From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Wed Sep 17 06:01:22 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 81E1B16A4B3 for ; Wed, 17 Sep 2003 06:01:22 -0700 (PDT) Received: from ns2.foolishgames.net (ns2.foolishgames.net [216.93.162.119]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EE1A443F3F for ; Wed, 17 Sep 2003 06:01:21 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from luke@foolishgames.com) Received: from foolishgames.com (adsl-64-109-110-183.dsl.gdrpmi.ameritech.net [64.109.110.183]) (authenticated bits=0) by ns2.foolishgames.net (8.12.9/8.12.9) with ESMTP id h8HD1KdH071327; Wed, 17 Sep 2003 06:01:21 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from luke@foolishgames.com) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 09:01:14 -0400 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v552) To: "Andy" From: Lucas Holt In-Reply-To: <007201c37d18$3931adb0$1e0a0a0a@orbital.net> Message-Id: <04F02A18-E90F-11D7-A042-0030656DD690@foolishgames.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.552) cc: questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: What's the difference between FreeBSD and OpenBSD? 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: Wed, 17 Sep 2003 13:01:22 -0000 On Wednesday, September 17, 2003, at 08:35 AM, Andy wrote: > Apologies if I should have found the answer already, but it would > appear > from both sites that xxxxBSD is a marvellous operating system, very > secure, > efficient, etc, based on Berkeley Unix, etc. Both are free and > maintained by > really skilled technical people, etc, but what is the difference > between > them, why would one use one in preference to the other? > > Its simply a matter of preference. Each project (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD...) have their own goals, and ideas about security. I tend to look at it like this: FreeBSD is probably the best general purpose BSD for x86 systems. (other ports are coming along) OpenBSD is great for those who are VERY serious about security. The system is locked down by default, and has alterations the the system compiler to make it more secure. It tries to prevent common attack vectors. If you are using this for a desktop, you will need to do a lot more work to unsecure it enough to run apps. :) NetBSD I can't comment on NetBSD all that much as I only ran it on an old Sparc. It ran great though.. they do support the most platforms though. Linux people should feel at home in terms of porting to everything including your toaster oven. You can even run NetBSD on Sega DreamCast. Darwin (Apple's distro) isn't done yet for x86 platforms. Mac OS X runs the darwin system. Lucas Holt Luke@FoolishGames.com ________________________________________________________ FoolishGames.com (Jewel Fan Site) JustJournal.com (Free blogging) "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein (1879-1955)