*BSD News Article 99350


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Date: Thu, 10 Jul 1997 10:48:05 -0400
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Subject: Re: FreeBSD vs. Linux
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Tom Martyn wrote:
> 
> I recently set up a FreeBSD system and liked what I got.  However it seems
> to me that there is a lot more usage, compatability and software out there
> for linux.  Any recommendations as to which I should use?  Is one better
> than the other for certain tasks?
> 
> thanks


Well, you're vague in your 'what should I use?' questioning, but here
goes.

FreeBSD is capable of running a good deal of linux binaries, as well as
those of BSD/OS, etc. So if 'compatability' is a concern, freebsd has
linux there. 

Linux does have a larger following, but Windows has a larger following
than FreeBSD, and you don't see me running Windows. User base doesn't
make an OS good.

A lot of the software listed as a 'linux resource' often will compile n
freebsd with little work, because the authors generally support both
when they or someone else patches the software.

Linux tends to get all of the video game support, so I guess you could
say it's good for playing video games. Not that it's not capable of
running as server (and I'm sure many people use it as such), but it
tends to be unstable.

FreeBSD seems to me to be really stable and can be used as a cost
efficient server, although it's not set in this role.