FreeBSD Help Needed/ Newbie and would like advise!

[wncads]

I am a new one to FreeBSD. Working on a couple of servers for Web (Domain) and Email Serving which either our ISP will host or I may be putting in a T1 for the project. At any rate, I am totally new to BSD. Can anyone help me jumpstart in the right direction with BSD 4.2 as strictly a web and email server. I am looking for most used commands, setup, installation help and the works. Anything will be appreciated. Thanks for your advise. I have Mandrake 7.2 and Red Hat 7.1 but my ISP recommended BSD "HIGHLY" and said it was the way to go for a web server. SO, I got a copy and am eager to proceed.
Keith Buchanan
AplusNetworking.com
Commercial I.T. Networking & Wiring Specialist
keith@aplusnetworking.com

 

[rycamor]

Well... you're in luck, because there happens to be a FreeBSD forum here at Devshed (forum93 and a few others here have become great FreeBSD fans. yes, it's a little less "user friendly" up front than Linux, but only a little, and the rewards are that there are no surprises with FreeBSD. Everything is configured with straightforward text files, and once you realize where and how to do startup scripts (/etc/rc.local), and system startup configuration (rc.conf), and all the other rc's, it's a piece of cake.

A note: BSD and FreeBSD are technically not the same thing. BSDI, as it's called, is the proprietary version of BSD Unix that you have to pay for, while FreeBSD (not even run by the same organization) is the free version. I and the other web admins and developers I know have found FreeBSD to be everything a Unix should be and more. I would venture to say it's the most rock-solid OS I have ever dealt with.

There are not as many web resources out there for FreeBSD as there are for Linux, but a few are

http://www.freebsddiary.org/,

http://www.daemonnews.org/,

http://www.freebsd.org.in/,

and

http://www.bsdtoday.com/

Good Luck.