Date: Fri, 19 Feb 1999 10:00:32 -0500 From: "M. Poulin" <mpoulin@honk.org> To: root@isis.dynip.com, freebsd-newbies@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Very Common Question Message-ID: <3.0.3.32.19990219100032.00912e60@spectre.honk.org> In-Reply-To: <199902191310.QAA44457@isis.dynip.com>
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At 04:09 PM 2/19/99 +0300, root@isis.dynip.com wrote: >Hi there, >Continuing the series of questiions, >I am hearing tooooo much now about linux. >Linux started , may be , some a year or so before FreeBSD, and has >become very common, even the guys who don't know a shit about >computers, when you tell them I am running unix at home, of course >refering to your FreeBSD machine, they immediately tell you, Linux ?? Marketing, my friend, marketing. The same reason that people assume you must have some flavour of windows on your computer - spread the word and before you know it you've got a household name. The biggest thing in favour of Linux is Red Hat software. They have been doing some serious promotion of their version of Linux, and this has opened them up to some terrific partnerships - Corel, IBM, HP... Keep in mind that Red Hat is a corporation, and their ultimate goal is to make a profit. They can only do this by promoting their products. So even though the Linux kernel is free, Red Hat stands to make a ton of money if they can get people buying their CD's, support, other products, etc. FreeBSD and the other *BSDs on the other hand, are not run by any corporation, therefore the ability to truly market the OS and get involved in big partnerships is quite limited. In the long run I belive this will be a good thing. The FreeBSD project will be allowed to evolve on its own, naturally, with no interference from shareholders, mergers etc. > >I'm sick of it, now I hear that IBM is making some deal with Linux >people for installing Linux on their new machines, I am very very sad, >and very very gelous. > Why be jealous? You are using FreeBSD, and you can tell other people about how good it is. So what if the whole world doesn't know about it - to be honest I would not want it that way. >I wan too know, in full detail, the difference between FreeBSD, and >Linux, why is linux more popular, why the heck FreeBSD doesnot have >support for simple things like Parralel port scanners, why the linux >ports is few Gigabytes, why I am still pretty sure that FreeBSD is >better. > Full detail? You would have to read up on the entire history of Unix, BSD Unix, FreeBSD, and Linux to get a good idea. In a nutshell, FreeBSD is a direct descendant of BSD Unix, which in turn is a direct descendant of the original AT&T Unix. Linux is a Unix-like clone OS that was developed independently by *one* guy: Linus Torvalds. As for why Linux is more popular, re-read my paragraph about marketing. Why doesn't FreeBSD have support for Parallel port scanners? I would have to say simply because the development team has had their hands full with other things and hasn't got around to it yet. There is a finite number of people working on the FreeBSD project, and the hardware support we do have is astounding when you think about it. I too am pretty sure that FreeBSD is better. It is faster, more stable, and more secure than Linux. But that doesn't mean that I don't like Linux or any other Unix. If Linux can get people to consider an alternative to M$ at home or work, then more power to them! And I have found that it is much easier to "convert" a Linux user to FreeBSD than it is to convert a M$ or MacOS or OS/2 user to FreeBSD. >I wan to know why every time I go to a web page on the net to hunt for >extra-portal (like extra-terresterial) software, I find the following >Menu: > > Windows 95/98 > Windows NT > OS2 > Machintosh > Linux > >Is this list missing something. Yes and no. If it will run on Linux, it should run just as well (or better) on FreeBSD. > >Why, despite the support of linux in FreeBSD down to the kernel level, >you can expect the following response when you download any softwaare >from menu item no. 5 from above menu (Linux for the dummy) > > -----> FreeBSD response ----> unknown elf, brand with elf > if you try to brand, it can't brand. > in short it is not runnable. (period) > Do you have "linux_enable="YES" set in your /etc/rc.conf? >I am very sad, someone MUST answer these VERY VERY common questions, >but NOT with conventional answers like: > >* if you are still asking which is better, you did not do your homework >* Linux is unix-like, FreeBSD IS unix >* Linux comes from 3 vendors, FreeBSD comes from one .ORG >* Linux kernel is unix, while the resst is crap. >* FreeBSD Network system is a great thing, and all ISPs are shifting to > it. > >Please guys, some real, and in-depth answers. >from a very FreeBSDish guy. > I'll say it again - why be so competitive with Linux? Every time I hear that they have won another small battle in the war against Big Bill, I applaud them. FreeBSD is a better OS than Linux. So what if it's not more popular? If I based my computing decisions on popularity, I'd be running Windows at home. Instead, I use the most stable, reliable and flexible OS that I can, which turns out to be FreeBSD. But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong. M. To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-newbies" in the body of the message
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