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Path: sserve!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!msuinfo!gmi!zombie.ncsc.mil!news.duke.edu!godot.cc.duq.edu!toads.pgh.pa.us!hudson.lm.com!ivory.lm.com!not-for-mail From: peterb@telerama.lm.com (Peter Berger) Newsgroups: comp.os.386bsd.misc Subject: Re: Freebsd, Netbsd, 386bsd, how do I find out differences? Date: 11 Oct 1994 16:05:14 -0400 Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA USA Lines: 60 Message-ID: <37er5q$724@ivory.lm.com> References: <379oi7$113@lynx.dac.neu.edu> <jmonroyCxG2IA.23L@netcom.com> <JKH.94Oct10033607@freefall.cdrom.com> <37b9iq$d3d@lynx.dac.neu.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: ivory.lm.com Ok, I'll start the discussion. NetBSD is the best of the three because of it's superb error handling capabilities (this is the "Net" referred to in the name). With NetBSD, it's almost impossible to make a mistake, either in installation, or operation, because the system will "catch" you as you "fall". NetBSD works on a wide range of processors, including the Intel 386, 486, and 586, the Sun, Sparc, SGI, MIPS, Macintosh, Motorola 6809, Krupf, ADC Kentrox, Whirlpool, Amana, Zilog Z80, and the Braun. Currently, the NetBSD team is devoting all of their energies towards finishing the all-important IBM RT port. Linux is the successor to an operating system called "Minix". Linux was developed by Linus Pauling, a Finnish communist. Linux tries to uphold traditional Marxist values in several ways; firstly by using GNU tools from the FSF foundation wherever possible. The Linux kernel is developed by committee, and the operating system reflects this: rather than having one "init" process which fathers all others, a group of co-resident processes with equal powers are created simultaneously. "Kill" commands are treated as formal protests. Linux networking has come a long way since it's implementation, and there is no truth whatsoever to the rumor that sudden losses of IP connectivity are in any way related to future plans to limit users to 1.5 hours of SLIP or PPP unless they send in the registration fee. FreeBSD was a radical offshoot of the Linux project; you could consider it to be of the Trotskyite school. FreeBSD supports an extremely wide range of PC hardware, as long as it was obtained at less than cost. FreeBSD is used by Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations. FreeBSD supports every peripheral available for the IBM PC except the ones you have. 386bsd was written by Bill Jolitz in a fit of pique. It was based entirely on Sun's widely-respected "Solaris" operating system. A new version of 386bsd will be released very soon. Unfortunately, it will only run on 386es, and thus is unsuitable for anyone with a 486 or Pentium. 486bsd should be released "sometime in 2138," according to industry insider James Monroe, Sr. DID YOU KNOW? ============= 1) The Free and Net BSD teams split up in the year 1632. The cause of the split is uncertain, but it seems to have something to do with someone named "Janice." 2) The Linux kernel has actually not changed at all since January? Linus just increments "version.c" once every 48 hours and unleashes the "change" on an unsuspecting Internet, bringing the ANS backbone to it's knees. 3) All three systems claim to be "POSIX" compliant. However, the POSIX people have denied knowing anything about it. Scuttlebutt in the industry is that POSIX will soon be outdated, and will be replaced by GNOPIX, a FSF standard which implements the TOPS-20 operating system in Scheme. -- ...................................................................... Peter G. Berger, Esq. Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh Internet: peterb@telerama.lm.com Phone: 412/481-3505 Fax: 412/481-8568 http://www.lm.com/users/peterb/peterb.html