DragonFly BSD Resources

DragonFly BSD is improving daily, however, the online resources can be a little difficult to find. DragonFly is not yet aimed very much at the beginning user, but someone experienced with any of the BSDs shouldn't have many problems with it--it still has many similarities to the 4.x branch of FreeBSD, but already, there are major differences. The handbook has become outdated, though many chapters are still accurate. So, here are a few links to save the reader a bit of searching.

Installation (as of July 2005)

The handbook chapter on installation is dated. It has become far simpler. I have a little guide, complete with screenshots.

My DragonFly installation guide.

Using the NetBSD packages collection

After installation, one would most like either wish to upgrade their source tree or start installing various software. A bit of digging indicates that DragonFly is moving away from ports and will be concentrating their efforts on pkgsrc. There is a patch listed on the wiki and a complete patchset for pkgsrc listed in the DragonFly digest. Use the patch from the digest page.
(NOTE: On Monday, 11, July, the digest page was down. The patch is available here for the moment. However, if you view this page after 11 July, 2005, please check the digest page first. (I put the patch up here for a friend planning to install tonight). Here are some resources.

The wiki article
The article on gobsd.com's site.
The DragonFly Digest
My extra tips

The wiki is perhaps the most complete. The gobsd.com article and my article cover a few things that weren't covered in the wiki.

Updating sources

The handbook article on upgrading sources is still good. Note that it's a bit different than FreeBSD, one does an installworld before rebooting, along with some other differences, so read the chapter. (However, sometimes, if the kernel version is outdated, make installworld will fail and tell you to reboot with the new kernel before running it.)
The chapter also has a section on updating ports. Remember, that is outdated. Instead, view the resources listed above for using pkgsrc. The handbook chapter should only be applied to updating system sources, not ports.

The DragonFly handbook's chapter on updating sources.

These few resources, while far from complete, should be enough to get the newcomer started. For other resources, including the mailing lists, see the DragonFly home page.