is well worth it, because even if you don't end up loving FreeBSD, you could easily encounter it at a job or elsewhere.

I have recently installed FreeBSD without a GUI on Virtual PC 2007, which of course is free to download from Microsoft. Virtual PC is great that like the name implies it truly is a machine in a machine, perfect for testing out different operating systems or using two or more operating systems at the same time.

As I being to teach myself FreeBSD by using the various sources available, which include Google Search, Usenet/Newsgroups via Google Groups, FreeBSD mailing lists, and various forums I find across the net most likely with Google Search. I may possibly if needed use the FreeBSD IRC Chat, FreeBSD Wiki, FreeBSD Blogs, FreeBSD User Groups, or FreeBSD Social Networking Sites.

As you can obviously see, FreeBSD has a ton of different support options available. I myself, was even amazed because until I researched the support options for this article, did not realize how much support one who uses FreeBSD had. So I nor you, will be left in the dark when trying to learn and use FreeBSD.

The more I learn about FreeBSD and come up with solutions to help the every day user more easily learn the OS, I will make posts on this blog.