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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!pravda.aa.msen.com!spool.mu.edu!howland.reston.ans.net!math.ohio-state.edu!news.cyberstore.ca!van-bc!vanbc.wimsey.com!unixg.ubc.ca!news.bc.net!felix.junction.net!okjunc.junction.net!michael From: michael@okjunc.junction.net (Michael Dillon) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy Subject: Re: DEBATE: BSD vs. Linux Date: 1 Sep 1995 19:12:04 GMT Organization: Okanagan Internet Junction, Vernon B.C., Canada Lines: 61 Message-ID: <427lu4$cn8@felix.junction.net> References: <4233kp$t8p@hilly.apci.net> <425a9b$89r@felix.junction.net> <425l95$85v@cnn.nas.nasa.gov> NNTP-Posting-Host: okjunc.junction.net Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:954 comp.os.linux.advocacy:19655 In article <425l95$85v@cnn.nas.nasa.gov>, Jason R. Thorpe <thorpej@lestat.nas.nasa.gov> wrote: >In article <425a9b$89r@felix.junction.net>, >Michael Dillon <michael@okjunc.junction.net> wrote: > >>You should stick with Linux because it works for you and you know what it >>can do and how to make it do that. You should also try FreeBSD because >>for some things it is better and it is good to have more than one O/S in >>your bag of tricks. > >I beg to differ ... He mentioned Sun and DEC in his previous post. While >he is currently not considering those platforms, he _may_ do so in the >future. Why lock yourself into one platform? NetBSD currently runs >extremely well on Intel-based platforms, as well as 11 others, including >the Sun 4/4c and DEC Alpha. It's good to have more than one platform >in your bag of tricks :-) But NetBSD is for people who already know BSD, like BSD and have no intention of using anything other than BSD. The only question for them is which platform should I buy and is NetBSD ported to it yet? For people with no BSD experience, FreeBSD is much better to start with. I have tried FreeBSD, Linux, and BSDI's BSD/OS. They are different but I can't really pin down one or the other O/S as clearly better. It depends on the situation and whether or not the details matter. Linux runs the CMU snmpd and it fakes byte counts by multiplying packet counts by 308 because the kernel doesn't record byte counts. BSDI has the ISODE package including the ISODE snmp agent. That is an example of the kind of details that may make a difference in choosing a package but for most people they are irrelevant. If you are running on PC hardware and have neither FreeBSD nor Linux then flip a coin. They're both good. If you are running Linux or FreeBSD already and have spare disk space or a spare machine, try the other platform. If all your friends run Linux, try FreeBSD instead. Dare to be different. If you need commercial software, then use whichever O/S supports the applications you need. FreeBSD can run many commercial apps compiled for BSDI, Linux has many commercial apps available, both FreeBSD and Linux can run commercial apps compiled for SCO, FreeBSD has an alpha version of a Linux environment that will run commercial Linux apps. Sometimes advocacy makes sense as in Windows vs. Linux/FreeBSD/NetBSD Sometimes advocacy is ludicrous and irrelevant as in FreeBSD vs. Linux For the record, I own a Mac LC475, a 386DX33 running Windows, a 486DX33 running Windows,OS/2,Linux/X, a TI BusinessSystem 300 running DX10... I have used OS\360, APL\360, VM/CMS370, GCOS with TSS, UNIX, MAI BOSS, TI DX10, DOS, SCO Xenix and UNIX and a few other OS'es as well. The one thing I have learned is that things change. -- Michael Dillon Voice: +1-604-546-8022 Memra Software Inc. Fax: +1-604-542-4130 http://www.memra.com E-mail: michael@memra.com