About this blog

It's been just a year since I started this blog. My first post was "Top Ten Rules for Using Ports system". So, it seems like as good a time as any to write this post -- which probably should have been the first post. :)

FreeBSD is not only a secure, reliable, high performance operating system, it is one of the best documented open source projects I've ever encountered. From the handbook to the man pages, as long as you know the question you can usually find the answer, and that answer will be clear and thorough. There's also a great community to ask questions, from BSDForums to the Projects's own mailing lists. So, why should I write this blog, when my main subject is tips and advice for FreeBSD users?

I think there's a gap, mainly around the caveat "as long as you know the question." When you're new to unix and FreeBSD you often don't know the question. I've contributed to community based Q&A type help, but sometimes you find something interesting beyond the usual questions that you'd like to share. And, there's just so much stuff out there, so many possibilities, so many different ways to do things. Even experienced users are always learning and finding new things.

I'm not a FreeBSD developer. I consider myself to be an advanced user, though. Still I'm far from the most knowledgeable user around. I think (I hope!) that I'm able to write about these subjects clearly and thoroughly, giving the beginner just enough information to know where else to look and complete the task, while being brief and focused enough to remain interesting and informative to an advanced user.

FreeBSD has given me alot and it's fun to help other people find solutions and discover some of the many things that are possible. That's the heart of this blog: tips, advice, and how-to's for the FreeBSD user. While I'm at it, I will mix in the occasional opinion post and posts on other technical subjects.