*BSD News Article 68327


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From: mark@www.netgoth.com (Mark Menard)
Subject: Re: HELP Needed: Linux & BSD Unix
Message-ID: <Dr9n1L.8rn@logical.net>
Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 00:08:08 GMT
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Liaw Yong Shyang (cwclys@leonis.nus.sg) wrote:
: I would appreciate if anyone can help me with the followings:
: 
: 0) Does BSD Unix have a PC version? (i.e. run on Pentium)

Yes, there are several differnt flavors of BSD for the PC. Among them 
FreeBSD, NetBSD, and BDSi. BSDi being a commercial OS.

: 1) Are Linux and BSD Unix free software?? If not, what do I need to pay 
: (i.e. royalty if you in commercial purpose), and how much?

(NB: As I am only familiar with FreeBSD on the BSD side I will limit my 
comments to FreeBSD where BSD is concerned from here on.)

FreeBSD and Linux are both freeware. There are no commercial liscenses. 
AFAIK FreeBSD uses a centralized means of distribution. Whereas the Linux 
commmunity is served by many different companies and groups creating what 
are called distributions. (ie. Slackware Linux, Red Hat Linux, Debian etc.)

: 2) Are source code easily available for Linux & BSD Unix? Where can I get 
: them?

ForFreeBSD I would check for links on Yahoo. For Linux check any 
sunsite.unc.edu ftp mirror. My favorite is ftp.uoknor.edu (1Mb+ on weekdays)

: 3) What sort of devices drivers do Linux & BSD Unix support? (i.e. serial 
: com port, X.25, etc).

FreeBSD I don't know. Linux supports a wide range of devices and there 
are more being developed all the time. Although generally when something 
is supported in one and not the other it doesn't take long for the driver 
to cross the lines to the other OS.

: 4) I am thinking of choosing an Unix OS (I.e. Linux & BSD Unix) for my 
: Pentium PC for a commercial project, any comments on the advantages / 
: disavantages are welcomed. Thank.

I personally like Linux and use it in commercial settings. I use it for 
Internet hosting, WWW servers, radius authenticaion at a local ISP, ftp 
service, email, SQL development, in house accounting client/server system 
development, host based accouting system, pretty much you name it.

: 5) What is freebsd? Is that a free Unix?

As I understand it. FreeBSD is a derivative of BSD 4.4 Lite. It is 
developed by volunteers as a free OS for the Unix community. It is 
primarily as I understand it focused on the PC platform.

: Thank very much
: 
In addition check out Yahoo and the many link that are available. It can 
lead to many fascinating hours of reading.

Mark
-- 
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mark@capital.net <Mark Menard>      http://www.capital.net       MarkX on IRC
CapitalNET, PO Box 14345, Albany, NY 12212      800.6000.NET     518.869.4444
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  I h***, I mean harbor a deep seated dislike of, Window$, Linux uber alles!
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