Linux complexity versus BSD simplicity & efficiency

When your forum title is: "Linux [equals ...] complexity versus BSD [equals ...] simplicity & efficiency," then I consider your decision to have already been made.

"Go, therefore, in the path that you have chosen."

And then – as we all do – "deal with the inevitable complexity(!) that you will(!!) find there."

With a nick like "openbsd98324" I don't think where he stood was ever in doubt.

I'm not sure what his motivation is. "FreeBSD's userland setup is slick, lean and pleasant" is not exactly a controversial position.

We have a saying here:

The Devil you know is better than the Devil you don't

At least you know the ups and downs of your own particular choice.

Originally Posted by fido_dogstoyevsky Yes, I have, and am prepared to move to OpenBSD if (when) it becomes necessary. I can see advantages and disadvantages to both operating systems, but there are only two things stopping me: (1) Inertia. A few years ago I decided to migrate to OpenBSD and thought as good way of starting would be to learn more about Unix like systems first, so Part A of the plan was to switch to Slackware first. I found a system that did things my way, did everything I needed and allowed me to avoid trends in Linux I wanted to get away from - all with much less effort than I was expecting. So I'm still on Part A and don't look like progressing in the near future.

I agree, Slackware is *that* good.

I have tried OpenBSD and found it fairly easy to use.In some ways it is simpler than Slackware, especially if you use pkg_add to install precompiled binary packages. I liked it, but not as much as Slackware. This may be fanciful, but I really think the personalities of the two 'BDFLs' plays a part here - Slackware is just more 'fun' than OpenBSD. Perhaps Patrick is more 'benevolent' than Theo!

Originally Posted by openbsd98324 . . . . . basically. Once developers gain interests, new drivers are available.

I suspect this is not as easy as it sound like. If proper documentation exists for every piece of hardware, then yes. But if not, then it take a lot of trial and failure and still the driver may never get properly stable.

As a hardware guy here with reverse engineering experience, depending on what you are doing each device a certain amount of information. You can piece together a fair amount. Finer touches are the real hard graft.