Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 06:12:55 -0800 From: Grant <emailgrant@gmail.com> To: freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Current Gentoo user Message-ID: <49bf44f10712130612q72d55f7cgeb1647ca00718b86@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <4760FC20.9030608@infracaninophile.co.uk> References: <49bf44f10712122100y45f12f77q4ae47f311905be25@mail.gmail.com> <4760FC20.9030608@infracaninophile.co.uk>
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> > It has recently come to my attention that FreeBSD is "similar" to > > Gentoo Linux. I've been a Gentoo user for about 5 years and I love > > the concept, but it feels like the project is slowing down. I like to > > learn/use/know one OS for server, media system, laptop, router, etc. > > How would you compare the two OSes? > > We use mainly a mixture of FreeBSD and Gentoo at work. Virtually all > of the application software you would want to use will work on either > system -- the exceptions being certain proprietary bits such as the very > latest Flash or management applications for particular RAID controllers. > The Unix environment is pretty much the same, although /bin/sh on FreeBSD > is not bash -- that you'ld have to install from ports. There are various > odd differences in commands but those tend to be the more obscure bits > as both systems comply with POSIX.2 What about skype, wengo, and vmware workstation? Do they work on FreeBSD? > Things you'll find different: > > * Although portage was certainly inspired by ports, it is a very > different beast. They fulfil much the same function, but don't > get frustrated when you start thinking in the portage way and > find that doesn't map onto ports very well. Ports is, to > paraphrase Terry Pratchett, intuitively obvious once you've spent > enough time learning how it works. >From what I've read, ports is much faster and generally much better than portage. > * You'll find that the base FreeBSD system being separated from the > rest of the installed software seems odd at first. Especially > when you start looking under /etc for configuration files that > FreeBSD puts under /usr/local/etc. You will quickly come to > appreciate that it makes a huge difference in the ease and > manageability of maintaining the system. Makes sense to me. > * I tend to find that FreeBSD comes with much better diagnostic and > monitoring capabilities built in -- programs like systat and gstat > have no direct equivalents, and things like vmstat often seem to > be missing from Gentoo boxes, although that is probably just an > oversight by the person building the system. Does FreeBSD take the nothing-is-installed-that-I-don't-want approach like Gentoo does? > * Although either OS will work in either role, Gentoo-ers seem > to me principally interested in developing the desktops, > whereas FreeBSD-ers think "network server" first of all. Am I likely to struggle with FreeBSD on a laptop? I booted FreeSBIE just fine but I didn't test for sound. I would imagine 64-bit support in FreeBSD is excellent, but what about support of 32-bit binaries (e.g. the above listed) on a 64-bit system? - Grant
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