Date: Sat, 25 Jul 2020 20:27:18 +0200 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: "Steve O'Hara-Smith" <steve@sohara.org> Cc: Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman@gmail.com>, Victor Sudakov <vas@sibptus.ru>, FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Ask stupid questions and you'll get a stupid answers, was: Technological advantages over Linux Message-ID: <20200725202718.acc49e3a.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20200725182554.deffc63058a7c9f6d343ef06@sohara.org> References: <20200214204838.360c8f624397c659946bd764@sohara.org> <20200215063818.GE1482@admin.sibptus.ru> <20200215083359.367d8a3e9ddb4942df67d5b5@sohara.org> <58202623-bbf7-eda0-5cb5-fb4749e91e20@watters.ws> <CAEJNuHxbFSPBB7keSrBufpg=RsgQ8EPK_fvzt8XBROLNKyN_sw@mail.gmail.com> <6318251A-973A-4DEC-9271-12333EB11F7B@kicp.uchicago.edu> <CAEJNuHxC7i%2Bq7cq65=my6mJZDdiK4gpQsKjMU1nvsm=Ri4On%2Bg@mail.gmail.com> <ce61b5e9-b71c-e5b7-c64d-f79884c87435@watters.ws> <20200725152412.GJ92589@admin.sibptus.ru> <CAGBxaX=Ktr-pqtT8FU37ajkYonVLYT_WhSenn23Tj5b=i0d-8g@mail.gmail.com> <20200725162403.GA4721@admin.sibptus.ru> <CAGBxaXmBZcCWqAZFR9OSyRGrqGFU%2BqCAZ8CfOi=0oXAmf-2=tA@mail.gmail.com> <20200725182554.deffc63058a7c9f6d343ef06@sohara.org>
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On Sat, 25 Jul 2020 18:25:54 +0100, Steve O'Hara-Smith wrote:
> On Sat, 25 Jul 2020 13:18:08 -0400
> Aryeh Friedman <aryeh.friedman@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Prime example is
> > all the crap that FreeBSD has had to import from Linux to make X work has
> > made it incredibly unstable (I have to reboot 3 or 4 times a day if I am
> > using KDE, Gnome or any other Linux originated desktop software usually
> > due to it slowing to a crawl for no apparent reason [has to be resource
> > leak of some kind]).
>
> Yeuch, but it has nothing to do with making X work, X works just
> fine for as long as you care to leave it running. I can't speak for Gnome
> or KDE I don't use them, but with a simple WM X is as rock solid as it has
> ever been.
The point here is partially valid: Desktop environments are
based upon specific sets of libraries, such as Qt or Gtk,
and those depend on certain Linux (kernel) infrastructures
or GNU (userland) capabilities to fully work. There are
layers of layers of libraries for abstraction to hide such
details, but after it's turtles all the way down, someone
is asking for a Linux kernel syscall that FreeBSD doesn't
have, and bang! it doesn't work anymore. So in order to
fully utilize a desktop on FreeBSD, those lower-level
requirements have to be presented somehow, and that's the
stuff ("crap") that has to be importet.
What I said about desktop environments applies, in parts,
to application programs that also use those libraries and
infrastructures.
I don't have to mention that the majority of software in
question is developed primarily on and for Linux, so the
ports made available on FreeBSD have to somehow compensate
the gap between those systems. While FreeBSD and Linux have
a lot in common, there are significant differences on many
levels (mindset, kernel structure, OS organization, kernel
and library interfaces, utility programs, program inter-
action, and all that stuff that is conveniently hidden
under an abstraction library's surface).
In practice, this can lead to slow software, buggy software,
heaps of annoying warning messages, program crashes or
other kinds of unexpected software behaviour that is not
present (or even reproducable) on Linux.
You simply have to admit the fact that FreeBSD and Linux
(the many GNU/Linux-based distributions) are different.
That does not say anything about "better" or "faster",
which is an entirely different topic. :-)
--
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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