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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!bunyip.cc.uq.oz.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.eng.convex.com!newshost.convex.com!news.duke.edu!news.mathworks.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in2.uu.net!news.reference.com!cnn.nas.nasa.gov!not-for-mail From: thorpej@lestat.nas.nasa.gov (Jason R Thorpe) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,,comp.unix.bsd.misc Subject: Re: BSDI vs FreeBSD Date: 6 Feb 1996 15:05:40 -0800 Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Project - NASA Ames Lines: 44 Message-ID: <4f8ms4$n41@lestat.nas.nasa.gov> References: <AFj4X5nCg4@qsar.chem.msu.su> NNTP-Posting-Host: lestat.nas.nasa.gov Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:13827 comp.unix.bsd.misc:508 In article <AFj4X5nCg4@qsar.chem.msu.su>, Eugene Radchenko <eugene@qsar.chem.msu.su> wrote: >I wonder what is the relation between the BSDI and FreeBSD Unix versions? >Is the BSDI a commercial version of FreeBSD (like Caldera/Linux), another >product, same/better/worse product with support, result of product >divergence or what? Is it developed by the same team? FreeBSD and BSD/OS are totally separate things, though they share a common ancestry (4.4BSD-Lite). FreeBSD is producted by the FreeBSD Project, and is a freely redistributable system. BSD/OS is a proprietary system developed by Berkeley Software Design, Inc. A most of BSD/OS is not freely redistributable. Another system based on 4.4BSD-Lite (and the one I use), called NetBSD, also runs on x86 hardware (as well as 12 other platforms, including the SPARC and the Alpha) and is also freely redistributable. See: http://www.NetBSD.ORG/ ...for more information about NetBSD. >Which is better (features, stability)? It depends on what you want to do. BSD/OS is backed by a corporation. FreeBSD and NetBSD are volunteer projects. I would assert that FreeBSD and NetBSD evolve faster than BSD/OS. FreeBSD and NetBSD are both extremely stable, as is BSD/OS. There are many talented people working on all three systems. >The problem is: the university here has the enterprise license for BSDI. >Should we use it for the department's Internet server we are putting >together or stick to FreeBSD (2.1)? >Any hints will be appreciated. If you're running FreeBSD 2.1 and it does what you need it to do, I'd say stick with FreeBSD. If you need something else, then evaluate BSD/OS and/or NetBSD. -- Jason R. Thorpe thorpej@nas.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center Home: 408.866.1912 NAS: M/S 258-6 Work: 415.604.0935 Moffett Field, CA 94035 Pager: 415.428.6939