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Xref: sserve comp.os.linux.misc:198 comp.os.386bsd.misc:693 Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!munnari.oz.au!news.Hawaii.Edu!ames!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!uunet!cs.utexas.edu!natinst.com!hrd769.brooks.af.mil!hrd769.brooks.af.mil!not-for-mail From: burgess@hrd769.brooks.af.mil (Dave Burgess) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,comp.os.386bsd.misc Subject: Re: Why would I want LINUX? Date: 17 Aug 1993 14:25:11 -0500 Organization: Armstrong Laboratory, Brooks AFB, TX Lines: 83 Message-ID: <24rbb5$t51@hrd769.brooks.af.mil> References: <55270001@hplvec.LVLD.HP.COM> <24gnu4$skm@nz12.rz.uni-karlsruhe.de> <24m779$b0h@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US> <BDC.93Aug15214130@transit.ai.mit.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: hrd769.brooks.af.mil In article <BDC.93Aug15214130@transit.ai.mit.edu> bdc@transit.ai.mit.edu (Brian D. Carlstrom) writes: >In article <24m779$b0h@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US> earle@isolar.Tujunga.CA.US (Greg Earle) writes: > > > isolar:2:40 % ls -R1 /var/spool/news/comp/os/386bsd | egrep '^[1-9]' | wc -l > 226 > isolar:2:41 % ls -R1 /var/spool/news/comp/os/linux | egrep '^[1-9]' | wc -l > 1593 > > So, at least, it would appear that Linux has won the "popularity > contest". Whether it is the "best OS you can get for the 386 class of > hardware" is still an IMHO statement, I would think. An interesting > turn of events, nonetheless. > >i would hardly give the volume of postings any credit for indicating >anything, since i could claim that linux users are often coming from dos >not unix and ask a lot of newbie unix questions ( i would guess) and >since they are playing a lot of catch up with their network software i >could claim that they talk about that while we dont. not that any of >this is true, but given the s/n ratio on usenet as a whole, its hardly a >scientifc mesaure =) > On the other hand, there are a lot of disk labelling questions in c.o.3.* that aren't in c.o.l. :-) Opinions and possibly skewed history follow... My personal opinion is that there was an active comp.os.minix group that was eagerly awaiting the release of a Net/2 derived Unix for the 386. Bruce Evans (I think) released a series of 'unofficial' changes to minix that allowed it to work pretty well on the 386. Shortly after that, Linus broke from the fold (with a resounding 'F' from ast for reinventing the monolithic operating system) and release Linux in it's original unusable version (no shell??? or something). Then a BUNCH of people jumped ship from minix to Linux. My resounding opinion is that none of this would have happened as quickly as it did without Andrew Tanenbaum's work on minix and the introduction of comp.os.minix. Lots of people were still waiting for 386bsd to be released while the rest were writing new code for Linux. By the time the 386bsd 0.0 version was released (I am getting old, memory may be fuzzy here), Linux was fully on the way to becoming a REAL operating system. Many people were (and still are) more comfortable with an OS that was written from scratch than one that had any relationship with USL. There are MANY factors that people can cite that have a bearing on which OS people are using. One advantage each: Linux: Uses shared libraries (crufty or elegant, I don't know but have heard both) which reduces the amount of disk space required for the executables, thereby making the software 'cheaper'. 386BSD: Had networking code first. This was a big draw for many early users that HAD to have a working network available from the start. One of the other features that seems to seperate the two systems is the 'feel' of the systems. Linux has evolved into a very POSIX compliant system, which gives it a feel like SysV. *BSD has very much a BSD feel (duh). Most of Europe seems to have adopted Linux as their system of choice. I expect that this is (in part, at least) to the fact that Linus is from Europe. Why put up with those silly export restrictions and long distance network connections when Linux is available right there on the continent. One final point. The seeming stagnation of 386bsd early in its growth, while the patchkit was being put together, may have turned many potential supporters off. Linux was growing virtually before your eyes, while 386bsd was being fixed ever so slowly. Whether that was because it was an inherently better system of not is just bait for a flamewar. Whether 386bsd or Linux is a better operating system ultimately boils down to point of view. Linux has the advantage of not being fragmented quite as much as the Net/2 derived systems, but the Net/2 derived systems have the advantage of years of use on other systems before they were ported to the 386... -- ------ TSgt Dave Burgess NCOIC AL/Management Information Systems Office Brooks AFB, TX