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From: tom@wpzd07.pzlc.uni-wuerzburg.de (Thomas Heiling)
Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.questions
Subject: Re: BSD vs Linux
Date: 11 Jun 1994 07:06:01 GMT
Organization: University of Wuerzburg, Germany
Lines: 199
Message-ID: <2tbnop$elc@winx03.informatik.uni-wuerzburg.de>
References: <2sva1p$llr@goanna.cs.rmit.oz.au> <2t37q2$8q@s069.infonet.net> <Cr31ME.DM2.3@cs.cmu.edu> <2t659q$sn@s069.infonet.net>
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Dave Burgess (burgess@s069.infonet.net) wrote:
: In article <Cr31ME.DM2.3@cs.cmu.edu>, Bhiksha Raj <bhiksha+@CS.CMU.EDU> wrote:
: >In article <2t37q2$8q@s069.infonet.net>, burgess@s069.infonet.net (Dave Burgess) writes:
: >Perhaps your response was more of a waste of bandwidth than the question dave.
: >
: Probably.
: Tough. I pay for mine.
: Of course, the fact that this same thread is RUNNING. RIGHT NOW. In
: THIS newsgroup didn't help my attitude. Being late at night and having
: just finished posting the 10 section FAQ last Saturday night helped.
: Over the past two years, I have done as much as anyone to try and
: answer the questions. I specifically took over maintaining the FAQ to
: help people understand their BSD systems and help people decide if BSD
: is for them.
: Here is a brief summary of the best answers I have seen:
: 1. Linux is more POSIX/SysV. BSD is more BSD.
: This one fails rather miserably because the nuance is lost on the
: average newbie.
: 2. Linux is better because it is updated everyday and no cohesive
: method to its improvements.
: 3. *BSD is better because it has an in-fighting, back-biting, rabid
: following that can't get along well enough to have a single front.
: 4. Linux is better because it is what all my friends have.
: 5. BSD is better because I'm the only person on the planet using it.
: 6. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Linux is best.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is Not
: >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Is So.
: 7. Linux is better because it has a single person acting as the focal
: point for all improvements and changes, thus providing a single point
: of failure if he stops and takes his toys home.
: 8. BSD is better because there is a cadre of dedicated computer
: professionals who have to deal with each other's egos, thus preventing
: them from getting anything done with the OS.
: 9. OS/2 is best. Why use Unix at all?
: 10. Minix-386 has everything your system has and more.
: 11. If you ain't using VMS, you're just wasting your time.
: I hope that you see the nearly humorous thread here.
: The reason that there doesn't seem to be an answer is simple:
: THERE IS NO ANSWER!!!!
: Let me provide a simple example that even the most green amongst us can
: fathom. If you know nothing about cars, replace the names BMW,
: Mercedes, and Porsche with Playmate names from January, February, and
: March.
: The story so far:
: A new driver walks into a European Showroom. There before him are
: three very expensive sports cars. The newbie walks up to the man
: working at the showroom. The salesman is a volunteer and gets nothing
: but grief for even trying to answer the questions of the newbies, but
: he keeps on trying. He has just finished putting the final touches on
: a list of known problems with the sports car he drives but that will do
: him no good since the newbie can't read.
: Said newbie strolls up and asks "What is the difference between these
: three fine sports cars?" The salesman suggests that the newbie read
: the literature available for each, since the subtle nuances of the
: differences between these fine machines is hard to define without
: teaching an entire semester in comparative operating system theory.
: The newbie presses the issue. The salesman finally suggests that the
: Porsche, because of its smaller engine, gets better gas mileage in some
: circumstances, but may break down more often because of the way that it
: was designed. "Does that make it better?" enquires the newbie; who
: just completely missed the point. "No. That means it gets better
: mileage in some situations" replies the now harried salesman, who is
: wondering at this point if his hobby of selling sports cars is worth
: all of these interruptions.
: The salesman offers the newbie an alternative. "Take them all and try
: them out. You may find that one fits your style or needs better than
: the others. Without sitting down and doing a detailed analysis of
: everything you want the sports car to do, it is impossible for anyone
: but you to pick one out."
: The newbie replies "But how will I know which is better?"
: "You won't." replies the salesman. The newbie STILL doesn't
: understand. "Just try them until you find one you are happy with. Be
: warned, though, that the one you try first will either seem like the
: best, since it will be the yardstick by which you measure all other
: sports cars; or it will be the worst, since you will learn more from
: learning how to drive it than you will any of the others."
: With that, the newbie turned towards the sports cars, and turns back
: and asks "So which one is better?"
: - - - - - - - -
: My little allegory is simply that; a story. From time to time, I feel
: like the salesman. I receive E-Mail everyday (since I am the FAQ
: maintainer) asking me if *BSD is better then 'X'. I try to politely
: answer these missives, one after another. I would rather be working on
: the CD-ROM driver for NetBSD, or putting the finishing touches on a
: QIC-40 tape interface, or getting X to work right on my machine.
: Instead, I spend hundreds of hours a year holding newbies hands while I
: try and explain to them that THEY are the only people who can decide
: which OS is better for them.
: Remember, I was a newbie once, too. Granted it was a long time ago,
: and my choice was easier because Linux didn't have networking code and
: 386BSD did. I was there when the birth of Linux was announced. I was
: there when Nate Williams announced that he was abandoning Minix to
: follow the *BSD trail. I was one of the chosen few that got a
: threatening letter from USL telling me to cease and desist. I don't
: need flames from a clown who is so neurotic that he can't even sign his
: name to his posts. And I certainly don't need to hear one more person
: ask if 'Y' is better than the OS that I have chosen.
: Finally (thanks for staying along, BTW) It is impossible to make a
: list of strengths and shortcomings of each of the systems. Near as I
: can tell, there are something like 3000 programmers working night and
: day to improve each one. By the time you got done typing up such a
: herculean list, it would be out of date and you would get flamed
: mercilessly (Right Jordan?). I know. It's been tried. It wan't
: pretty.
: To answer the original question:
: NetBSD is the OS I use. It is a BSD derived Operating System that has
: a very stable operating envelope. The networking code has been stolen
: by commercial OS and network vendors the world over. NetBSD has the
: advantage of being meant for a wide range of hardware platforms. It is
: currently available for something like 10 different CPUs, and has been
: laid out such that new architectures can be added relatively painlessly.
: FreeBSD is pretty much the same (go ahead a quibble over details, I
: don't care anymore). The biggest difference is that NetBSD is a
: horizontal system (across platforms) and FreeBSD is a vertical system
: (intended to stay on the Intel family). Both are based on code from
: 386BSD, although neither really resembles it any more.
: Linux was developed by Linus Torvalds and has the advantage of being
: available in source code form first. Other than that, I have heard
: that it is a good OS platform for standalone Unix workstations. It had
: a lot of things that made its users rabid before the *BSD folks did,
: but the purists insist that *BSD it is (choose two: cleaner, safer,
: taller, wider, better, quieter, louder, greener). I even heard a rumor
: that Linus had sold the source code license to Novell so that they
: could distribute an 'X' terminal package for use in their networks.
: The problem with the thread is ALWAYS that people that are happy with
: the system they are using are going to say that the decision that they
: made was the best for them. Since there is no way to argue that point,
: the debate usually descends into name-calling and bickering about
: whether theater is spelled with an 'er' or an 're'; or similar nonsense.
: Now, with all of that said, I think I can safely say that my first post
: was no kind of waste of bandwidth compared to this one.
: P.S. Anyone that is STUPID enough to believe that I speak for anyone
: but myself (whether I maintain the *BSD FAQ or not) is obviously too
: stupid to be able to use Unix in the first place. (Obcosc19v2slam)
: --
: TSgt Dave Burgess | Dave Burgess
: NCOIC, USSTRATCOM/J6844 | *BSD FAQ Maintainer
: Offutt AFB, NE | Burgess@cynjut.infonet.net or ...@s069.infonet...
:
--
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Thomas Heiling Pharmacist & Doctorate at
Pharmazeutisches Institut Uni Wuerzburg - Germany
Email phar006@rzbox.uni-wuerzburg.de (HP-UX)
tom@wpzd07.pzlc.uni-wuerzburg.de (Linux)
or phar006@vax.rz.uni-wuerzburg.de ( VAX )
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