Re: Review article: Comparison NetBSD / Linux for Amiga

[Lars Hecking <lhecking%nmrc.ucc.ie@localhost>]

Martin Steigerwald writes:
[...]
> - Both Debian and RedHat Linux seem to be a bit easier to install and
>   come with pre-configured X11 that is immediately startable. (Especially
>   RedHat.) With NetBSD you have to setup X11 quite manually.

 I have no experience with Debian, but this is definitely true for
 RedHat.

> - The NetBSD on the Amiga Unix Compendium CD comes with compiled KDE
>   packages, Linux m68k does not. Important for the user IMHO!

 I'd rather like to try Gnome, but I expect it would take my poor A3k
 about a week to compile everything from scratch.

> Any further information available? I see NetBSD has a feature list in some
> readmes, but I didn't find this for Linux m68k right now.
 
 I'm running NetBSD 1.4.1 and RedHat 5.2 (beta) side by side, so I may
 be able to answer specific questions. I'm planning to replace RH with
 Debian as soon as the next stable release comes out (soon, I hope), though.

> Can you point me towards some information on that subject? Thanks in
> advance.

 http://www.linux-m68k.org/
 The Linux/m68k FAQ http://www.linux-m68k.org/faq/faq.html
 
Markus Illenseer writes:
[...]
>  Err? Thats is wrong, too. X11 is part of the installation process and for
> plain ECS/AGA you can start X11 immediately.

 Who is running some kind of Unix on the Amiga without a gfx card? Is AGA
 good enough for X11? X on plain ECS simply sucks.

>  Yes, as KDE is crap :-)
 
 One thing we agree on :)

> > Can you point me towards some information on that subject? Thanks in
> > advance.
> 
>  Please read my Article about NetBSD in general, which appeared in the
> iX magazine. I can mail it to you.

 Would it be possible to obtain permission from Heise to make this article
 available at www.netbsd.org, or maybe ask them to put it on their web site?

Martin Steigerwald writes:
[editors - ed and vi]

 Another possible solution could be to add an optional tools package
 to the distribution which contains emacs and some other stuff which
 (supposedly) makes life easier for some people.

 The fact that Linux distributions come with loads of software has
 it's good sides and bad sides: OTOH, you get (almost) everything you
 ever wished for, OTOtherH a lot of crap you'll never use takes up
 valuable disk space. One of the things I liked about NetBSD in the
 first place was that it's so small.

> Another solution would be: Using a Berkely Fast Filesystem on AmigaOS so
[...]

 I think a solution completely within NetBSD would be better. Again,
 maybe an additional package with emacs-no-X/jed/pico/whatever might help.

[mounting ados fs]
> get it mounted... I try
> 
> mount -t ados /dev/sd0e /amiga
> 
> But it doesn't work. Oh, it says it mounts it read-only, and there is no

 I think you'll have to explicitly mount it read-only, i.e. -r ro
 (not sure, check the mount man page; or put it into fstab).

> But then after installing RedHat m68k - which IMHO also was a little
> easier due to the menu driven installation routine - I simply could say
> "startx" and there it goes. Nothing left to do to install X11.
 
 Yep, RH scores big points here.