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Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!yarrina.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.hawaii.edu!ames!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!news.tc.cornell.edu!newsstand.cit.cornell.edu!news.kei.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!in1.uu.net!news.eng.convex.com!not-for-mail From: ldaffner@news.eng.convex.com (Larry Daffner) Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy,comp.unix.misc,comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD Date: 14 Nov 1995 11:34:06 -0600 Organization: CONVEX News Network, Engineering (news.eng), Richardson, Tx USA Lines: 63 Message-ID: <48ajue$3h6@muirwood.convex.com> References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: muirwood.convex.com Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:27140 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:8790 comp.unix.advocacy:10941 comp.unix.misc:19448 comp.unix.pc-clone.32bit:8836 In <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> hou@pelican.cs.ucla.edu (Jack Hou) writes: >Hello, >I am choosing between Linux and FreeBSD for my home PC. Can anyone please >tell me the difference between the two? Which one is more stable? >Which one is easier to install and maintain? How many applications >can each operating system run? Is there something that Linux can do >and FreeBSD can't do or vice versa? Any answer is greately >appreciated. Thanks in advance! A good question... It's not a simple one either. Personally, I'm a satisfied Linux user, but I'll do my best to be non-biased. :) There's a few issues to look at here, and the answers to which is better for you depend on your needs and preferences. 1) Hardware compatibility - Make sure that both OS's support the hardware you have. I haven't looked closely, but I'm sure there's some hardware that linux supports that FreeBSD might not, and vice versa. As long as your hardware is fairly standard, this should be a non-issue. But still definitely worth checking. 2) UNIX model - There are essentially 3 main flavors of UNIX. POSIX, BSD and SysV. They're very similar, but they vary slightly, mostly in programming models. If you're not going to do any programming, this is probably not an issue either. FreeBSD tends toward the BSD model where they differ, so if you're familiar with SunOS4.x or some other BSD-style UNIX, you might be more comfortable on FreeBSD. Linux tends towards POSIX, which is more SysV-ish. So if you've been working on SunOs 5.x (Solaris 2) or HP-UX, you'd probably be slightly more comfortable with Linux. Again, if you're not programming, this is probably a non-issue. 3) Support/development model - FreeBSD is being developed by a more closed group. Thus, they're probably a bit more focused, but then again, there's not as many people out there hacking on FreeBSD as on Linux. Thus, Linux is evolving a little more (especially in the hardware support area) whereas FreeBSD is more stable, from a release standpoint. Again this depends on your preferences and needs. If you plan on installing it and not upgrading unless you have to, FreeBSD might have a little advantage. Then again, Linux has more potential to come out with support for that SCSI card or that multiport card or what have you that you absolutely MUST have. It depends on your needs. 4) User base: from what I can tell, there's a LOT more Linux users out there than FreeBSD users. So there's more people out there that might be able to help if you run into a problem. Then again, depending on how standard your hardware is, it might not be a problem. So, look at which OS answers the questions above for you. Also another consideration: Do you have friends who are FreeBSD or Linux users? Ask them how they like their systems? This also may have a bearing on #4 above. Good luck on your new UNIX! :) -Larry -- Larry Daffner - Software Engineer | email: ldaffner@convex.com | Convex Computer Corporation | tel: (214)497-4274 / home: (214)380-4382 | Clarke's Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.