*BSD News Article 69004


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From: lam@awod.com (Ken Lam)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs. Linux
Date: 20 May 1996 19:19:38 GMT
Organization: A World Of Difference, Inc.
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References: <318FA7CB.8D8@hkstar.com> <4n2btc$1vs@rabbit.augusta.de> <DrI7pE.pF@iquest.net>
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In article <DrI7pE.pF@iquest.net>, bolski@chaos.taylored.com stated =>
>
>Andreas Kohout (shanee@rabbit.augusta.de) wrote:
>: Hello,
>
>: In article <318FA7CB.8D8@hkstar.com>, Law Chi Ming <lcmlaw@hkstar.com> writes:
>: >     Can you tell me, 
>: >             FreeBSD is better?
>: >         or  Linux is better?
>: >
>: >     I need UNIX Operating System in my PC486.
>
>: if your friends use Linux, use it too. If they use FreeBSD, take FreeBSD.
>
>: If you donīt know, try FreeBSD! I think, Linux is a toy ...
>
>Nice explaination. I use Linux, but I'm considering trying FreeBSD, however,
>comments like your's do NOT make me want to try it. How about giving the
>guy some info as to why you feel FreeBSD is NOT a toy and Linux is? Why 
>not give some reasons as to why maybe FreeBSD would be better suited for 
>him than FreeBSD. What are the advantages of one over the other? Rather 
>than let your personal bias come into play, be a little more constructive 
>and help the guy out. 

Both can be very stable and solid platforms.  I chose FreeBSD because of
it's Berkley heritage.  I spent much of my early unix experiences under
SunOS so I have my background in BSD-based systems.  I find that though
Linux is WIDELY supported and is widely standardized (POSIX, etc), I still
find many applications where the tried and true building blocks of BSD are
more stable (of course, you don't have to take my word for it, check out
ftp.cdrom.com :)  )

>I would help, but my experience only lies with Linux (has been that way 
>for the past four years). However, I'm looking for a change of pace and 
>would like to try FreeBSD out and see which works better for me. Both 
>Linux and FreeBSD seem to have excellent support through the net so I 
>know I can get help either way (as long as it's not snide remarks like 
>the above).

Depends on what you are doing with the platform and what you're familiar
with.  Programming for me is easier on 4.4 BSD-lite systems.  But I don't
get the advantages of some things like kernel threads.  I believe
that both the filesystem and network code are stable for both OSes.
You'll get arguments over stability and performance, but those are more
dependent on the person tweaking the system vs default system params.

I will say that I will begin working with the SMP-linux kernel shortly
on a dual-pentium system because SMP for linux is further developed
over SMP for FreeBSD.  BUT I will be experimenting with the FreeBSD 
system as well.

-ken