I'm fed up with Windows and am looking for my next OS. I was pretty set on Linux until I came across the BSD line today. I was just curious how the driver support for BSD is in comparison for Linux which I believe has a much larger user base. Is there a big difference either way as far as driver support goes or?

Different OSes, different kernels. I've had fantastic luck with both Linux distros and with FreeBSD, but in the past I've generally purchased x86 hardware that I knew to be more or less FOSS friendly. (e.g. Intel system boards, Atheros-chipset wireless, Intel NICs). It's likely you will not even have to put that much effort into it, as a huge variety of hardware just works(tm) on both Linux and FreeBSD.

If you have some exotic hardware needs (and plenty of notebooks fall into that category) it may be that Linux fits the bill better... that's often, but not always, the case.

It sounds like you're new to this, so I would recommend giving PC-BSD a go. It is not difficult to get a FreeBSD desktop system set up (we are talking about desktops, right?), but it requires patience, reading, and some tinkering.

I've been a long time Windows user and know the OS, in its various incarnations, inside and out. Even with extremely anal system security and weekly maintenance I eventually get an infection that is so bad a fresh install is required. Rather than move from WinXP to Win7 I'm giving up on Windows and moving to something else.

I have the time, dedication, and am willing to read massive tomes in order to master a new OS. At this point in time I'm trying to figure out the big differences between *BSD and Linux. So far I'm finding plenty of info on both but nothing that really compares the two. Any chance you know of a thread, website, or article that does compare the finer points of each in general?

Both - Linux and *BSD - are great. I use them both and rarely miss Windows. If your hardware is selected with a Hardware Compatibility List in mind, you will have litte issues with both systems.

If you want to really learn basics with a unixoid system I think that you will learn more as a *BSD user as the systems are more puristic.

But I think that most Linux distros are easier to use and if you want to learn, you can dive into the depths of Linux as well.

Driver support as in what?
There is a hardware list and the loader.conf file has the basic list in it.

Generally speaking is the driver support as extensive in *BSD as it is in *Linux? I've never used either and my computers are about two years old. I know the BSD community is much smaller than Linux so I was just double checking to see if hardware in general was less supported by BSD. I'm only asking because I'm very new to the Unix/Linux OS'.

Here's one classic: http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd...bsd4linux1.php (heavily slanted in favor of FreeBSD, but then you posted this in a BSD forum )

BTW, I don't know anything about OpenBSD (except that I'm very fond of some of the utilities their project has spawned), and I've only dabbled in NetBSD. So my own answers apply only to FreeBSD.

My subjective, unscientific answer is "almost certainly not". But to regurgitate the old line: in the end, all that matters is that the OS runs on your hardware.

This Article Below does no Justice....

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Great, thanks for your terse opinion. How about doing something productive for the thread and posting an article that does your interpretation of justice, then?

Hold on I'm in the middle of editing the post above to explain my point of view... I have a 4 year degree in Computer Science I don't need an article to prove my point... I will explain in a bit I have to run be back in about 5 hours to expand on my point.....


I will leave you with this idea to think about while I'm gone...

If BSD is so involved in the Linux community and *Nix community why is it always Linux that seems to find new and inventive was to make a Os more pleasing????

Further more if Linux is so Unstable why is Linux more widely used then BSD????? and Why is BSD always adopting Linux programs to there OS...???

Also go to youtube and watch a video on the GNU Public license????

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Making an OS more pleasing is not always the most important task at hand...unless of course you cater to idiots that aren't capable of reading man pages or are too lazy to learn a little bit.

Why is Windows so widely used if it's considered unstable? Last I heard, Linux's desktop penetration was a joke compared to Microsoft's desktop share?

Why is **Linux** adopting BSD software into their OS? (OpenSSH is the most widely used SSH server in the Linux world...OpenSSH is a product of the OpenBSD team, in case you were wondering).

You're a bit biased in your point of view, wouldn't you say?

Too bad you didn't take any debate or writing classes. That's a requirement for supported argument - references.

You don't get to pull out your "Hi I have a 4 year degree in CS" badge and everyone caves in to your opinion. I have a four year degree in CS as well. And I'm an RHCE. But I don't throw it in your face to try to establish what a clever dude I am, and claim that it exempts me from arguing rationally.

Faulty premises, and you're arguing with straw men. Furthermore (that's one word, not two), I use / adore / administrate both GNU/Linux and FreeBSD systems. So you're preaching to the choir.

Seriously, don't poo all over OP's nice thread unless you have something real to contribute.

Lol again I had to run no time to write out a entire term paper(shaking my head)

Oh, you got the first punch...

1 point for you...

Now its my turn.... I'm all smiles at how your going to pull a rabbit out your hat to explain this one away


One common generality is that the Linux methodology is the living incarnation of chaos, whereas the BSD methodology is far more about control. To a large extent, it's true. Linux grew out of a spare-time hacking background, while BSD grew out of a controlled engineering background.


Were did anyone get this idea a system is only as secure as the Administrator makes it... Chaos what????

Pointing right back to Rocketman357 yes it is known as a protocol hmmm...

Funny, Original protocol ssh was invented in 1995 and was used by Microsoft, Unix, MacOs and Linux... Then was later adopted by OpenBSD and came up with a revision of the original ssh because it had been hacked... wow amazing...

Chaos means that you're moving every which way at once. Linux (and its various distributions) are moving in all sorts of different directions, with very little real coordination.

Here is the part were i find this to be full of sh*t...

First off find me one posting in any Linux form where it says you have to upgrade the system to latest package weather Stable or Unstable...???

Now I probably can go to the Slackware, Debian and Fedora forums right now and find a dozen plus posts stating you can try the package if you don't want it you can uninstall the package...

Now going right back to a quote from Rocket357 aka Rocketman

unless of course you cater to idiots that aren't capable of reading man pages or are too lazy to learn a little bit.


Rocket357 are you saying that a Windows user that is coming over to use Linux for the first time is an idiot or maybe there unaware of these functions so yes it makes the Linux community look clumsy...

Now anomie if you need references to data that you feel doesn't exist give me hell. I'll even through in some Youtube videos on installing and un-installing programs and charts and graphs.... Give you even books to refer to on Fedora, Red hat, Gentoo, Suse, Mandrivia, Slackware, Ubuntu and even good old Debian on there system design...

We will see on how Centralised BSD is compared to other Linux Distro's...

Yet after reading that whole Linux VS BSD did I find one reference or foot note pointing to any source of information. Hmmm not reference page?????



This is the only real problem listed by the inventor Citing an internal Intel study that tracked kernel releases, Bottomley said Linux performance had dropped about two per centage points at every release, for a cumulative drop of about 12 per cent over the last ten releases. "Is this a problem?" he asked.

"We're getting bloated and huge. Yes, it's a problem," said Torvalds.

He maintains, however, that stability is not a problem. "I think we've been pretty stable," he said. "We are finding the bugs as fast as we're adding them — even though we're adding more code."


Now as for Linux Community Philosophy... What I gather from our Community it is Freedom of choose..

Conclusion

Linux = Freedom
BSD = Control of System

Which Idea works best is personnel choice not one over the other...

You said the BSD's are integrating Linux **software**. What is OpenSSH? Is it a protocol, with many implementations, or is it software?

Here's a hint: You cannot download a protocol, yet here is a link to download openssh:

http://obsd.cec.mtu.edu/pub/OpenBSD/...h-5.3p1.tar.gz

You have confused an object design/template with an individual object.

So, cutlatrout, you just support my ideas even further because anyone could implement a protocol...for some reason the implementation from the OpenBSD team is the one used. Why might that be, I wonder? Perhaps it is a superior implementation, and offers something that other implementations do not? Explain to me again how Linux is not using *BSD software?

Have fun quoting this one: Yes, typical Windows users (and typical new Linux users) are idiots that whine for immediate assistance when they could just as easily help themselves by reading a man page or googling the error message they've run up against. Are they idiots permanently? Certainly not. I'd even venture to say they are idiots because of the model of assistance that Microsoft has taught them...see, in the closed source world you really only have one choice of assistance: tech support...i.e. whine about it to the vendor. In the open source world, you have more choices, but sometimes it takes time for individual users to realize other avenues exist.

Users who cannot see past the pretty GUI and popup-on-demand help are still in idiot mode. Some make it out, and choose an OS based on which OS meets their needs (even if Ubuntu meets their needs best)...the rest stick to Ubuntu or Windows simply because it's "easy to use".

Work with me here. This isn't difficult. I did not write the over-yonder.net essay. I pointed OP to it, at his request, and openly admitted its bias.

If you actually read this thread, you'll see a question from OP: "Any chance you know of a thread, website, or article that does compare the finer points of each in general?" Thus my reference to the essay.

If you don't like the essay I pointed to, you are free to provide OP with a readable, sensical counter-essay. It is fine to disagree, but IMO it's rude to litter a perfectly good thread with your pseudo-literate / nasty font ramblings. Do you have something of value to help OP make a decision? If so, please add it.