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From: Peter Mutsaers <plm@xs4all.nl>
Subject: Re: Linux vs BSD
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References: <32DFFEAB.7704@usa.net> <5dadfr$cnu@web.nmti.com> <n4stf5.tq2.ln@zen> <E6sIEF.1qE@truffula.sj.ca.us>
Date: Sun, 16 Mar 1997 10:10:35 GMT
Lines: 44
Xref: euryale.cc.adfa.oz.au comp.os.linux.misc:165057 comp.os.linux.advocacy:88956 comp.unix.bsd.misc:2837
>> On Sun, 9 Mar 1997 19:06:15 GMT, mhall@homecom.com (Not my real address) said:
Nmra> I'm not convinced running badblocks -w /dev/sda7 100000 on
Nmra> an about-to-be-added partition is "really stupid" but it
Nmra> brings Linux
Nmra> 2.0.28 to its knees. The system comes back when the command
Nmra> is done, but while it's running Linux can't move mail or
Nmra> change consoles or anything. Evidently the write buffer
Nmra> cache expands till there's no physical memory left for init
Nmra> or shell. Any command that tries to write a file all at
Nmra> once that's much bigger than physical memory can do roughly
Nmra> the same thing.
Nmra> Does FreeBSD have a similar weakness?
I don't know exactly what does, and it may be a special case. But in
general the Linux cache and IO behaviour is less nice than FreeBSD's.
I've run both Linux and FreeBSD for a long time. FreeBSD clearly keeps
performing better under heavy I/O loads. It uses smarter caching
algorithms etc.
Nmra> My choice of Linux over FreeBSD was an accident: at the time
Nmra> I was giving up on SCO I couldn't find any information about
Nmra> FreeBSD while alt.os.linux was pretty busy. How many
Nmra> advocates for one or the other will admit their choice was
Nmra> similarly arbitrary? Linux has served me well for almost
Nmra> five years. I'll bet FreeBSD would have done just as well.
Nmra> Let us not waste a minute on "the circular firing squad"
Nmra> when the real enemy is The Dark Side of the Force, in
Nmra> Redmond.
My choice for FreeBSD was not an accident at all. I ran Linux for 4
years before that, and ran both side by side for 1 year.
I do find it a pity that the nicest of the free Unix variants hasn't
become the most popular (FreeBSD). But I don't view it as a battle,
not even with Microsoft. Everyone must choose for himself and I don't
care what others use, as long as enough people keep using and
developing FreeBSD so that it stays useable for me.
--
/\_/\
( o.o ) Peter Mutsaers | Abcoude (Utrecht), | Trust is a good quality
) ^ ( plm@xs4all.nl | the Netherlands | for other people to have