[nycbug-talk] Help me install a BSD on a notebook

[James E Keenan]

Friends,

Several months ago I was given a brand new Asus Ultrabook, 2 cores, 
running on Intel Core i3-32-3217U running Windows 8.

I'm not a Windows hater.  I used it on $jobs up until 2006 and on my 
personal desktop until 2004.  But this version of Windows is so 
different from what I used to use that I'm not strongly motivated to use 
this machine, accept perhaps for when I need Microsoft Word.  (For the 
record, I'm not enamored of the iOS-ization of Mac in 10.6+, either. 
Give me a comfortable keyboard, a mouse and a Unix command-line, and I'm 
happy.)

Last night I wiped the dust off the Asus -- literally.  The thought 
occurred to me:  Could I make this a dual-boot machine, with a *nix 
system on the other side?  Hmm, I ran Windows98 and RedHat 7.3 on my old 
desktop for several years a decade ago.  I'm familiar with Ubuntu, which 
I used as my desktop at a $job for six years.  (And I've run Debian on 
my Linode since 2005, though that's not a desktop.)

Having attended NYCBUG since 2005 or so, I've noticed that very few 
presenters at either the monthly meetings or the Cons run a non-Apple 
BSD on their laptops.  At the 2010 Con there were more presenters 
running Windows than PC-BSD.

Brian Callahan's presentation at NYCBUG this week suggested that it 
might be viable to run OpenBSD, at least, on a laptop.  I'm at a point 
where I need a more powerful, Unix-based laptop for my 
home/open-source-development use, so I'm motivated to explore options. 
I'm wondering if there is anyone in the NYC vicinity who could help me 
do this.  I know that I'm unlikely to embark on this sitting at home by 
myself, so I'm definitely willing to bring this Asus to wherever someone 
who could help me lives or works. And I'm very willing to compensate 
someone for this in beer, food, cash or perhaps a contribution to an 
appropriate BSD foundation.  (If I don't do this, eventually I'll break 
down and buy a new Mac, but I'm sure the foundation or anyone on this 
list can use that $$ more than Apple.)

Assuming I do get a BSD up and running, there will be beneficial 
results.  I will use it to run smoke tests of Perl and Perl libraries on 
that BSD.  Those smoke tests will be publicly posted, raising that BSD's 
visibility in the Perl community.  I periodically make presentations at 
Perl user groups (like New York Perlmongers) and conferences; if people 
at those meetings saw me booting up a non-Apple BSD, they'd say, "Cool! 
  What's that?"  And, who knows -- I might eventually be able to make a 
software contribution back to the BSD I'm running.

So, if you'd like to offer me some in-person help with this, please 
contact me off-list.  (You're free to kibbitz on-list as much as you 
want.  I know you'll do that anyway. ;-) ) Getting this done before the 
Feb 08 Con would be a definite plus.

Thank you very much.
Jim Keenan