From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Jun 15 21:59:20 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 C6F6637B401 for ; Sun, 15 Jun 2003 21:59:20 -0700 (PDT) Received: from alpsgiken.alpsgiken.gr.jp (www.alpsgiken.gr.jp [210.166.150.61]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id A3C1A43FB1 for ; Sun, 15 Jun 2003 21:59:19 -0700 (PDT) (envelope-from joel@alpsgiken.alpsgiken.gr.jp) Received: from zz_radiant2 (www1.alpsgiken.gr.jp [61.114.244.165]) by alpsgiken.alpsgiken.gr.jp (8.9.1a/3.7W) with ESMTP id NAA10547 for ; Mon, 16 Jun 2003 13:59:14 +0900 Date: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 14:01:47 +0900 From: Joel Rees To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <1055488085.3ee9785588cbc@mail.att.sch.gr> References: <1055488085.3ee9785588cbc@mail.att.sch.gr> Message-Id: <20030616130626.D110.JOEL@alpsgiken.gr.jp> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Becky! ver. 2.00.11 Subject: Re: UNIX programming platform 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: Mon, 16 Jun 2003 04:59:21 -0000 > Dear list, > I would like to hear your opinions about your favorite UNIX programming > platform. *nix ;) > The kind of programming I am more interested is "system and network > programming". Pick one that is accessible to you and dig in. I've found myself liking the BSDs more than the Linuxes, but I am looking for some time to dig into Debian. (Vine and Miracle Linux are presently in use in my office particularly because they provide tools useful in a Japanese environment. Many of those tools are available in freeBSD, but not yet quite as accessible as they are in Japanese-built Linux distributions. We also use Solaris, but that's kind of expensive, and you would likely need no one to suggest it to you if you were in the position to use it.) > I am looking for those "details" that will make my life easier or harder. Then I'd suggest Mac OS X. (This is not your father's Macintosh.) But if you already have an MSWindows box that you want to put to good use, freeBSD is fairly straightforward to get started with, and has a lot of tools/toys to work with. netBSD seems to be good with odd-ball hardware, but you have to know quite a bit about what you're doing to take full advantage of the tools there. (They have some interesting cross-architecture tools, for instance.) If you are already comfortable with installing and configuring, and what you really mean by "details" is a lean-n-mean system and a tight focus on networking and security, check openBSD out. That's probably the "standard" take on the more prominent players in the BSD world, but it doesn't do justice to any of it. Start with the one that's handiest for you, but play with the others when you get a chance. (System and _network_ would imply more than one computer, anyway, right?) Just my two cents. -- Joel Rees, programmer, Kansai Systems Group Altech Corporation (Alpsgiken), Osaka, Japan http://www.alpsgiken.co.jp