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From: James Raynard <fqueries@jraynard.demon.co.uk>
Message-Id: <199607261937.TAA02374@jraynard.demon.co.uk>
Subject: Re: FreeBSD
To: Brian <nigol@smartnet.net>
Date: Fri, 26 Jul 1996 19:37:21 +0000 ()
Cc: questions@freebsd.org
In-Reply-To: <2.2.32.19960725033725.006741cc@smartnet.net> from "Brian" at Jul 24, 96 10:37:25 pm
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> 
> Hi, I was just hoping to solicit a few opinions... Why BSD over any of the
> others available? BSD is a type of Unix correct? Why Unix, and especially
> BSD, over Windows NT?

Here are a few advantages of FreeBSD over WinNT:-

o Very complete operating system available free of charge.
o Source code available free of charge.
o Many more applications available free of charge in source form.
o Probably easier to find experienced staff/consultants.
o Lots of helpful enthusiasts to answer your questions :-)
o The reference implementation of TCP/IP (the one that's been
  holding the Internet together for the last 15 years).
o Bugs and security problems are readily admitted to and 
  quickly fixed (wherever possible).
o Can be administered remotely, so if it crashes at 3am you can
  dial in and fix it without leaving your bedroom! (apparently WNT 
  can only be administered if you're sitting in front of it).
o You can install it on as many machines and have as many users
  as you like, at no charge.
o Extremely liberal licensing terms that allow you to do practically
  anything with the source, without attaching onerous conditions.
o Very extensive range of development tools comes with the system
  free of charge.

And, in the interests of fairness, a few disadvantages:-

o No formal technical support.
o Many businessmen/managers are prejudiced against free software.
o Doesn't run DOS/Windows apps (not completely true, but near enough).
o Very little in the way of 3rd-party commercial applications.
o If something you want is missing, and none of the developers have
  the time and/or inclination to provide it, the only options are to
  do it yourself or forget about it.
o The documentation is not yet complete.
o Support for IDE CDROMs is not yet complete.
o Not so many pretty icons to click on...