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BSD vs. Linux

K

KoolDrew

Lifer
I have been using Debian for a while now but I hear alot of talk about BSD's like FreeBSD and I know nothing about BSD's so what are the advantages to BSD over Linux and vice versa?
 
Advantages and disadvantages are the wrong things to be looking at.

They don't share most of the userland. OpenBSD's been replacing GPLed software whereever possible.

BSD performance might be a bit less, depending on what you are doing.

Different development styles. Different feel. Different rules.
 
Originally posted by: KoolDrew
What would you suggest and why then?
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What you are most comfortable with.

I like OpenBSD. It has that homey feeling, like the ass grooves in a couch by the tv. Other people prefer Linux, and some prefer another BSD. Some people even like Windows and Mac OS X! :Q

Linux
OpenBSD
NetBSD
FreeBSD
DragonflyBSD
Darwin

They're all open. They're all free (varying degrees anyhow). Try them all.

DragonflyBSD is the one I'm most interested in at the moment, but I doubt I'll get around to it anytime soon.
 
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Well what is your goal?
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I would like to learn a bit so I do not mind if it is hard or anything. I ahve heard FreeBSd is harder then linux and that is why I asked. I have never really tried out any BSd's or even heard much about them.
 
Basically you just asked "Which is better Ford or Chevy?", you're not going to get an impartial obinion that's more than "try them and see".

They're not better or worse, just different and IMO a real PITA compared to Debian.
 
Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Well what is your goal?
Click to expand...

I would like to learn a bit so I do not mind if it is hard or anything. I ahve heard FreeBSd is harder then linux and that is why I asked. I have never really tried out any BSd's or even heard much about them.
Click to expand...

FreeBSD is only harder because it doesn't have any gui config tools like the ones provided by Suse and Mandrake. Also, the default shell is tcsh (I believe), so if you're used to bash, you might trip over yourself for a while.

OTOH, FreeBSD has the best documentation I have ever seen for a free operating system. Just about everything you could want to do with it is covered in the handbook.
 
For instance take FreeBSD vs Fedora Core3.

They both pretty much use the same software. Fedora is probably going to offer you slightly more performance (still mostly dependant on hardware) and offer a much broader selection of supported hardware. FreeBSD will probably be slightly more stable and offer much more complete documentation.

All in all they are pretty close together. There is much bigger difference between Linux vs Windows then their is linux vs BSD.

If you want to find out what the big deal is, use Debian or Fedora for a while, then uninstall it and switch to a BSD. You'll see that it's not a tremendous big deal, they are both Unix-like OSes.

Personally my favorite is Debian however.
 
Originally posted by: Nothinman
Basically you just asked "Which is better Ford or Chevy?", you're not going to get an impartial obinion that's more than "try them and see".

They're not better or worse, just different and IMO a real PITA compared to Debian.
Click to expand...

And I find Debian a real PITA compared to OpenBSD. 😉

Chevy.
 
Originally posted by: Vadatajs
Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Originally posted by: BingBongWongFooey
Well what is your goal?
Click to expand...

I would like to learn a bit so I do not mind if it is hard or anything. I ahve heard FreeBSd is harder then linux and that is why I asked. I have never really tried out any BSd's or even heard much about them.
Click to expand...

FreeBSD is only harder because it doesn't have any gui config tools like the ones provided by Suse and Mandrake. Also, the default shell is tcsh (I believe), so if you're used to bash, you might trip over yourself for a while.
Click to expand...

IIRC, the default shell for regular users is either the bourne or korn shell. The default for root is csh. OpenBSD's like that anyhow. The OpenBSD version of ksh (pdksh) is getting a few bashisms added lately too, to ease the transition.

OTOH, FreeBSD has the best documentation I have ever seen for a free operating system. Just about everything you could want to do with it is covered in the handbook.
Click to expand...

FreeBSD's docs are great, but I think OpenBSD has them beat. Just my opinion though. 😛
 
In response to the original question, I don't have any experience with BSD myself but I've heard a couple of things worth noting.
My Intro to Unix teacher commented that BSD is much more secure than Linux.
My oldest brother, a programmer who has done some OS development, generally prefers BSD but switched to Linux on his main rig last year because it has better support for his hardware.
 
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