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Xref: sserve comp.unix.bsd:5596 comp.os.linux:10808 Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd,comp.os.linux Path: sserve!manuel!munnari.oz.au!uunet!unislc!erc From: erc@unislc.uucp (Ed Carp) Subject: Re: Catch What They're Saying About Us... X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL5 References: <19qii4INN7ta@frigate.doc.ic.ac.uk> Message-ID: <1992Sep23.233526.10821@unislc.uucp> Organization: Unisys Corporation SLC Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1992 23:35:26 GMT Lines: 63 Tony Travis (ajt@swan.doc.ic.ac.uk) wrote: : William F. Jolitz (wjolitz@soda.berkeley.edu) wrote: : : : : Check out the "Re: Linux or 386BSD: neither or both ??" thread in : : comp.os.linux. It's pretty amazing what's being said about 386BSD and : : the people who've worked so hard on it. : : [...] : : Well, Lynne I started that thread and I think a little explanation is : needed before an honest remark about the relative performance of 386BSD : and Linux on the same machine provokes more unwelcome hostility between : otherwise rational people (are you listening Ed?). Of course! I just popped over to c.u.b. to see what nasty things Lynne and Bill are saying about me... :) : The subject line of my original message was intended to attract comment : about the genuine difficulty I (and others) have in deciding which of : the two 'free' 386 Unix systems to use. Should I choose neither (and : continue to use DOS) or live with both? I think the person who characterized the two OS's was probably closer to home base. I made an informed decision to use Linux over 386BSD - that makes no statements, either positive or negative, about the veracity of 386BSD. I did get rather peeved at Bill's attitude that "386BSD is perfect, and if you're having problems, it must be because you don't know what you're doing!" Lynne's flame back to me reinforcing the attitude that "You must be an idiot because you don't think Bill Jolitz is a wonderful person, etc." didn't help establish the Jolitz's reputation for rational business-like replies. Rather, it sounded like a knee-jerk reaction from someone who was afraid of (and couldn't handle) a little cricicism. 13 years in this business has convinced me that all users aren't idiots if they can't get someone's software up and running as designed by the author. I'm getting bug reports in from mailpak-1.3 that I never thought I'd see - configurations of Linux that I honestly can't figure out how they are running, folks who have odd combinations of hardware/software/etc., etc. H.J. has had the same problem with his releases of gcc. : Perhaps, in retrospect, I should have expected to be shot at by both : sides but I cling to the hope that Linux and 386BSD are simply : different aspects of the same thing: part of a wider effort to make : good, free software available in a spirit of friendly co-operation. I agree. There are *lots* of things that Linux has that 386BSD doesn't and vice-versa. One of the things on my wish list is for both OS's to have the same driver interface - that way, folks could mix-n-match drivers from Linux and 386BSD. I'm not up on the current state-of-the-art in 386BSD drivers, but Linux has some pretty interesting ones - CD-ROM, SoundBlaster, SCSI, etc. As for any sort of competition between 386BSD and Linux, (ARE YOU LISTENING, BILL AND LYNNE?) I (again) don't think comparisons between the two are very fair. It's like comparing apples and oranges. Linux and 386BSD started out as completely different projects, with completely different goals and design criteria in mind. I'm NOT flaming 386BSD, and I'm rather tired of Bill and Lynne insinuating that I am. -- Ed Carp, N7EKG erc@apple.com 801/538-0177 "This is the final task I will ever give you, and it goes on forever. Act happy, feel happy, be happy, without a reason in the world. Then you can love, and do what you will." -- Dan Millman, "Way Of The Peaceful Warrior"