From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Thu May 31 19:29:31 2012 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 E15D4106564A for ; Thu, 31 May 2012 19:29:31 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from kdunn@acm.org) Received: from fly.hiwaay.net (fly.hiwaay.net [216.180.54.1]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 958B58FC08 for ; Thu, 31 May 2012 19:29:31 +0000 (UTC) Received: from fly.hiwaay.net (localhost.localdomain [127.0.0.1]) by fly.hiwaay.net (8.13.8/8.13.8/fly) with ESMTP id q4VJHRZb029223 for ; Thu, 31 May 2012 14:17:27 -0500 Received: from localhost (kldunn@localhost) by fly.hiwaay.net (8.13.8/8.13.8/fly-submit) with ESMTP id q4VJHQIJ029218 for ; Thu, 31 May 2012 14:17:27 -0500 X-Authentication-Warning: fly.hiwaay.net: kldunn owned process doing -bs Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 14:17:26 -0500 (CDT) From: Karl Dunn X-X-Sender: kldunn@fly.hiwaay.net To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org In-Reply-To: <20120531041345.0F71310657B6@hub.freebsd.org> Message-ID: References: <20120531041345.0F71310657B6@hub.freebsd.org> User-Agent: Alpine 2.02 (LRH 1266 2009-07-14) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed Subject: Re: Why Are You Using FreeBSD? X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Karl Dunn List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Thu, 31 May 2012 19:29:32 -0000 > Hi Everyone, > > This is off-topic, so please feel free to disregard it, but I'm sending > it to this list in the hope that it will reach a largish number of > users. > > I am currently looking at updating some of our advocacy material (which > advertises exciting new features like SMP support), and before I do I'd > like to get a better feel for why the rest of you are using FreeBSD. > If you had to list the three things you most like about FreeBSD, which > would you pick? Are they the same as when you first started using it? > > David > > ------------------------------ 1. Stability 2. Security 3. Ease of configuration ... and more ... 4. Lots of good ports, that build and install mostly with NO trouble. 5. Works like ('cause IS) BSD/Solaris, rather than Sys5 (see 3 above) 6. Good lists 7. Great help when I need it ... some history ... Had been using Solaris on a variety of Suns, when in July 1999 it fell to me (a hardware designer) to set up a firewall to replace a really unreliable Windows app-level firewall. Got an old PC, put FreeBSD 3.2 on it, got Trusted Information Systems' proxies for HTTP and FTP, got it up and working with only minor problems. Into production in less than a week. It ran until GE bought the whole company out in late 2001, finally upgraded to 4.2. Currently (2012) maintaining a FW based in FreeBSD 8.1-RELEASE GENERIC for a local charity's office. Hardware is a Dell T105. First light was in 2008 using 6.2. No noticeable trouble. The same host also runs Samba 3.3.13 for the LAN users, DHCP, and internal mail. FW is NATing ipfw. I have been retired since 2002 January, and do this for fun. FreeBSD has made it so. Thanks, very much indeed, everyone. Karl Dunn kdunn@acm.org