===== 7 Days Challenge =====

We're currently investigating the possibility of creating a high level guide that introduces a user to %%FreeBSD%%. This guide would be split into two sections: Level 1 and Level 2.

Level 1 would be designed to challenge the user to install and try %%FreeBSD%% over a seven day period. It's designed to walk the user through all processes and guide them on how-to implement common solutions (such as a desktop environment.) This work would also be designed to come before the Handbook, which would remain a technical manual/reference.

Level 2 would take everything learned in Level 1 and start adding additional layers of knowledge on top of it to further improve the user's capabilities with %%FreeBSD%%. Level 2 would be focused on developing a %%FreeBSD%% workstation or server environment for hosting serious workloads.

The 7DC will be based around a few core concepts:

  * Getting user onboard with %%FreeBSD%% quickly
  * Helping the user to understand basic concepts like the file system layout and core system utilities
  * Walking users through common %%FreeBSD%% use cases, such as desktop environments
  * Maintaining an installation after the fact to keep it secure and stable
  * Using %%FreeBSD%% as a development or production environment for software development and more
  * Putting %%FreeBSD%% on the front line as a production platform for hosting enterprise grade solutions
  * Allowing for the continued use of modern technologies and concepts to manage %%FreeBSD%% installations
  * And more...

%%FreeBSD%% is an excellent platform to build out a production server environment. It also makes for a great desktop environment. Whatever the use case is we want people to understand %%FreeBSD%% well enough (and quickly enough) to achieve their goals with as little friction as possible.

The 7DC will have people running on %%FreeBSD%% within the seven days.

==== Level 1 ====

The idea we're currently developing revolves around the concept of a seven day challenge:

  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/Installation|Installation]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/UserManagement|User Management]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/TheFilesystem|The Filesystem]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/Permissions|Permissions]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/PackageManagement|Package Management]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/ADesktopEnvironment|A Desktop Environment]]
  - [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L1/Maintenance|Maintenance]]

Each day individually would constitute between one and two hours of work. By the end of the seven day challenge the user should have a functioning desktop environment they can begin to manage and grow to their liking.

==== Level 2 ====

After the initial seven days are done, the user can then take on more goal orientated challenges. These challenges aren't confined to a specific set of days but instead take the Level 1 knowledge to another level by building out production grade services on a %%FreeBSD%% platform, such as:

  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/GoDevelopment|Golang Development Environment]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/NodeJSDevelopment|NodeJS Development Environment]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/NginxAndWordpress|Nginx and WordPress Blog]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/PostgreSQLDatabase|PostgreSQL Database Server]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/HAProxyLoadBalancer|HAProxy Load Balancer]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/AnsibleManagement|Managing A Server with Ansible]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/TraefikLoadBalancer|Traefik Load Balancer]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/Jails|Isolating Applications in Jails]]
  * [[MichaelCrilly/7dayschallenge/L2/EntireEnvironmentTerraformAnsible|Building an Entire Environment with Terraform & Ansible]]

Essentially the idea behind this set of challenges is to:

  * Demonstrate that modern workloads can be hosted on %%FreeBSD%% with ease
  * Demonstrate that modern tools can be used to implement and manage %%FreeBSD%%, just like other options
  * And ultimately: allowing administrators and engineers to quickly solve real-world production problems

It's our hope that the Level 2 set of challenges will get people up and running with %%FreeBSD%% in the development and server spaces with as little friction as possible.