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

[George Rosamond]

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.

Well, at some point in the next week or two, I'll be registering people
for the con, most likely at Suspenders in the evening.

You bring the appropriate install media, and I'm sure someone, such as
myself, can help you out.

And if more people are interested, we can make it an impromptu installfest.

Before then, it might be useful to boot it off *some* BSD and upload the
dmesg to dmesgd so we have an idea of the relevant chipsets.

g