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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
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: 30 Nov 1995 23:38:27 GMT
Organization: Utah Valley State College, Orem, Utah
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Message-ID: <49lf9j$it5@park.uvsc.edu>
References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> <48ajue$3h6@muirwood.convex.com> <poulosioDI20sJ.5vz@netcom.com> <48buod$cue@solaria.cc.gatech.edu> <poulosioDIFAnC.ECw@netcom.com> <4972bn$psq@bell.maths.tcd.ie> <49ijf9$9rc@tombstone.kent.edu> <30BD2617.23585C28@mcs.net>
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Craig Bergren <cbergren@mcs.net> wrote:
] Is there any way to bring this discussion back to a comparison of the
] differences between Linux and FreeBSD that might make one choose one
] over the other?
Are you "into" kernel architecture, writing device drivers, etc.?
Are you stressing the hardware to it's boundries (ie: you are a
large ISP, WWW, or FTP site?
If the answer to both of these questions is "no", then all the
differences are effectively environmental and thus cosmetic in
nature -- and subject only to presentation of opinion.
Neither system is POSIX compliant, not having had NIST/PCTS run
by a certified testing laboratory and paid the certification fee;
even if they were, that would only apply to a particular release.
Add any "new stuff" and the certification is gone.
Neither system is certified to an orange book C or B security
level; no one has paid for the audit, and any such audit would
require picking particular hardware to run the audit on.
Linux has more commercial software.
FreeBSD can run Linux binaries.
Both can run IBCS2 binaries, but both require you to have a
licensed SCO or SVR3 system to do installs of any commercial
IBCS2 products, so it's mostly a "geek toy".
> I decided to run Linux for these reasons; none are very technical. It
> all boils down to a support issue for me:
[ ... reasons elided ... ]
It all boils down to emotional arguments, you mean. Unless you
have a considered opinion on the architectural differences, you
are really blowing smoke.
Which one is "easier to install" depends on who you have to help
you and what your computing background is.
Which one is "better supported" depends on what your buddies run
and your degree of net connectivity re: email vs. netnews.
Which one is better documented depends on whether you think a
book has to describe the commands and tools, or be a bit of
fluff with the name of the OS on the cover somewhere.
Supported hardware varies. If you buy high end hardware like
the people coding both systems, you will never have a problem.
If you buy fringe hardware, then you will. Neither has a good,
reliable, up to date "hardware compatability list" that you
can trust enough to plug a system together from it and have it
work. Suprise! Neither does SCO or UnixWare.
It's silly trying to compare covers on books and ask "which book
is best", when both books take an equal amount of shelf space and
have an equal number of pages (footprint & capabilities), both
books have the same color cover (nominally POSIX interface), etc..
If you actually *read* the books and discover one is on cooking
and one is on gardening, *then* you have a basis to make a
judgement.
And even then, it's opinion, since you may be a gardener, while
I may be a cook.
Before you ask, yes, I've seen the internals of both, and yes, I
have opinions that would be outdated a week after I posted them
because the camps would immediately work to remove any negative
comparisons to render the opinions presented invalid, or reverse
them. Then I'd get flamed for being "wrong". 8-).
If you want an honest comparison, and someone is foolish enough
to open themselves to attack a week after they post when the
comparisons are no longer valid, don't expect the comparison to
remain accurate long enough for you to install one or the other
and allow you to claim you made "the best choice".
Regards,
Terry Lambert
terry@cs.weber.edu
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.