*BSD News Article 36753


Return to BSD News archive

Xref: sserve comp.os.qnx:1911 comp.os.386bsd.misc:3663
Newsgroups: comp.os.qnx,comp.os.386bsd.misc
Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!agate!ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!MathWorks.Com!news.duke.edu!convex!seas.smu.edu!rwsys!hammy!gordon
From: gordon@sneaky.lonestar.org (Gordon Burditt)
Subject: Re: QNX, Linux, or 386BSD?
Keywords: QNX LINUX 386BSD
Organization: /usr/lib/news/organi[sz]ation
Message-ID: <CxB6CM.713@sneaky.lonestar.org>
References: <3680r1$dlu@girtab.usc.edu>
Date: Fri, 7 Oct 1994 15:14:45 GMT
Lines: 22

>If one has a pc compatible with a 486, which OS is the best unix
>operating system?  QNX, Linux, or 386BSD?  

Which is better, a Pepsi, Raid, a Trojan, a Whattaburger, or Pampers?
It would help a lot to know whether you are thirsty, hungry, horny,
incontinent, or infested with roaches.  

The same goes with operating systems.  What are your requirements?
If the requirements include "free" and "source code", I think you
can forget QNX.  If the requirements involve a lot of real-time
response with guaranteed maximum delays, most of the UNIX varieties
except those with real-time extensions drop out.  

What did you intend doing with your PC?  News reading, email,
games, and a little kernel hacking?  Choose FreeBSD, Linux, or
NetBSD.  Nuclear reactor control, piloting a drone aircraft,
or data acquisition?  I don't know a lot about QNX, but I
suspect it beats the free UNIX versions hands down.  It also
provides someone to sue when things go wrong.

					Gordon L. Burditt
					sneaky.lonestar.org!gordon