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From: markv@pixar.com (Mark VandeWettering)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: Linux vs. FreeBSD ...
Date: 8 May 1996 22:42:08 GMT
Organization: pixar
Lines: 50
Message-ID: <4mr800$8nf@pixar.com>
References: <3188C1E2.45AE@onramp.net> <4mnsc5$6qo@sundial.sundial.net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: tick.pixar.com
In article <4mnsc5$6qo@sundial.sundial.net>,
Bryan J. Smith, E.I. <b.j.smith@ieee.org> wrote:
>Linux, since it is written from the ground-up, is a much more efficient OS
>than FreeBSD (which has been written somewhat from the ground up, to prevent
>a lawsuit from BSDI, is still a lot of legacy OS code). And FreeBSD v2.1 is
>a little dated (late '94) and the current test version is still quite buggy.
Umm. This is utter b*llshit.
FreeBSD 2.1 was released in November of 1995, and while it may not be
perfect it has proved itself to _me_ time and time again in its stability.
I love the user level ppp implementation, everything basically worked,
installation was a breeze, I can't say enough nice about FreeBSD. My gf
just recently installed RedHat 3.03 and I don't have too much nice to say
about it, except it comes with alot more stuff that I will never use.
As for efficiency, well, I am sure some of the authors of FreeBSD will
come on and say something about it. Alot of work has gone into making it
robust and fast, and it shows. I would be terrified of using Linux in
a hard core application, but would have no qualms at all about FreeBSD.
As for Walnut Creek CDROM, yes, they do charge a bit more for CD's than
your fly by night Linux $10 vendor. But they are very good on the phone,
I once had a defective CD and they express mailed me a new one no questions
asked at all. Frankly they do a good job and I appreciate it. Also, their
current price for FreeBSD is $39.95. You can also get a subscription to
their CD service for $25 per CD, twice a year. A good deal.
>In essence, Linux has the latest and greatest software and drivers (only a
>few companies won't release information, like Adaptec, without the signing of
>a non-disclosure agreement -- which is impossible in a OS who included the
>source code in its distribution).
Certainly the latest, but I dunno about greatest. I still have trouble
driving PPP ports at full speed, which FreeBSD has always done. Linux can
sometimes be the "bleeding edge" of driver development. I do wish the IDE
cdrom support in FreeBSD was better, but it seems to be getting there now.
>If you can run Linux, it's the better choice unless your going to run a lot
>of BSD and SCO software.
I disagree, but to each his own. The original author was disappointed
with PPP under Slackware, I urge him to try FreeBSD.
Mark
--
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Email: <markv@pixar.com> http://webspace.com/markv/
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