From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Nov 10 22:51:52 2007 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8F95F16A418 for ; Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:51:52 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: from igloo.linux.gr (igloo.linux.gr [62.1.205.36]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 0402E13C4A3 for ; Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:51:51 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: from kobe.laptop (dialup140.ach.sch.gr [81.186.70.140]) (authenticated bits=128) by igloo.linux.gr (8.14.1/8.14.1/Debian-9) with ESMTP id lAAMp0fm028801 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA bits=256 verify=NOT); Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:51:16 +0200 Received: from kobe.laptop (kobe.laptop [127.0.0.1]) by kobe.laptop (8.14.1/8.14.1) with ESMTP id lAAMowko001950; Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:50:58 +0200 (EET) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Received: (from keramida@localhost) by kobe.laptop (8.14.1/8.14.1/Submit) id lAAMowCV001949; Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:50:58 +0200 (EET) (envelope-from keramida@ceid.upatras.gr) Date: Sun, 11 Nov 2007 00:50:57 +0200 From: Giorgos Keramidas To: John Smith Message-ID: <20071110225057.GA1775@kobe.laptop> References: <20071110154011.GB2060@kobe.laptop> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: X-Hellug-MailScanner: Found to be clean X-Hellug-MailScanner-SpamCheck: not spam, SpamAssassin (not cached, score=-3.936, required 5, autolearn=not spam, ALL_TRUSTED -1.80, AWL 0.46, BAYES_00 -2.60) X-Hellug-MailScanner-From: keramida@ceid.upatras.gr X-Spam-Status: No Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: nanobsd, picobsd, tinybsd X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 22:51:52 -0000 On 2007-11-10 15:45, John Smith wrote: >On Nov 10, 2007 9:40 AM, Giorgos Keramidas wrote: >>On 2007-11-09 17:01, John Smith wrote: >>> Can anybody please explain to my what the differences are between >>> nanobsd, picobsd and tinybsd. >>> >>> They all seem to be doing the same (creating a minimal FreeBSD image >>> that can be used in embedded systems), or is this not right? >> >> What don't you experiment with them, and see? :) > > I'd expected a more level headed reply from this FreeBSD list. How is > a newbie supposed to know the differenced and how can I test this if I > don't have a spare machine? > > My question was more out of interest. This mailing list is called > FreeBSD-Questions, so why can't I asked a reasonable question and > expect a reasonable reply...? Minus the typo in the original reply [s/What/Why/], I'm afraid that this is the only way to get hands-on experience with these systems. I'm sorry if the original response came out as ``odd''. More over, I don't really know what you mean by ``level headed'', other than ``not flame me for asking'', which is not something we tend to do in freebsd-questions. Having said that, a brief description of what each one of the systems you mentioned is: * PicoBSD used to work with earlier FreeBSD versions. I don't think it does work with recent 7.X versions or CURRENT. I wouldn't even go there right now, unless you want to ``forward port'' all the code which made PicoBSD tick, and make it work with recent FreeBSD releases. * NanoBSD is more ``modern'' than PicoBSD, and it works with 6.X, 7.X and CURRENT releases. One of the advantages of NanoBSD is that it's part of the base system and it is easy to use. Our documentation includes an article about NanoBSD at: Try reading the introduction of the article for some of the features of NanoBSD. * TinyBSD is a set of tools and scripts, which is also part of the base system. It definitely has a few good characteristics. For instance their documentation is Wiki-like and gets updated often. These short descriptions contain stuff that only scratches the surface of what it *feels* like to work with each system. If that's what you originally wanted, then Google and ten minutes or so would do fine. The important bits, however, are always in the details, and that's why you have to try NanoBSD and TinyBSD yourself, and see how much you like or dislike each one of them. - Giorgos