> >
> > I *strongly* suggest BSDI for reasons too plentiful to list here.
> > It's basically an out-of-the-box ISP platform. You can be online
> > providing all of the common services in about an hour. If you can
> > afford to pay for UNIX, this is the way to go.
> >
> > http://www.bsdi.com
> >
> > If you absolutely cannot afford to pay for anything, a lot of folks
> > seem to like FreeBSD.
I used to pay the $$ for BSDi, and indeed it's a great out-of-the-box Internet product.
I've been using FreeBSD for several years however, and find that it does 110% of what BSDi
does...just takes a little more work and tinkering. So money isn't the only issue...it has
more to do with how much effort you want to put into it to make it "rock" ;)
>
> I believe the 3.x builds of FreeBSD have greater than 8 character
> usernames, if I remember reading on another list, with the 2.x builds
> limited to 8 chars.
I've been using >8 character usernames since FreeBSD 2.1.5...it's been a simple case of
changing one line in /usr/src/include/utmp.h and /usr/src/sys/sys/param.h and recompiling
the operating system. Back then, when I was using some Pentium-75's as mail servers...it
took nearly 12 hours to compile the system. This week, building 2.2.8-stable on a Pentium
400 took 4 hours :) Going beyond 16 character usernames in FreeBSD 2.X does cause
problems, though.
> However, there are a few other issues to consider like compatability
> etc... personally I LOVE BSDi, but I'll be playing with Linux and *BSD
> also for things like ipfwadm...
As I saw in some other posting somewhere, use OpenBSD for a firewall, FreeBSD for a
webserver, and NetBSD on your Alpha/Sparcs. Who needs Linux :) :) :)
(The above was just a joke folks)
>
> And to keep topical, LRABU has been quite good in compiling for BSDi and
> providing binaries of their utilities. 8( too bad the JRE for the BSDi
> seems to be a pain.
>
And the BSDi binaries work fine for FreeBSD :)
Seriously though, to answer the original question, the easiest thing to do at this point is
use Radius for the >8 character usernames
> --
> Aloha from Paradise,
>
> Sherwood
> Got Clue? If so: ISPF! The Forum for ISPs by ISPs, <http://www.ispf.com>
-- John-David Childs (JC612) Enterprise Internet Solutions Systems Administration http://www.nterprise.net & Network Engineering 8707 E. Florida Ave #814 Denver, CO 80231 The first myth of management is that it exists. The second myth of management is that success equals skill. -- Robert Heller - To unsubscribe, email 'majordomo@livingston.com' with 'unsubscribe portmaster-users' in the body of the message. Searchable list archive: <URL:http://www.livingston.com/Tech/archive/>