*BSD News Article 56505


Return to BSD News archive

Path: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au!newshost.anu.edu.au!harbinger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.mel.connect.com.au!yarrina.connect.com.au!munnari.OZ.AU!news.hawaii.edu!ames!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!newsfeed.internetmci.com!news.kei.com!nntp.coast.net!news00.sunet.se!sunic!news99.sunet.se!news.uni-c.dk!kroete2!not-for-mail
From: erik@kroete2.freinet.de (Erik Corry)
Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD
Followup-To: comp.os.linux.advocacy,comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc,comp.unix.advocacy,comp.unix.misc
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 1995 02:30:07 GMT
Organization: Home
Lines: 61
Sender: news@kroete2.freinet.de (news)
Message-ID: <DJ3DM7.n0L@kroete2.freinet.de>
References: <489kuu$rbo@pelican.cs.ucla.edu> <49o2n2$t4e@daffy.anetsrvcs.uwrf.edu> <49osrd$ptg@times.tfs.com> <49rm0g$o8o@daffy.anetsrvcs.uwrf.edu> <DJ2IBL.71t@nntpa.cb.att.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: arhppp14.uni-c.dk
X-Newsreader: TIN [UNIX 1.3 950515BETA PL0]
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.advocacy:29870 comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc:10137 comp.unix.advocacy:11991 comp.unix.misc:19976

John S. Dyson (dyson@inuxs.inh.att.com) wrote:
: So then finally, someone who uses Linux is admitting that the Linux
: kernel development at least is not open and free.  Sounds like a monarchy
: to me.  (FreeBSD is somewhere between monarchy and anarchy :-)), and
: the FreeBSD kernel is unencumbered with GPL.

Monarchy? Benevolent dictatorship! :-)

Linux development is based on patch files. Anyone who has a kernel
enhancement that has not (yet) been accepted by Linus maintains
a set of patches, which have to be kept up to date as new versions
of the kernel are released. Inevitably, if Linus does not accept
the patches, they will probably die out as the effort to keep
them up to date becomes too large.

Until now Linus seems to have shown very good judgement in this, so
most people don't regard it as a problem. Of course the internal
layers in the kernel are used to minimise the interaction between
patches as far as possible.

Again, there is nothing stopping someone bringing in the FreeBSD model
if they prefer, but personally I find the multiplicity of BSD versions
(FreeBSD, NetBSD, BSDI, and now OpenBSD) a sign that your way of doing
things isn't without its problems, either. This must represent a similar
duplication of effort to the effort that goes into maintaining Linux
patch files. At least the patch files and new architectures are merged
into Linux eventually: is there an effort to reunify NetBSD and FreeBSD?

My impression is that the splits have mostly been caused by
ego-clashes. In the Linux community, we have so much respect for Linus
that such a clash has never been able to split the kernel.

You say the FreeBSD kernel is 'unencumbered with the GPL'. The GPL
may be an encumberance to you, but to Linux/GNU developers, the
BSD license is also an encumberance: which means you can't use
BSD code in the Linux kernel or in a GPL'ed application.

The other major encumberance of the GPL is that noone can 'do a BSDI'
with Linux, i.e. copy the code and create a private version. That's not
perceived as a disadvantage by most Linux developers, in fact for many
it is a prerequisite. For example, Alan Cox has stated that he does
GPL development for free, but wants to be paid for development under
other licenses.

The original Linux license, before the GPL was even more restrictive. It
was more like the Minix license, which clearly hindered the spread of
Minix. If Minix had been under the GPL or the BSD license, perhaps the
free Unix movement(s) would have happened much earlier.

The encumberance of the GPL hasn't stopped Caldera from making a
very nice-looking commercial package including Netware client support,
native Wordperfect, Zmail, spreadsheet and a nice desktop app,
and selling it as a complete Internet OS+program suite. And patches
have flowed back from Caldera in a way that I don't imagine BSDI has
done (corrections welcome).

I don't want to be seen as bashing the BSDs: there's probably room
for both.

--
Erik Corry ehcorry@inet.uni-c.dk