151 lines
7.6 KiB
Text
151 lines
7.6 KiB
Text
<!-- $Id: nutshell.sgml,v 1.15 1998-06-01 00:51:50 mph Exp $ -->
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<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
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<sect><heading>FreeBSD in a Nutshell<label id="nutshell"></heading>
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<p>FreeBSD is a state of the art operating system for
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personal computers based on the Intel CPU architecture, which
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includes the 386, 486 and Pentium processors (both SX and DX versions).
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Intel compatible CPUs from AMD and Cyrix are supported as well.
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FreeBSD provides you with many advanced features previously available
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only on much more expensive computers. These features include:
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<itemize>
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<item><bf>Preemptive multitasking</bf> with dynamic priority
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adjustment to ensure smooth and fair sharing of the
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computer between applications and users.</item>
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<item><bf>Multiuser</bf> access means that many people can use a
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FreeBSD system simultaneously for a variety of things. System
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peripherals such as printers and tape drives are also properly
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SHARED BETWEEN ALL users on the system.</item>
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<item>Complete <bf>TCP/IP networking</bf> including SLIP, PPP, NFS
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and NIS support. This means that your FreeBSD machine can
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inter-operate easily with other systems as well act as an enterprise
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server, providing vital functions such as NFS (remote file access) and
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e-mail services or putting your organization on the Internet
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with WWW, ftp, routing and firewall (security) services.</item>
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<item><bf>Memory protection</bf> ensures that applications (or
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users) cannot interfere with each other. One application
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crashing will not affect others in any way.</item>
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<item>FreeBSD is a <bf>32-bit</bf> operating system and was designed
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as such from the ground up.</item>
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<item>The industry standard <bf>X Window System</bf> (X11R6)
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provides a graphical user interface (GUI) for the cost of a
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common VGA card and monitor and comes with full sources.</item>
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<item><bf>Binary compatibility</bf> with many programs built for SCO,
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BSDI, NetBSD, Linux and 386BSD.</item>
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<item>Hundreds of <bf>ready-to-run</bf> applications are
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available from the
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FreeBSD <bf>ports</bf> and <bf>packages</bf>
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collection. Why search the net when you can find it all
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right here?</item>
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<item>Thousands of additional and <bf>easy-to-port</bf> applications
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available on the Internet. FreeBSD is source code compatible
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with most popular commercial Unix systems and thus most
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applications require few, if any, changes to compile.</item>
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<item>Demand paged <bf>virtual memory</bf> and `merged VM/buffer cache'
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design efficiently satisfies applications with large appetites
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for memory while still maintaining interactive response to other
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users.</item>
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<item><bf>Shared libraries</bf> (the Unix equivalent of
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MS-Windows DLLs) provide for efficient use of disk space
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and memory.</item>
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<item>A full complement of <bf>C</bf>, <bf>C++</bf> and
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<bf>Fortran</bf> development tools. Many additional
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languages for advanced research and development are
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also available in the ports and packages collection.</item>
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<item><bf>Source code</bf> for the entire system means you have
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the greatest degree of control over your environment. Why be
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locked into a proprietary solution and at the mercy of your vendor
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when you can have a truly Open System?</item>
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<item>Extensive <bf>on-line documentation</bf>.</item>
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<item><bf>And many more!</bf></item>
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</itemize>
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FreeBSD is based on the 4.4BSD-Lite release from Computer
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Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of
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California at Berkeley, and carries on the distinguished
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tradition of BSD systems development. In addition to the
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fine work provided by CSRG, the FreeBSD Project has put in
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many thousands of hours in fine tuning the system for
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maximum performance and reliability in real-life load
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situations. As many of the commercial giants struggle to
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field PC operating systems with such features, performance
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and reliability, FreeBSD can offer them <bf>now</bf>!
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The applications to which FreeBSD can be put are truly
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limited only by your own imagination. From software
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development to factory automation, inventory control to
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azimuth correction of remote satellite antennae; if it can
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be done with a commercial UNIX product then it is more than
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likely that you can do it with FreeBSD, too! FreeBSD also
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benefits significantly from the literally thousands of high
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quality applications developed by research centers and
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universities around the world, often available at little
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to no cost. Commercial applications are also available
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and appearing in greater numbers every day.
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Because the source code for FreeBSD itself is generally
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available, the system can also be customized to an almost
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unheard of degree for special applications or projects, and
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in ways not generally possible with operating systems from
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most major commercial vendors. Here is just a sampling of
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some of the applications in which people are currently
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using FreeBSD:
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<itemize>
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<item><bf>Internet Services:</bf> The robust TCP/IP networking
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built into FreeBSD makes it an ideal platform for a
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variety of Internet services such as:
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<itemize>
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<item>FTP servers</item>
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<item>World Wide Web servers</item>
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<item>Gopher servers</item>
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<item>Electronic Mail servers</item>
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<item>USENET News</item>
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<item>Bulletin Board Systems</item>
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<item>And more...</item>
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</itemize>
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You can easily start out small with an inexpensive 386
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class PC and upgrade as your enterprise grows.</item>
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<item><bf>Education:</bf> Are you a student of computer science
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or a related engineering field? There is no better way
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of learning about operating systems, computer
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architecture and networking than the hands on, under the
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hood experience that FreeBSD can provide. A number of
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freely available CAD, mathematical and graphic design
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packages also make it highly useful to those whose
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primary interest in a computer is to get <em>other</em>
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work done!</item>
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<item><bf>Research:</bf> With source code for the entire system
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available, FreeBSD is an excellent platform for research
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in operating systems as well as other branches of
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computer science. FreeBSD's freely available nature also
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makes it possible for remote groups to collaborate on
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ideas or shared development without having to worry about
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special licensing agreements or limitations on what
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may be discussed in open forums.</item>
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<item><bf>Networking:</bf> Need a new router? A name server
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(DNS)? A firewall to keep people out of your internal
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network? FreeBSD can easily turn that unused 386 or 486 PC
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sitting in the corner into an advanced router with
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sophisticated packet filtering capabilities. </item>
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<item><bf>X Window workstation:</bf> FreeBSD is a fine
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choice for an inexpensive X terminal solution, either
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using the freely available XFree86 server or one
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of the excellent commercial servers provided by X Inside.
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Unlike an X
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terminal, FreeBSD allows many applications to be run
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locally, if desired, thus relieving the burden on a
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central server. FreeBSD can even boot
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"diskless", making individual workstations even cheaper
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and easier to administer.</item>
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<item><bf>Software Development:</bf> The basic FreeBSD system
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comes with a full complement of development tools
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including the renowned GNU C/C++ compiler and
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debugger. </item>
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</itemize>
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FreeBSD is available in both source and binary form on CDROM and
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via anonymous ftp. See <ref id="mirrors" name="Obtaining FreeBSD">
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for more details.
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