Unofficial *BSD/Linux FAQ
Peter Berger
Many people ask the question "Which is better? FreeBSD, NetBSD, or Linux?"
Up until now, not many people are willing to answer thoroughly and give
reasons. I, being a brave soul, am. This mini-FAQ lists the most
significant differences between Linux, NetBSD, and FreeBSD in a
fair and evenhanded manner. Permission is given to redistribute this
mini-FAQ freely, with attribution. If anyone wants to take the burden
of posting it periodically on the appropriate newsgroups, be my guest.
This is based on a message I wrote some months ago. I've tried to
update it substantially to reflect the changing nature of x86 OS's.
-------------
Q) Which is better? NetBSD, Linux, or FreeBSD?
A) NetBSD is the best of the three because of it's superb error handling
capabilities (this is the "Net" referred to in the name). With NetBSD,
it's almost impossible to make a mistake, either in installation, or
operation, because the system will "catch" you as you "fall". NetBSD
works on a wide range of processors, including the Intel 386, 486, and
586, the Sun, Sparc, SGI, MIPS, Macintosh, Motorola 6809, Krupf, ADC
Kentrox, Whirlpool, Amana, Zilog Z80, Timex-Sinclair, and the Braun.
Currently, the NetBSD team is devoting all of their energies towards
finishing the all-important IBM RT port.
Linux is the successor to an operating system called "Minix". Linux was
developed by Linus Pauling, a Finnish communist. Linux tries to uphold
traditional Marxist values in several ways; firstly by using GNU tools from
the FSF foundation wherever possible. The Linux kernel is developed by
committee, and the operating system reflects this: rather than having one
"init" process which fathers all others, a group of co-resident processes
with equal powers are created simultaneously. "Kill" commands are treated
as formal protests. Linux networking has come a long way since it's
implementation, and there is no truth whatsoever to the rumor that sudden
losses of IP connectivity are in any way related to future plans to limit
users to 1.5 hours of SLIP or PPP unless they send in the registration fee.
FreeBSD was a radical offshoot of the Linux project; you could consider it
to be of the Trotskyite school. FreeBSD supports an extremely wide range
of PC hardware, as long as it was obtained at less than cost. FreeBSD is
used by Amnesty International and many other human rights organizations.
FreeBSD supports every peripheral available for the IBM PC except the ones
you have. The FreeBSD team was actually responsible for porting
"Doom" to Linux, in a successful effort to slow down constructive work
by distracting the central committee with frivolous games. FreeBSD has
the nicest installation of any of the x86 unices -- you install the
boot disks, which then initialize the modem and call Jordan "Perky"
Hubbard, who then comes to your house with the rest of the disks and
completes the installation. The FreeBSD CD-Rom plays various Nick Cave
and Tom Waits songs Jordan is known to be fond of.
386bsd was written by Bill Jolitz in a fit of pique. It was based
entirely on Sun's widely-respected "Solaris" operating system, as revenge
against Sun's Bill Joy, who rudely chose a name with the same initials
as Jolitz. A new version of 386bsd will be released very soon.
Unfortunately, it will only run on 386es, and thus is unsuitable for
anyone with a 486 or Pentium. 486bsd should be released "sometime in 2138,"
according to industry insider James Monroe, Sr.
DID YOU KNOW?
=============
1) The Free and Net BSD teams split up in the year 1632. The cause of the
split is uncertain, but it seems to have something to do with someone
named "Janice." They still get together for drinks occasionally, and
remember old times. Every so often, after tying on a few too many,
they end up waking up next to each other and feel ashamed over their
night of pleasure. The kids still blame themselves.
2) The Linux kernel has actually not changed at all since January, '94?
Linus just increments "version.c" once every 48 hours and unleashes the
"change" on an unsuspecting Internet, bringing FTP servers to their knees.
A book, "The Design and Implementation of the Linux Operating System," my
Gary Marshall James T. Kirk McUsenet, was rejected by Addison-Wesley on
the grounds that they didn't feel the public was prepared to purchase
a book written on looseleaf paper with diagrams in crayon.
3) All three systems claim to be "POSIX" compliant. However, the POSIX
people have denied knowing anything about it. Scuttlebutt in the industry
is that POSIX will soon be outdated, and will be replaced by GNOPIX, a FSF
standard which implements the TOPS-20 operating system in Scheme.
--
Peter Berger. System Administrator, Telerama Public Access Internet
http://www.lm.com/~peterb
"His ex-wife died of stretch marks." -Johnny Cash.
Brian Tao
>
>Many people ask the question "Which is better? FreeBSD, NetBSD, or Linux?"
Jordan, could you press this mini-FAQ onto the 2.05 CD-ROM? :)
--
Brian ("Though this be madness, yet there is method in't") Tao
ta...@gate.sinica.edu.tw <-- work ........ play --> ta...@io.org