Hey guys,

I've just switched from Gentoo GNU/Linux, the distro I learnt Linux with, to FreeBSD.

A couple of things have thrown me, one, not surprisingly is the "base system" .I've read up on this, and its not to difficult to grasp, but I have some questions about it:

When I sync my Ports tree, and update my ports, I'm not updating my base system, correct?

How do I update my base system, and more importantly, how do I update my kernel!? Must I wait for another RELEASE, and update thereon, or can I sync to the statest STABLE basesystem/kernel and build from there?

I've used FreeBSD-update, to apply security updates, but since I recompiled my kernel I can no longer do this, is there an easier way of just downloading the latest FreeBSD kernel source, patch and compile it your self - like in GNU/Linux?

I've tried to get a framebuffer similar to what I had in GNU/Linux. However, my hardware is an i830M chipset, known for its crappy support in the OpenSource world (due to no open specifications to the devs...), and I'm wondering, the instructions to recompile my kernel with the VESA option might not be so easy, because nothing I do seems to work! Am I doing something wrong - or is it my hardware?!

My keyboard layout is wrong, at least in GNOME. In the console, it is correct, but not in GNOME!? I have a Sony laptop, with a UK keyboard.

Thanks for your time! Sorry if these seem like stupid questions, I've really done my best to research them, but I've just come to dead ends...!