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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msunews!uwm.edu!news.alpha.net!news.mathworks.com!zombie.ncsc.mil!news.duke.edu!news-feed-1.peachnet.edu!gatech!howland.reston.ans.net!vixen.cso.uiuc.edu!newsrelay.iastate.edu!news.iastate.edu!spiff.cc.iastate.edu!flipk From: flipk@iastate.edu (Phil Knaack) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd Subject: Re: Linux vs. BSD?! Date: 28 Feb 95 02:57:05 GMT Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Lines: 40 Message-ID: <flipk.793940225@spiff.cc.iastate.edu> References: <3ira54$7vq@quandong.itd.adelaide.edu.au> <KSTAILEY.95Feb27175538@leidecker.gsfc.nasa.gov> NNTP-Posting-Host: spiff.cc.iastate.edu In <KSTAILEY.95Feb27175538@leidecker.gsfc.nasa.gov> kstailey@leidecker.gsfc.nasa.gov (Kenneth Stailey) writes: >No way! In 1993 Linux already had the user base lead for whatever >reason (like availability). BSD hasn't caught up. It may never >simply because the user base goes where the user base has always gone, >technical merits not withstanding. Look at VHS vs. beta. There is an important point here. Have you opened up a number of magazines lately and read an advertisement for LINUX? No doubt. There is a lot of attention to Linux and a lot of advertisement. BSD historically has not had this type of exposure, and there is no doubt in my mind that this is the main reason why the *BSD OS's have a much smaller user base, and if the BSD world wishes to grow in the extent that Linux has, then this is the way to do it. >And BSD will die because of too many implementations? This hasn't >hurt it much in the past. The problem of reliability or quality of the respective products really isn't a question; as UN*X operating systems go, Linux, NetBSD, and FreeBSD are all excellent. Conforming to different standards, sure, and very different in styles in some respects. But, you do have to admit, in some respects they are all better than some of the Commercial UN*X's out there. In any case, it's more a matter of personal taste. I don't believe a question of which is better is valid, for the most part. Also, there are a great number of basis on which to judge, but is the size of the userbase one of them? :) Just my 2500 pesos .. Cheers, Phil -- Phil Knaack flipk@iastate.edu Database Programmer, NCREMP Student Development Group flipk@cs.iastate.edu Regional Extension Office Project Vincent, ISU flipk@vorpal.com