Chapter 21. FreeBSD Survival Guide
| IN THIS CHAPTER
If you were to read only one chapter in this book, this should be it. This chapter is a rough guide for new users of FreeBSD: a trail map showing how to get the system up and stable as quickly as possible. It is especially targeted at administrators coming from other operating systems who might bring certain preconceptions about how FreeBSD is going to act. This chapter can help those users to see beyond their preconceptions and avoid many common mistakes born out of inexperience or unfamiliarity with FreeBSD. The first few weeks with any new operating system are the riskiestaccidental misconfigurations can lead to security breaches, data loss, or general long-term disorganization. The key to surviving these first critical weeks is to get the platform-specific pitfalls out of the way and the necessary infrastructural safety nets in place so that you can tackle the more general administrative learning process at your leisure. Newbies and veterans alike should be able to find useful information in this chapter. It summarizes the philosophical differences between FreeBSD and Windows as well as between FreeBSD and its much more similar cousin, Linux. It also offers suggestions for avoiding some of FreeBSD's general traps as well as some useful tips to help keep the system running smoothly. Finally, you'll learn about the inevitable specter of catastrophic system failure, the various weapons at your disposal for preparing for it, andin the absence of the ability to turn back timeways to recover from it. |
