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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!simtel!lll-winken.llnl.gov!ames!cnn.nas.nasa.gov!lestat.nas.nasa.gov!thorpej From: thorpej@lestat.nas.nasa.gov (Jason R. Thorpe) Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Subject: Re: Why isn't NetBSD popular? Date: 4 Sep 1995 14:53:12 GMT Organization: Numerical Aerodynamic Simulation Project - NASA Ames Lines: 35 Message-ID: <42f3so$gub@cnn.nas.nasa.gov> References: <40q6mm$c0l@scotsman.ed.ac.uk> <5s$kBctUoRB@subloch.swb.de> <425k8h$7un@cnn.nas.nasa.gov> <428b91$jt5@apocalypse.dmi.stevens-tech.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: lestat.nas.nasa.gov X-ORIGINAL-NEWSGROUPS: comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc,comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.unix.bsd.netbsd.misc:907 comp.os.linux.advocacy:18897 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:5319 In article <428b91$jt5@apocalypse.dmi.stevens-tech.edu>, James McNalley <jmcnalle@attila.stevens-tech.edu> wrote: >: No. Linux is Linux, a freely-redistributable UNIX-like system. Of course, >: in the Linux world, the term `Linux' is non-deterministic. _Which_ Linux >: are _you_ talking about? (This is, BTW, one of Linux's most fundamental >: problems.) > >Actually, I like to think of that as one of linux's most fundamental >strengths. You can use the linux kernel as the basis for almost >kind of unix system you might need, from a floppy-only fixit >disk to a full blown development and graphics workstation to >a server system. It is *so* flexible :) Are you implying that NetBSD _cannot_ do this? I personally use NetBSD for everything from a mid/high-range user workstation to a graphics station to a multicast router to a router management station to a mass-storage system. _AND_ I have NetBSD crash-recovery floppies. I'd call that pretty flexible. :-) I think you misunderstood my point. Let me put it another way: One of the most fundamental problems with Linux is that there is no standard user-land. One of NetBSD's (and the other BSD camps, too :-) is that when you get a NetBSD source tree or binary distribution, you get a standardized, well-defined user-land. I have _never_ seen a standardized user-land for Linux ... and the `layout standard' or whatever it is doesn't count ... that doesn't specify _who's_ version (and/or which revision) of a program (or library) you get. The _last_ thing I want to do is scour the set looking for a well-used program when I find a bug in the one that came on my CD-ROM. -- Jason R. Thorpe thorpej@nas.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center Home: 408.866.1912 NAS: M/S 258-6 Work: 415.604.0935 Moffett Field, CA 94035 Pager: 415.428.6939