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From: Terry Lambert <terry@lambert.org>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.bsd.freebsd.misc
Subject: Re: Linux versus FreeBSD
Date: Mon, 17 Jun 1996 20:32:27 -0700
Organization: Me
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Message-ID: <31C6234B.C4DFE29@lambert.org>
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David Zakai wrote:
]
] I have experience with only MS-DOS, Win 3.x and Netware in the PC
] environment.
]
] I hope to begin using a UNIX-type OS and am looking for something
] inexpensive. Are there more versions than Linux and FreeBSD that
] would occupy this niche?
There is NetBSD, OpenBSD, HURD (snapshots are available for
download), and Minix.
There probably isn't much more in the "inexpensive" camp, if
you mean "student income" inexpensive.
If you mean "several hundred dollars" inexpensive, most commercial
UNIX and clone systems have student discounts: BSDI, Solaris, SCO,
and so on.
] Would some FreeBSD users offer reasons why you have chosen
] this OS over Linux?
The non-GPL licensing is number one, for me. Number two is
that I come from an Ultrix/SunOS background (at least as far
as my initial UNIX experiences).
] From my brief perusal of the Walnut Creek site
] <http://www.cdrom.com> it appears that both FreeBSD and
] Linux support laptop computers, PC Card, SCSI peripherals
] (NEC MultiSpin 3Xp CD-ROM drive, Iomega JAZ drive), which
] are important to me.
The JAZ drive FreeBSD supports is the SCSI version of the
drive; if your is a parallel port version, there is not a
driver yet.
] I am also interested in the kind of support that a novice can
] get, availability of books in the popular press, etc.
Someone mentioned that they actually picked up a CDROM in
a UNIX book that had FreeBSD (with the Daemon silkscreen)
in a bookstore the other day.
Most "BSD books" are standard UNIX books. Most "Linux books"
have "Linux" in the title, but are little different from the
standard books... though they may come with a Linux CDROM.
You will see alot of Linux books, but most are on the order
of introductory UNIX texts, with an emphasis on Linux. There
is a "FreeBSD Handbook" published by Walnut Creek (and sold
with new CDROMs) that is on the order of most of the
introductory text you will need for FreeBSD. I don't think
there is a significant reason to choose one over the other
in what books are out there.
] I have seen a lot about Linux, but not as much about FreeBSD.
Our press agents aren't as good. 8-).
Terry Lambert
terry@lambert.org
---
Any opinions in this posting are my own and not those of my present
or previous employers.