advantages of BSD?

shadowhunter · 10-11-2003, 06:08 AM

Hello everyone!

I am a linux user for some time now and i like to try some of the BSD's.
What are the advantages of BSD?
In what is linux superior?

and

What is the difference between net, free and openBSD?
Which BSD is de best for me?
I want a devlopment-laptop with most -dev packages and so on, the newest gcc...

thanks for reading this

greetings from Belgium, Geert.

Stack · 10-11-2003, 02:03 PM

Quote:

What are the advantages of BSD?
In what is linux superior?
What is the difference between net, free and openBSD?

http://www.xs4all.nl/~marcone/bsdversuslinux.html
http://people.freebsd.org/~murray/bsd_flier.html

Quote:

Here are some Differences between FreeBSD and Linux and why FreeBSD is superior to GNU/LINUX. Hopefully this can be used for all those threads going on about FreeBSD Vs Linux that pop up.

FreeBSD is a direct descendent of the original UNIX, though it contains no residual AT&T code. Linux is a clone and never contained AT&T code.

FreeBSD is a complete operating system, maintained by a central group of software developers. There is only one distribution of FreeBSD. (++).

Linux is a kernel, personally maintained by Linus Trovalds. The non-kernel programs supplied with Linux are part of a distribution of which there are several. (--).

FreeBSD aims to be a stable production environment. (++). Linux is still a so called "bleeding edge" development environment, though many distribuitions aim to make it more suitable for production use. (--).

As a result of the centralized development style, FreeBSD is straightforward and easy to install. (++)

The ease of installation of Linux depends on the "distribution". If you switch from one distro of Linux to another, you'll have to learn a new set of installation tools. (--)

FreeBSD is still relatively unknown, since its distribution was restricted for a long time due to AT&T lawsuits. Linux did not have any lawsuits to contend with, so for a long time it was the only free UNIX-type system available.

As a result of the smaller user base, FreeBSD is less likely to have drivers for brand-new boards than Linux. However, this seems like it's slowly but surely alterting. Just about any new board will soon have a driver for Linux. (++)

Not to mention the integrated userland and kernel.

libc is libc, and has compat libs for previous branches, so those binaries you build for ie: 2.x or 1.x work. There is no need to hunt down different glibc versions to get native binaries to work.

Not to mention some linux binaries even run faster on FreeBSD.

UFS2 with softupdates and background fsck. No need to worry about your data after a crash. Support for large filesystems (2TB). The beatuy of the background fsck is, no waiting to boot because your File System will get checked in the background while the system is live.

Improved SMP including 1:1 and M:N threading, improved scheduler with processor affinity, KSE, etc. NSS support, including LDAP.

ACL and MAC framework for fine-grained user/resource control. FreeBSD names its ethernet interfaces by driver, for example; Intel 8255x chips use the fxp driver, and 3com cards use the xl/txp0 driver.

GDBE encrypted disk subsystems, supports encrypted swap, File System etc. ACPI, DEVFS, and Bluetooth are also a plus.

Also, FreeBSD users have access to probably more top quality documentation than just about any other operating system.
The FreeBSD online handbook contains a lot of information specifically about FreeBSD, including deeper discussions of many topics.

Of course there are many more benefits to using FreeBSD that can be discussed throughout this post, however, it looks like i have ran out of time.

All comments and feedback are more than welcomed.

And remeber to have your FreeBSD cereal in the morning.

Free aims to be the most stable server operating system
Net aims to be able to run on all platforms
Open aims for security

Another excellent reason to choose BSD is then you wont have to deal with the GPL. BSD affords the programmers more freedom and does not lock them in GPL hell.

shadowhunter · 10-11-2003, 02:58 PM

indeed, gpl sucks sometimes...

But how is the development in freeBSD, or the -dev packages there? (like I had trouble compiling ogle in Arch..., libglade-dev, you can find nowhere.)

DeadPuddle · 10-14-2003, 03:42 AM

That's funny. OpenBSD is looking for security.

shadowhunter · 10-14-2003, 11:49 AM

hi all, thx for the reply stack!

I have given freeBSD a try, I like the /dev system more than linux.
I think this will be my new OS. Have some troubles with acpi, but I had them also with linux.
Never thought it was that different from linux...

nukkel · 10-15-2003, 05:07 AM

Hi Geert

I'm not going to make a case for either GNU/Linux or *BSD here. They're just different.

The BSD's have more mature and more stable kernels than Linux, while in Linux there is much more advanced research (e.g. preemptible kernel, ...)

I could sum up many more differences, like the device names, init, etc etc...

But I just love the fact that both are different, so I have some GNU/Linux boxes and some BSD boxes

.

BTW, if you're into development I personally think FreeBSD is best for you.

If you have a spare box be sure to give OpenBSD a try too, it's quite unique...

Well, enjoy 8)

nukkel

Stack · 10-15-2003, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by dlmiller
You make some valid points and to be honest there isn't really much point in argueing because you have already made your minds up. This I guess is the same for me. I like bleeding edge, I like learning new things. I don't like just sitting there knowing my system will work. For me FreeBSD is too rounded, it lacks the raw-ness of Linux.

sorry lol that post was too amusing for me not to quote in this thread.

Manadien · 10-17-2003, 07:53 PM

If you like bleeding edge you should run windows, where on any given day a new piece of hardware or software will cause a crash.