*BSD News Article 79240


Return to BSD News archive

Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.ecn.uoknor.edu!news.wildstar.net!news.ececs.uc.edu!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.third-wave.com!lucy.third-wave.com!dvanecek
From: dvanecek@third-wave.com (David Vanecek)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: FreeBSD and Linux
Date: 26 Sep 1996 02:57:02 GMT
Organization: Bedford, Penna
Lines: 39
Message-ID: <52crdu$jqs@news.third-wave.com>
References: <3246f8e0.1466924@news.telepac.pt> <52brol$2gg@orion.cybercom.net>
Reply-To: dvanecek@third-wave.com
NNTP-Posting-Host: bed17.third-wave.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.2 PL2]

The Classiest Man Alive (ksmm@cybercom.net) wrote:
: Luis Sismeiro (luis.sismeiro@mail.telepac.pt) wrote:
: : I am interested in knowing the differences and the advantages of
: : FreeBSD compared with Linux.

: In my (limited and humble) opinion, FreeBSD shines when it comes to
: stability.  The system has been in use for years in lots of different
: incarnations; it's tried and true.  Another advantage is the fact that
: it shares the same lineage as lots of commercial Unixes, e.g., BSDI,
: DEC OSF, and SunOS.  That makes it easy to learn and apply knowledge
: from manuals written for those other systems.

: Linux is usually easier to set up and use.  The more open development
: model has the advantage that virtually every popular device (and lots
: of not-so-popular ones) are supported.  Development proceeds at
: breakneck speeds, and most people have hardly configured a new kernel
: before it's made obsolete by the next minor version with new features.
: This isn't without its disadvatages, however, and every now and then
: some instability creeps in.  Patches come out even faster than new
: releases, though, so problems are usually found and dealt with quickly.
: I think that more commercial and high-level software developers are
: paying attention to porting to Linux than FreeBSD.  This may not be a
: concern because FreeBSD has binary compatibility with several other
: BSD-style Unixes.  Linux is the closest thing to a "Plug-and-Play" Unix
: system that I've ever seen.

: Analogies between OS/2 and Windows come to mind, but I won't go into
: that for fear of having myself flamed off the newsgroup :-).  There's
: not any reason (barring disk space, of course) that you couldn't try
: them both.  I use them both regularly.

: Good luck with your decision,
: K.S.

This response should be placed in the FAQ.

Thanks!

D.Vanecek