Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1998 14:12:02 -0500 (EST) From: ADRIAN Filipi-Martin <adrian@ubergeeks.com> To: Nik Clayton <nik@nothing-going-on.demon.co.uk> Cc: advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: On advocating FreeBSD and the Halloween memo... Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.3.96.981105095706.27947A-100000@lorax.ubergeeks.com> In-Reply-To: <19981104214106.45111@nothing-going-on.org>
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On Wed, 4 Nov 1998, Nik Clayton wrote: > On Tue, Nov 03, 1998 at 11:49:33PM +0200, Jeremy Lea wrote: > > Something that really concerns me is the Linux advocates myth, > > perpetuated by this memo, that FreeBSD is a closed development project. > > This is message I've been meaning to send out, but I haven't finished > it, and other things have got in the way. Should anyone want to pick > this up and run with it, please feel free; > > ========================================================================== > > I'm thinking of putting together a 'FreeBSD Myths' web page, either on my > own site or as part of the FreeBSD site, to dispell some of the myths > about FreeBSD, particularly in relation to other OS's. This is prompted > (partly) by yet another posting on SlashDot from someone proclaiming > that Linux follows the Bazaar development model, while FreeBSD is > strictly Cathedral. I think there are a number of these myths out there, > and a page or two countering them is probably a good thing. > This is an excellent idea! Here's one to add. Not only does it show up in the "Halloween Document", but I have to constantly fight this myth with local Linux users who are not familiar with the history of the various BSD's. Myth: There are all these BSD groups in direct competition and not sharing their work. a.k.a the "BSD-spinoff-group-of-the-week phenomenon" Yes, there are several BSD projects, but each project has a disctinct focus to their work. Their goals are generally not in direct competition with one another. Furthermore the BSD's all separated many years ago. NetBSD, FreeBSD and BSD/OS projects have all been distinct projects for more than 5 years. OpenBSD is the exception and it is the _only_ new BSD based OS project to form outside of one of the existing groups in the last 5 years. The FreeBSD project is primarily focused on providing the best Intel based UNIX available. NetBSD has traditionally been focused on creating the best, most portable UNIX. Lastly the OpenBSD group is targeting their efforts at making the most secure UNIX available. The only other BSD based OS currently being developed is BSD/OS, and BSD/OS is an entirely commercial project and aims to be the best commercially supported server OS. True, all of the above support the Intel platform, but competing against the other BSD's in the Intel arena is not the goal of any of the projects. Source code developments are openly and frequently shared. BSDi has even donated proprietary code to the Open Source BSD's. Good and proven technology from one project frequently finds its way into the other projects. (Do I dare?) In contrast with the state of the Linux universe, there few enough BSD's that I can count them on one hand. it is diffucult to recall all of the different Linux distributions I have seen or encountered. There's Slackware, Cladera, Red Had, Yaggsdrill(sp?), Debian, etc... Where as source that builds on one BSD usually works without modification on the other, there are portability problems caused by the differences between the various Linux distributions, even though they all share the same kernel. Adrian -- [ adrian@ubergeeks.com -- Ubergeeks Consulting -- http://www.ubergeeks.com/ ] To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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