From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri May 16 17:57:53 2003 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id F0E1237B401 for ; Fri, 16 May 2003 17:57:53 -0700 (PDT) Received: from host02.ipowerweb.com (host02.ipowerweb.com [12.129.206.102]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6B89F43F75 for ; Fri, 16 May 2003 17:57:53 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from alpetec@host02.ipowerweb.com) Received: from alpetec by host02.ipowerweb.com with local (Exim 3.36 #1) id 19Gq1F-0006QW-00 for questions@freebsd.org; Fri, 16 May 2003 17:57:49 -0700 From: "Aaron Peterson" To: questions@freebsd.org X-Mailer: NeoMail 1.25 X-IPAddress: 139.55.49.242 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Message-Id: Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 17:57:49 -0700 X-AntiAbuse: This header was added to track abuse, please include it with any abuse report X-AntiAbuse: Primary Hostname - host02.ipowerweb.com X-AntiAbuse: Original Domain - freebsd.org X-AntiAbuse: Originator/Caller UID/GID - [33877 2452] / [33877 2452] X-AntiAbuse: Sender Address Domain - host02.ipowerweb.com Subject: freebsd vs. linux - educated opinions wanted X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 17 May 2003 00:57:54 -0000 i am looking for educated opinions about the following: i began using linux about 5 years ago, mostly because i had heard of it and was curious and because i found a close friend who was already a couple years up the learning curve who could show me around. now that i've been emersed in the *NIX world a while longer i have built some of my own opinions and heard a great many rumors about the practical differences between linux and freeBSD. Some of these are as follows: 1. There is better hardware support for linux, and more features because there are more developers. 2. Linux code is often not as well written as freebsd because freebsd developers are more unified, focused and strict. 3. freeBSD is more secure 4. freeBSD is more stable what does linux have that freebsd doesn't? what does freebsd have that linux doesn't? what are the security issues that should be acknowledged when deciding which to use for something mission critical in a production environment? how does one measure/compare stability, and which comes out on top? these have been swimming around in my head for a while, and i have gotten pretty comfortable with linux, and curiousity has driven me to begin learning freebsd now regardless of the answers. i am not a hacker or a seasoned *NIX admin though, and would like some better founded opinions that my own :) --