From owner-freebsd-questions Fri Jul 9 9:42:25 1999 Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from beowulf.utmb.edu (beowulf.utmb.edu [129.109.59.83]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 06BAA1564C for ; Fri, 9 Jul 1999 09:42:21 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from bdodson@beowulf.utmb.edu) Received: (from bdodson@localhost) by beowulf.utmb.edu (8.9.3/8.9.2) id LAA14373; Fri, 9 Jul 1999 11:42:07 -0500 (CDT) (envelope-from bdodson) Date: Fri, 9 Jul 1999 11:42:07 -0500 (CDT) Message-Id: <199907091642.LAA14373@beowulf.utmb.edu> From: "M. L. Dodson" MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit To: Nate Cc: gkshenaut@ucdavis.edu, questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: FreeLinux (Debian/GNU BSD) In-Reply-To: <19990709091714.C973@laptop.ompages.com> References: <199907091429.HAA25261@deal1.bogs.org> <19990709091714.C973@laptop.ompages.com> X-Mailer: VM 6.34 under 19.16 "Lille" XEmacs Lucid Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG Hey folks, the charter of this list is to answer questions about FreeBSD, not discuss some Debian/Linux issue. If you really want FreeBSD user input, take it to the freebsd-chat list. Since the original poster had a question, I'll venture a prediction of the answer: "Not many". Nate writes: > GO AGS! > > I'm a UCD alum. Now I'm a law student in Sacramento. Cool. > > I'll be going to the Linux Users Group of Davis next Tuesday. > > See http://www.lugod.org for time and place. > > First off, if you are really interested in this project, you > should take a look at the mailing list archives at www.debian.org. > > There was a pretty long thread a few months ago, where debian > linux developers discussed incorporating the the FreeBSD kernel > into the debian software distribution. > > There is already Debian/GNU Linux, and Debian/GNU HURD. I believe > there may be people working on this now. I for one, would welcome > a debian distribution based on the freebsd kernel. > > I've used both freebsd and debian linux and I see the following problems > with each. > > 1. FreeBSD's kernel kicks ass, but the ports system is not nearly > as sophisticated as the debian .deb package format. > Actually, Linux (at least SMP) is the ak winner (speedwise) at this time (a hopefully soon to be rectified situation), and you will get a _lot_ of disagreement on your second point from people on this list. > 2. Debian Linux's package format kicks ass, but the linux kernel > is not nearly as stable as the freebsd kernel (IMHO). If we could combine > the .deb package format with the freebsd kernel, I do believe one would > have absolutely the most stable, most versatile, most sophisticated > operating system on the whole damn planet. If you are a developer > (I'm not so I've settled on debian, but I monitor freebsd's progress), > I do not believe it would be too monumental of a task to port debian > packages over to freebsd's kernel. I would probably be a simple matter > of recompiling the packages and altering a few debian .diff files. I would > help if I had some guidance, (cause I have 5 computers so I have machines > to compile on). If you are interested, lets get something going. I live > only 20 miles away from you and we could meet at lugod meetings. > > I'm going to forward this message over to the debian lists... > > Hope to hear from you soon. > > nate > > On Fri, Jul 09, 1999 at 07:29:31AM -0700, Greg Shenaut wrote: > > I've not used Linux, but I've been told that there is considerable > > difference among the several principal variants. Once a bunch of > > user software has been installed over the net, from the user's > > point of view (and to some extent, the adminstrator's), is FreeBSD > > more or less different from the Linux variants as they are from > > each other? And if the answer is that they are all pretty similar, > > then perhaps a customized version of FreeBSD could be prepared that > > emphasizes the similarities, distributed as FreeLinux or LinuxBSD. > > (I'm thinking in terms of a FreeBSD kernel with a Linux API in > > front, a reshuffled directory hierarchy, and several of the more > > prominent Linux applications--sort of a Linux emulation on steroids.) > > > > Why? You ask, "Why?!" > > > > I'm curious as to how many users would be attracted to a product > > incorporating the "Linux" handle, plus greater out-of-the box Linux > > compatibility, compared to more or less the same thing without it. > > > > After all, > > What's in a name? That which we call a rose > > By any other name would smell as sweet. > > > > -Greg Shenaut > > > > [deleta] -- M. L. Dodson bdodson@scms.utmb.edu 409-772-2178 FAX: 409-772-1790 To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message