Date: Thu, 17 Feb 2000 15:09:25 -0600 (CST) From: Gene Harris <zeus@tetronsoftware.com> To: Jonathon McKitrick <j_mckitrick@usa.net> Cc: chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: BSD vs Linux comments Message-ID: <Pine.BSF.4.10.10002171447220.31365-100000@tetron02.tetronsoftware.com> In-Reply-To: <20000217182741.20025.qmail@nwcst267.netaddress.usa.net>
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On 17 Feb 2000, Jonathon McKitrick wrote: > After mentioning to some Linux 'hackers' (not the negative connotation) that i > run BSD, here was the response i got. Although this debate has been going on > for some time, these were some unique observations. I do not know how true > they are, however. Any thoughts?? > -------------------------------------------- > The matter of stability between Linux and FreeBSD (just to pick a BSD, it > could be Net BSDi or Open, ect..) has been going on for quite some time. For a > while it was all about the innate stability, then linux got better... BSD > stayed the same, basically unchanged since 4.4BSD Lite. In what way was Linux stability versus FreeBSD stability measured? If it is measured in terms of compiling your own original programs, and then testing/debugging, then FreeBSD is far more stable in terms of memory management and i/o to the disk. Often, FreeBSD will return warning messages instead of bailing. I recently had an unfortunate instance where I tried to free a memory handle twice. FreeBSD issued an error message that the page was already free and kept on chugging. RedHat 6.1 conveniently core dumped. > > Then the issue was IP Stacks, BSD has a more stable IP stack than the 2.0.* > series kernel. Then Linux got better, 2.2.* came out and the IP stack was > revamped and as stable as BSD's .... and BSD stayed the same, basically > unchanged since 4.4BSD Lite. > Well, this isn't stack related, but have you compare the functionality of ipfw to ipchains? NAT to masquerading? I know they are both supposed to be the same. But try to perform static NAT with masq. After searching for several days, I managed to download the correct ip_masq program to help with this simple task. Next, try to perform ftp without invoking ip_masq_ftp.o. These are some of the trivial examples that FreeBSD makes a slam dunk, and Linux manages to turn into a two-three day internet search engine experience. > Then there was the issue of 'innate' superiority of BSD over SysV unix. And > POSIX kinda kicked BSD's a$$, heh. And Linux ganked ideas from both sides, so > Linux changed and got better... and BSD stayed the same, basically unchanged > since 4.4BSD Lite. > Let's see, Linux has a 2GB file limit. Linux supports NFS 2 and not 3. Linux supports inittab and rc.local to start up daemons. Now isn't that a treat, you have to understand BSD and SysV in order to track down how you turn off IBM DB2. Which brings up another point. I management to core dump Oracle about three times a week on RedHat. I've only managed to core dump Oracle on FreeBSD once in the last three months. Guess which machine I do Oracle development on? ;-) > Now, from this brief and cursory overview what can we see, hmmmmm?? :) It > looks a lot like for people who think that computing reached its pinnacle of > perfection in the 80's and early 90's... BSD is the way to go... those of us > who are pushing for the latest Intel 1.5 Ghz box and want a volitile computing > environment should stick to Linux. Well, if I were to follow this last article to its ultimate conclusion, I should install Windows 2000 TODAY! I mean, how can you get anymore volatile an environment than an untested, brand new release of Windows? *grin* Now, stop worry about what your buddies, hacker friends, etc. are thinking and choose the OS that is best for you. *==============================================* *Gene Harris http://www.tetronsoftware.com* * Home of TeamAccess version control for * * Microsoft Office 97 and 2000 * * FreeBSD 3.4-STABLE - The Power to Serve * * Redhat 6.1 Secure Web Server * *==============================================* To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message
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