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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.carno.net.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!inferno.mpx.com.au!nsw1.news.telstra.net!wa.news.telstra.net!news.telstra.net!psgrain!charnel.ecst.csuchico.edu!news.wco.com!HSNX.wco.com!hub.org!news.radio.cz!newsbastard.radio.cz!news.radio.cz!CESspool!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news-xfer.netaxs.com!news.cyberenet.net!news.sprintlink.net!news-pen-4.sprintlink.net!moon.why.net!why498 From: DPete@why.net (Dan Petersen) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc,comp.sys.sgi.misc Subject: Re: no such thing as a "general user community" Date: Wed, 02 Apr 97 10:13:23 GMT Organization: Ubiquity Information Services Lines: 66 Message-ID: <5htaev$fv7$1@moon> References: <331BB7DD.28EC@net5.net> <333EE416.ABD322C@FreeBSD.org> <5hn00k$dio@fido.asd.sgi.com> <333F45A6.41C67EA6@FreeBSD.org> <5hplcv$6lf@fido.asd.sgi.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.211.120.99 X-Newsreader: News Xpress Version 1.0 Beta #4 Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:38480 comp.unix.bsd.bsdi.misc:6586 comp.sys.sgi.misc:29689 In article <5hplcv$6lf@fido.asd.sgi.com>, sca@refugee.engr.sgi.com (Steve Alexander) wrote: } } With that in mind, it seems like the *BSD folks would be pretty } motivated about showing off their performance advantages. I don't } care personally; I only pay attention to SGI and its competitors, } since SGI pays my rent. } } So, why not show that FreeBSD can crush Linux on things like } performance, if that's the case. If not, what other compelling } advantages do you offer? Since I can't run FreeBSD, NetBSD, and } BSDI at the same time, I hope that they're all in one particular } variant... } }NOSTRADAMUS=1 export NOSTRADAMUS } } - If the *BSD folks don't converge, they will definitely become } irrelevant at some point. I don't understand why the infighting } goes on. Hang together, or hang separately, as the saying goes. It } doesn't matter to me, but it seems like it should matter to y'all. } }unset NOSTRADAMUS } First let me say that I am a total newbie in the Unix-derived OS area. I have been (unsuccesfully) trying to install FreeBSD on my PC for a little over a week now, and am considering just giving up and trying Linux. But, if I do, WHICH linux? Being new here, I may not yet fully understand. But from what I have picked up cruising news groups and web sites, this is how I see it: -- *BSD is a group of slightly divergent Unix-like operating systems, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD, derived from BSD4.4 Lite. All are freely available and freely distributable. FreeBSD and NetBSD are so close that they should be combined -- the differences seem to be political rather than functional. OpenBSD is based in Canada, so has fewer problems distributing encryption software. -- Linux is a kernel written by Linus Torvald. There is no Linux OS. The kernel(s) is freely available and distributable under the GPL. This has encouraged several different for-profit and a couple of non-profit distributions of the Linux kernel(s). -- Linux distributions are the OS's. So far I have discovered Debian, Red Hat, Ygdrasil, SlackWare, Caldera, Linux-FT, a flame war over whether all Linux distributions should be called GNU/Linux (since they mostly use GNU software at the system administration and user application level) and, finally (?), the GNU HURD. From my point of view, there are three *BSD distributions and at least seven *Linux distributions. The Linux people always point out that the *BSD people live in warring camps. The *BSD people seem not to notice that the Linux people have internicene warfare as well. If the Linux people don't hang together, they could become irrelevant just as quickly as anyone else. If the *BSD people and the Linux people could get together, the result could be spectacular. As it is, though, Bill Gates will probably win. There is only ONE MicroSoft, after all. Now THAT is a sobering thought! ___ Dan Petersen DPete at why.net