From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Jun 19 19:37:16 2009 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 2E1C7106567A for ; Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:37:16 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from corky1951@comcast.net) Received: from QMTA05.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net (qmta05.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net [76.96.30.48]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 135D68FC1F for ; Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:37:16 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from corky1951@comcast.net) Received: from OMTA05.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net ([76.96.30.43]) by QMTA05.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net with comcast id 5s381c0040vp7WLA5vQ735; Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:24:07 +0000 Received: from comcast.net ([98.203.142.76]) by OMTA05.emeryville.ca.mail.comcast.net with comcast id 5vQ41c00R1f6R9u8RvQ5GE; Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:24:06 +0000 Received: by comcast.net (sSMTP sendmail emulation); Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:24:03 -0700 Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:24:03 -0700 From: Charlie Kester To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Message-ID: <20090619192403.GB2227@comcast.net> Mail-Followup-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org References: <735E59909DEB44AF92825EA7C65CF430@ionicoffice.ionic.co.uk> <200906190623.10417.andres@msu.edu> <20090619182326.GX12531@manor.msen.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20090619182326.GX12531@manor.msen.com> X-Mailer: Mutt 1.5.20 X-Composer: VIM 7.2 User-Agent: Mutt/1.5.20 (2009-06-14) Subject: Re: Open Vs Free BSD X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 19 Jun 2009 19:37:16 -0000 On Fri 19 Jun 2009 at 11:23:26 PDT Michael R. Wayne wrote: > >OK, I'm going to take a guess here that English may not be Michal's primary >language and re-ask his question: > > Given the several versions of *BSD, I have been led to understand > that each excells in different ways. How do I select which one > is right for my application, what are the underlying reasons > that would lead me to that choice and what are the the disadvantages > I am risking? > >This is, actually, not an inappropriate question coming from a potential >new user who is not familiar with the history surrounding the various >versions and would make an outstanding FAQ. As an example, we run FreeBSD >on our firewalling machines because it works well enough and we prefer the >reduced support costs of using a single O/S across our network. I am unsure >of what the advantage of moving to OpenBSD might be and would find it very >difficult to quantify the advantages (if any) versus the increased support >resources required. > >This is a very real issue. Linux has a similar problem; I've personally >been in meetings where clients examined the myriad Linux distributions >and say "It's very likely that we will make the incorrect choice. So we'll >go with Windows." I suspect similar events have occurred with *BSD. So, >rather than jumping on people about them bringing up religous wars (because, >face it, you CAN edit a file perfectly well in either vi or emacs :-), we'd >all be better served by giving them enough information to make the >right choice in their situation while realizing the tradeoffs they are >making. I agree, this shouldn't necessarily be treated as flamebait or trolling. But shouldn't the question be redirected to the advocacy mailing list/team?