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BSD questions

J

jcmkk

Golden Member
I was thinking about installing a flavor of BSD. First off, is BSD worthwhile for desktop use? I was also wondering what flavor I should use. n0cmonkey seems to really like OpenBSD. He seems to have a lot of knowledge when it comes to operating systems. I'm not sure what nothingman's preference is. He seems to disagree with n0cmonkey's preference though. I think he likes FreeBSD, but I'm not sure. I really like the ports system. I'm familiar with it from Gentoo Linux, but Gentoo is too untested for me. It takes a lot of work to keep a Gentoo system going. How fast does Open/Free BSD release ports when new software comes out? For example, how long do you think it will be before either releases Gnome 2.0?
 
I currently use Linux and Windows (just for games). I'm planning to get a Mac before summers over. I really just like to experiment with operating systems. Most of the time I'm just gonna be surfing the forums, listening to music, and other normal things. One of the big reasons that BSD looks appealing to me is because of the ports system. I basically knew that FreeBSD comes out with ports before OpenBSD, but what is the time frame that you think they will release a port. A month? A couple months? A year?
 
Originally posted by: jcmkk
I currently use Linux and Windows (just for games). I'm planning to get a Mac before summers over. I really just like to experiment with operating systems. Most of the time I'm just gonna be surfing the forums, listening to music, and other normal things. One of the big reasons that BSD looks appealing to me is because of the ports system. I basically knew that FreeBSD comes out with ports before OpenBSD, but what is the time frame that you think they will release a port. A month? A couple months? A year?
Click to expand...

Im going to base this on my flakey memory since Im too lazy to google for the lazy. FreeBSD was recently (this year?) added into the gnome foundation thingy. So gnome would be tested and whatnot on it. So, they should have a port made up fairly quickly. OpenBSD introduced a gnome port in v 3.0 (2.9-current). This was released late 2001 (Nov or Dec). So, it took them several years to create a port. I dont think many people really cared, but I havent taken a survey on it. gnome 2.0 wont come out in port form until 3.2 at the earliest (Dec 2002), but of course, if you are adventurous you can run current and they may have a port for it much sooner.

http://www.freebsd.org/gnome/
 
if i had to pick one it'd be freebsd, it comes out with ports the quickest, it has a larger user base, and it has a more friendly aura. i'm not so sure about openbsd anymore. i'm not sure what kind of userbase they are aiming for. they arent going for newbies or general desktop users, yet they aren't going for large scale server stuff since there is no (this is still true right?) smp support. theo de raadt seems to only make enemies and a fool of himself, and their obsession with cryptography is just wierd. they parade around about how they're secure, but i take that with a grain of salt...the base install is secure, sure, but the base install usually doesnt have everything you want. when you start fiddling and whatnot, you start to taking the security of it into your own hands, and then it is no different from using anything else. if you're dumb enough to get hacked/rooted/etc, openbsd is not going to stop you.

that said, i'm still glad they're around. alot of the things they do carry over to other os's, and diversity is good.

why not read up at freebsd.org, openbsd.org, and netbsd.org, that may help you decide.

(and sorry for going on a rant here 😀)
 
That gives me a little better idea. So do you think I should go with FreeBSD over OpenBSD. The Gnome thing isn't really an issue, I mainly used it as an example because it came out recently. From what I've read FreeBSD seems like BSD trying to be linux, but OpenBSD seems distinct and have its own objectives. Correct me if I'm wrong (which I most likely am). So would you consider OpenBSD's releases as slow as Debian?

<edit> I just read Bingbongwongfooey's post and he seems to have cleared up FreeBSD a little for me. By the way, I have read the information on all of the BSD sites, but they don't clear much up. All distro's think that they're the best anyway. FreeBSD is looking more attractive now. By the way, what OS do you two (and whoever else comes along) find yourself using the most?
 
OpenBSD sucks. Its insecure (look at how many things have been patched recently!). Theo is mean to people and makes them cry. They have not brought in SMP support because they think redesigning the entire kernel would cause problems if done quickly (FreeBSD hasnt have many problems redesigning their kernel, 5.0 is only what, 2 years late? Lets not mention linux's delayed 2.4 release 😉). They dont go with the bleeding edge, but instead focus on security (which isnt working anyhow) and stability and believe gradual changes (evolution) is better than drastic changes (revolution). OpenBSD ports doesnt have the 5k applications FreeBSD has in its ports collection and however many thousand applications Debian has in its library. Hardware selection is limited to 9 architectures. The mailing list does not like really easy questions that have been asked many times so they dont get as much mail as better mailing lists.

Go FreeBSD. They are used by many large organizations and have a proven track record. Or go with Debian, which isnt used by any large organizations I can think of off the top of my head, has apt-get, and is full of tree hugging hippies who will hold your hand, wipe your butt, and give you a lollypop.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that OpenBSD is based in Canada so it has to suck. Freedom is a plague that should be wiped out. Cryptography is a tool of criminals and should not be necessary for anyone. I dont have anything to hide.

OpenBSD development is pretty slow.
 
Oh dear god... I had a big written a bit as to why you should run FBSD, but n0cmonkey just nailed it on the head... 😉
Cudos to you n0c!
 
i like havin my butt wiped 🙂

anyways, at the very least you can narrow it down to freebsd or openbsd, netbsd doesnt seem to offer a whole lot except the fact that you can run it on a vcr.
 
Originally posted by: TheOmegaCode
Oh dear god... I had a big written a bit as to why you should run FBSD, but n0cmonkey just nailed it on the head... 😉
Cudos to you n0c!
Click to expand...

FreeBSD 4.6 only has 1 security advisory. OpenBSD 3.1 has 8. FreeBSD must be better.
 
Jokes aside, it's not a matter of which is better than the other, because neither of them are... It's all a matter of which fits your taste. I would advise that you try both! However I would steer clear of FBSD 5.0, I know they never use the term unstable, but that's what it is. I don't know about the new OBSD, or Debian 3.0 "Woody" for that matter (Which I just finished burning for a friend who is moving to San Jose, 8 CD's, sheesh)...
 
Originally posted by: TheOmegaCode
Jokes aside, it's not a matter of which is better than the other, because neither of them are... It's all a matter of which fits your taste. I would advise that you try both! However I would steer clear of FBSD 5.0, I know they never use the term unstable, but that's what it is. I don't know about the new OBSD, or Debian 3.0 "Woody" for that matter (Which I just finished burning for a friend who is moving to San Jose, 8 CD's, sheesh)...
Click to expand...

Im sporadically upgrading machines at home to OpenBSD 3.1. So far, very few problems and none that are not the fault of hardware or user. -current has some neat features, but unfortunately Im not a developer and have no reason to touch it. I think its basically the same deal for FreeBSD 5.0.

Personally, FreeBSD takes too much time to get working. OpenBSD just works. Im lazy, so I use OpenBSD.
 
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