From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Jan 24 03:04:31 2004 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 7855C16A4CE for ; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 03:04:31 -0800 (PST) Received: from razorbill.mail.pas.earthlink.net (razorbill.mail.pas.earthlink.net [207.217.121.248]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6251843D46 for ; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 03:04:30 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from algould@datawok.com) Received: from 23-101.lctv-b4.cablelynx.com ([24.204.23.101] helo=yoda.datawok.com) by razorbill.mail.pas.earthlink.net with asmtp (TLSv1:RC4-MD5:128) (Exim 3.33 #1) id 1AkLaW-0007kW-00; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 03:04:28 -0800 From: "Andrew L. Gould" To: Jeff Elkins , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 05:04:31 -0600 User-Agent: KMail/1.5.4 References: <200401232340.40104.bsd@elkins.org> In-Reply-To: <200401232340.40104.bsd@elkins.org> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Message-Id: <200401240504.31561.algould@datawok.com> X-ELNK-Trace: ee791d459e3d6817d780f4a490ca69564776905774d2ac4ba454986e77bf8e1a090f1e161c3b3484350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c Subject: Re: Why BSD? 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: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 11:04:31 -0000 On Friday 23 January 2004 10:40 pm, Jeff Elkins wrote: > This is not a troll. > > I've installed FreeBSD 5.2 on a spare SCSI drive and am compiling kernels, > updating ports, etc,etc. Thus far, other than some minor hassles, it's > equivilent to my Debian sid. > > I have to ask: Why FreeBSD rather than Linux? > > Honest question. > > Thanks, > > Jeff That's a question to which each individual will have a valid, different answer. I think there are "styles" of operating system organization that are compatible with different user mentalities. I could never get an intuitive feel for running/configuring RedHat; and yet there are so many users that swear by it. I could use YAST; but hated the fact that it would overwrite my manual configuration changes. I was comfortable with Slackware; but manually searching for dependencies for apps not included in the distro sucked. Being comfortable with Slackware, testing FreeBSD was the logical next step. Based upon my own use of the computer (multitasking while performing clinical data analysis using PostgreSQL), I found that FreeBSD was more robust. Specifically, apps would become visibly sluggish in Linux while FreeBSD remained very responsive. ...and then there's the license issue -- let's agree to disagree; and let it stop there. Your issues and answers will be much different than mine; but just as valid. "YMMV" has never been more true. Choice is as important as a practical issue as it is as a principle. Best regards, Andrew Gould