Date: Mon, 24 Mar 1997 08:47:15 -0600 CDT From: "Larry Dolinar" <larryd@bldg1.croute.com> To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Why FreeBSD? Message-ID: <92A2E4A0C66@bldg1.croute.com> In-Reply-To: <Pine.OS2.3.95.970321230112.25B-100000@warp4> References: <33331961.B21@eau.net>
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And the clouds parted on 21 Mar 97, and Jeff Roberts <jroberts@ashland.edu> said: >On Fri, 21 Mar 1997, Bob Dole wrote: > >> Hi, I plan on changing to UNIX and I wonder wether I should take Linux or >> FreeBSD... >> Both seem to be an excellent choice, so you can't say one is better than >> the other. But in what are they different, in what is each specialized? > Then try them both: they're both "free", but you'll have to pay something for you Internet connection or CDROM distribution, depending on your circumstances. The following is not impartial, as I don't play with Linux much, but when I did I wasn't as happy as I am now 8). [opinions on] Linux is SysV-flavored (barely); FreeBSD is BSD-flavored (definitely). Linux's kernel is authored by one person (Linus Torvalds); FreeBSD is authored by (essentially) the core team. Linux addons come from pretty much everywhere; FreeBSD's get submitted from a lot of places also, but have to pass review to be included as part of the release. Linux has multiple releases (based on who's packaging), all somewhat different from each other, and somewhat inoperative as well. There's only one release to FreeBSD (per major version) Linux tends to be more cutting-edge and trendy, and tends to work with more hardware (to some degree), partly because of the "arrangements" made with vendors. FreeBSD requires that source code be freely obtainable for (nearly?) all it's parts, which scares some vendors into not cooperating, or at least not as well. The hardware that _is_ supported tends to be done pretty robustly. Linux is snappier for low-user-count systems, depending on what you're trying to do. FreeBSD tends to shine under real load (like WWW/FTP servers), and I don't really know if any major sites base such Internet services on Linux; quite a few seem to be using FreeBSD, particularly Walnut Creek CDROM, which carries quite a load on a consistent basis. There are far more books on Linux than FreeBSD per se, something I draw no conclusions on. The support on the Linux list(s) is something I haven't any personal experience with; the support on the FreeBSD lists is exemplary. [opinions off] Please correct any sins of commission and ommission you find above; I don't do this often enough to be any good at it. your mileage may vary, and best wishes, larry
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