From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sat Jan 24 17:44:19 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 8CFCE16A4CE for ; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 17:44:19 -0800 (PST) Received: from adsl-68-76-19-75.dsl.klmzmi.ameritech.net (adsl-68-76-19-75.dsl.klmzmi.ameritech.net [68.76.19.75]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E8CB843D2D for ; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 17:44:16 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from luke@foolishgames.com) Received: from [192.168.2.49] (adsl-67-36-61-233.dsl.klmzmi.ameritech.net [67.36.61.233]) (authenticated bits=0)ESMTP id i0P1iEpu093940; Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:44:14 -0500 (EST) (envelope-from luke@foolishgames.com) In-Reply-To: <200401232340.40104.bsd@elkins.org> References: <200401232340.40104.bsd@elkins.org> Mime-Version: 1.0 (Apple Message framework v609) Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Message-Id: <0A301372-4ED8-11D8-8F2B-000A95EFF4CA@foolishgames.com> Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit From: Lucas Holt Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2004 20:44:39 -0500 To: Jeff Elkins X-Mailer: Apple Mail (2.609) cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org 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: Sun, 25 Jan 2004 01:44:19 -0000 BSD is arguably more popular. Mac OS X uses BSD code for portions of the kernel and the userland. 10.3 uses FreeBSD 5.0 code, and previous releases used FreeBSD 3.2 or NetBSD code. SInce Apple is the number one supplier of *NIX, i'd say that is a good reason. Apple has shipped more OS X units than all the linux distros. The other question on my mind is the future of Linux. The GNU would prefer everyone to switch to GNU HURD which is a Mach kernel style operating system. The remaining momentum for Linux is large companies that got on the bandwagon late like IBM, and Sun. Personally, I never think of IBM as a trend setter. If they were, everyone would be using OS/2 right now. (my OS/2 box is really dusty!) Also, there are two groups of distros of linux.. the large ones that only care about $$$ and the small indepenants that have terrible installers, limited support, and weak compatibility. Software for linux is tested on redhat, suse, or debian. If you don't run the $$$ distros, good luck. On the BSD end, i can count the distros practically on one hand. large projects: FreeBSD, NetBSD medium: OpenBSD, OpenDarwin small: DragonFly, ClosedBSD, PicoBSD the last two are actually freebsd derivatives used for specific purposes. Lucas Holt Luke@FoolishGames.com ________________________________________________________ FoolishGames.com (Jewel Fan Site) JustJournal.com (Free blogging) 'Re-implementing what I designed in 1979 is not interesting to me personally. For kids who are 20 years younger than me, Linux is a great way to cut your teeth. It's a cultural phenomenon and a business phenomenon. Mac OS X is a rock-solid system that's beautifully designed. I much prefer it to Linux.' -- Bill Joy, Wired Article 2003