Linux vs. Unix vs. BSD

phantom_cyph · 03-15-2007, 04:27 PM

Which is best? Linux, Unix or BSD? (As in category, not distribution?) I posted this in General because I want your opinion.

Crito · 03-15-2007, 05:15 PM

Pepsi Cola and Jif peanut butter.

XavierP · 03-15-2007, 05:18 PM

Linux vs Unix vs Berkely Unix? Pears vs Granny Smith's vs Golden Delicious?

phantom_cyph · 03-15-2007, 05:21 PM

Lol-I said opinions on the given topic, not ramblings.

reddazz · 03-15-2007, 05:28 PM

It all comes down to personal preference and the situation in which your are deploying the OS so I don't think you can generalise about one being better than the other.

Lordandmaker · 03-15-2007, 05:40 PM

Personally Linux, because I'm used to it. I do like the FreeBSD daemon, though. And I just seem to like the idea of using unix for some reason.

phantom_cyph · 03-15-2007, 05:59 PM

You people are over-analyzing the question (thats what I get for posting this in a forum full of geeks like myself).

I like the idea of using Unix as well, I think it is because to me it seems like the pure form of a great operating system, not the Linux or BSD derivative, but I still use linux...haven't 'arrived' yet.

Jorophose · 03-15-2007, 06:32 PM

Inferno.

That is one hell of a name.

Or Plan9. So terrifying, that big pink bunny...

masonm · 03-15-2007, 07:58 PM

Depends on the intended goal. For general, all around use I prefer Linux. Doesn't mean it's actually the best, it's just my preference.

taylor_venable · 03-15-2007, 08:20 PM

Linux & BSD are Unix.

phantom_cyph · 03-15-2007, 08:38 PM

taylor_venable, not completely, they are derivatives, not the same thing. Tell a BSD user or Unix user they use linux and some will spit in your face. There is unix, then BSD, then Linux, Linux being the farthest from Unix itself. (At least that is what research has told me)

taylor_venable · 03-15-2007, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kalabanta

Tell a BSD user or Unix user they use linux and some will spit in your face.

Perhaps, but the premise there is not true, nor is it what I said. I didn't say that BSD and Unix are Linux, I said that Linux and BSD are Unix. In other words, it's like a hierarchy -- if you're familiar with programming, think inheritance. Unix is a kind of operating system; BSD and Linux (probably more correctly, GNU/Linux) are kinds of Unix. That doesn't mean that BSD is a kind of Linux. (Maybe I should say that the relationship among them is a DAG.)

Also, did you mean Unix or UNIX? Spell it UNIX and you're talking proprietary, but with just an upper-case usually means a UNIX-like system.

Mega Man X · 03-16-2007, 03:22 AM

The best for what exactly? If I was going to use one of those as a workstation, I'd pick up linux. Hardware support in Linux is pretty good and some distros are very user friendly. Some companies are already giving some attention to Linux (including Dell now) which is great.

If I was going to have a server, I would like something secure. In this case, I would go with either FreeBSD or OpenBSD (Only two remote holes in the default install, in more than 10 years).

If I want to install a Unix-variant in some "odd" hardware, I'd take NetBSD, which runs in way more platforms than Linux ever did (and most likely ever will).

The only way to answer your question is if you tell us "better for what?". Ferrari Scuderia is a great car, but not always the right one to use. If I had to go off-road, for example, I'd choose a Ford Bronco Dune Bashing...

phil.d.g · 03-16-2007, 04:53 AM

BSD is a derivative of UNIX, Linux isn't. This diagram, whilst a little simplified illustrates things nicely: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ory-simple.png

I like to use what I think is best for the job, for me that is FreeBSD on my server and something like Slackware or Arch on my desktop

guruwammabe · 03-16-2007, 06:58 AM

I like BSD(to be honest it's actually Darwin on my Mac mini), i do have it running my my desktop and I like using it, I like the power, baby. I like the control that I can have over my computer plus I get to learn a whole bunch of new stuff, shell-scripting, emacs and whatnot

. I installed Linux on a laptop because, well, why not? It was fun and I like it. I can learn even more stuff that I didn't know before and I can solve my own problems and become much more self reliant on my computer which is a big plus for me because I always hated needing other people to fix my windows machine (but some of the blame was mine in that case, I was really lazy about learning how to use it).
So I guess in short I like both, I use the Linux a little more often than the BSD right now but that's because the Linux laptop is newer. However since both depend on self-reliant computer use they both get the thumbs up

(How's that for not actually answering the question?)

And plus where else do you find how to hook up a coffee maker to your machine except in a HowTo faq in Slackware 11(which is where I read it)