Why Linux And Not FreeeBSD - Please comment...

osmethod

Why is linux (Sys V Branch) so hyped? There are quite a few distros available. Each one has its own peculiarities. The likes of Redhat just drop support for certain versions of their version! A b*stardised iptables firewall. The kernel has been audited by a legal firm concerning patents - I believe their is 93 possible patent infringements! Several different methods of updating depending on version, apt, rpm etc

A lot of hassle!

Freebsd... One kernel (BSD Branch), code audited, applications ported, cvsup to download updates, portupgrade to update existing apps, binary linux compatable, version 5.3 runs windows drivers natively, state of the art firewall....I believe their is 0 possible patent infringements!

No hassle at all!

Just wondering what other peoples views are?

osmethod

Cake Fiend

choice
n.

1. The act of choosing; selection.
2. The power, right, or liberty to choose; option.
3. One that is chosen.
4. A number or variety from which to choose: a wide choice of styles and colors.
5. The best or most preferable part.
6. Care in choosing.
7. An alternative.

SantaHoe

osmethod wrote:

version 5.3 runs windows drivers natively

Pardon the newb question here, but does that mean you can run all and any obscure device so long as you've got a windows driver for it? (even a dodgy €5 winmodem?!)
Must read-up on that, sounds interesting.

Sarunas

SantaHoe wrote:

Pardon the newb question here, but does that mean you can run all and any obscure device so long as you've got a windows driver for it? (even a dodgy €5 winmodem?!)

Nope, its mainly wireless ethernet devices.

Google for "freebsd project evil" or "NDISulator"

maxheadroom

osmethod wrote:

I believe their is 0 possible patent infringements!

Assuming we're talking about "software idea patents" (as RMS likes to call them :rolleyes: ) then I find it hard to believe that you can interface with an NDIS driver without infringing some of Microsoft's IP. Microsoft has better patent lawyers than that.

Syth

Assuming we're talking about "software idea patents" (as RMS likes to call them ) then I find it hard to believe that you can interface with an NDIS driver without infringing some of Microsoft's IP. Microsoft has better patent lawyers than that.

Here, here.

Emboss

I'm not 100% sure why the question is being asked.

sico talks about choice and people in general are lazy, they do have a choice and 9/10 will choose the easy option.

Mandrake "wow 4 clicks and i have a linux desktop that looks like XP"

that's peoples choice at the moment. (take a look at some of the new linux retards on boards)

As they realise it's a big pile of ****e, the ones willing to make an effort to move on to something else will.

I can't see any good reason not to run a linux distro, nor one of the BSD's or BeOS or 101 different OS's

Personal choice, laziness,

Pick the tool that does the job.

Capt'n Midnight

maxheadroom wrote:

Assuming we're talking about "software idea patents" (as RMS likes to call them :rolleyes: ) then I find it hard to believe that you can interface with an NDIS driver without infringing some of Microsoft's IP. Microsoft has better patent lawyers than that.

Didn't 3com have just a tiny bit of input into it too as well as developing most of the original Lanmanager.

maxheadroom

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Didn't 3com have just a tiny bit of input into it too as well as developing most of the original Lanmanager.

Honestly, I have no idea who owns what. But I'm quite sure that whoever it was who invented anything patentable in the interface got it patented. That's how therse companies work.

Dun

Emboss wrote:

I'm not 100% sure why the question is being asked.

sico talks about choice and people in general are lazy, they do have a choice and 9/10 will choose the easy option.

Mandrake "wow 4 clicks and i have a linux desktop that looks like XP"

that's peoples choice at the moment. (take a look at some of the new linux retards on boards)

As they realise it's a big pile of ****e, the ones willing to make an effort to move on to something else will.

I can't see any good reason not to run a linux distro, nor one of the BSD's or BeOS or 101 different OS's

Personal choice, laziness,

Pick the tool that does the job.

That kind of attitude is what is still alienating many possible linux users. The whole "what a noob" - "rtfm" - "omg why are you using that distro" is hardly encouraging users to make the change. I think I'd rather set someone up on Mandrake and let them use the bloody thing than set up slackware or debian and wait for them to come back, xp disk in hand, for me to stick it back on. Just because a user would sit with Mandrake (looking like XP) on their system for ever is hardly a reason to label them linux retards. Probably the half of them are excited to have discovered something new that they do kinda spurt on about it, but hey, everybody was a noob sometime.

Of course, if you're talking about the losers who love trolling the Computers/Windows forums, with their smart-ass "http://www.linuxiso.org" (omg I'm so 733t) answer to "I've got spyware/my dates won't format correctly in excel"-type questions, then I am thoroughly in agreement.

nadir

Dun wrote:

That kind of attitude is what is still alienating many possible linux users. The whole "what a noob" - "rtfm" - "omg why are you using that distro" is hardly encouraging users to make the change.

Where exactly are you getting this from? Emboss has a perfectly valid point, these people are switching to linux why???, just to be 'l33t' they are the first to turn around with the exact attitude you describe. All he's saying is 'Pick the tool that does the job'. whats so OMFG l33t H4x0r about that?

Dun wrote:

I think I'd rather set someone up on Mandrake and let them use the bloody thing than set up slackware or debian and wait for them to come back, xp disk in hand, for me to stick it back on. Just because a user would sit with Mandrake (looking like XP) on their system for ever is hardly a reason to label them linux retards. Probably the half of them are excited to have discovered something new that they do kinda spurt on about it, but hey, everybody was a noob sometime.

The only thing mandrake has going for it is the install. That is if you can ge the cd to boot. It didn't boot on my computer, and im far from the only person with this problem.
If you took the time to set up debian properly, you would find it a much easier and reliable system to run, even for a n00b. No dependancy problems, solid as a rock, and real scope for learning.

Dun wrote:

Of course, if you're talking about the losers who love trolling the Computers/Windows forums, with their smart-ass "http://www.linuxiso.org" (omg I'm so 733t) answer to "I've got spyware/my dates won't format correctly in excel"-type questions, then I am thoroughly in agreement.

meh :mad:

and osmethod, not everyone likes BSD licence.
BSD may make a sweet server but it lacks alot of hardware support, glx drivers etc. and maybe linux is over hyped, I dont know or care.
But BSD certainly isn't some one solution to all problems, like you seem to be making out. tbh , this BSD- Linux trolling has been done to death on so many forums, do we really need to start it here???

Emboss

Dun wrote:

That kind of attitude is what is still alienating many possible linux users. The whole "what a noob" - "rtfm" - "omg why are you using that distro" is hardly encouraging users to make the change. I think I'd rather set someone up on Mandrake and let them use the bloody thing than set up slackware or debian and wait for them to come back, xp disk in hand, for me to stick it back on.

As nadir pointed out where are you getting this "rtfm" "n00b" from my post ?

Plus if someone has to come back to you with an XP cd in hand to baby sit an install of XP, are they really moving to linux for the right reasons ? with the right mental attitude ? taken the easy option ? (let someone else do it)

I'm not here to encourage people to make the change, if people need to make it they'll make it which gets back to sico's post about choice.

It's my choice to run FreeBSD,Whitebox or whatever OS I need to use for the job, my brothers choice to run Fedora and my sisters to run 2k.

which she spends alot less time updating than I do cvsuping and apt-getting the linux/bsd boxes.

If you're joe soap who browses/mail/irc the *need* to move to linux/BSD is not great.

This doesn't mean if someone asked me for some advice on migrating from a windows enviroment to an OS one that I wouldn't try and point them to the right information where they can learn for themselves, if it's right for them and if so what would work best for what they're trying to achive, heck it's how I make a living.

Dun

I apologise - I did get the wrong meaning out of your post, and I kinda went of on a tangent from there, not meaning to make it sound like you personally were part of the crowd of which I was talking about. I do agree it's a matter of choice, and I have to say that I haven't seen Mandrake 10, so I'm not sure what it's like, but certainly the likes of version 9 were an easy option for a new user, and at the end of the day if all they're going to be doing is internet, e-mail and word processing, there's little point in moving them on from what they know.

I certainly agree with the laziness point - that's how so many Windows users are still using Internet Explorer.

As for the need to move to Linux, the ordinary user mightn't have any need to do so at all, but if 20 of them do, it's 20 that are not using Windows, and 20 that will contribute to the overall numbers of linux users. And even if the user never updates, neither do most windows users, and which is worse - a four year old version of a linux distro or an Installation of Windows XP that never saw a service pack or Windows Update?

Emboss

Dun wrote:

which is worse - a four year old version of a linux distro or an Installation of Windows XP that never saw a service pack or Windows Update?

That's not a very well thought out comment, they'll both be owned quicker than you can say rootkit.

flamegrill

Your getting a little off track here lads.

The original poster asked for merits of using either or. Windows doesn't come into it.

Personally I run debian both on my desktop and on my router but I also dual boot with an MS os on my desktop.

I have run freebsd both on my desktop and in a production environment. I slipped away from freebsd because at the time my work was RedHat based and we are slowly getting away from it.

Both OS's have their merits. Both have package managers, the ports system is freebsd is excellent, as are tools like apt and yum,rpmi etc.

FreeBSD's firewall is somewhat better than the various ipchains/iptables. But both are totally usable and using either or is really down to personal experience.

I don't feel the possible patent infringments are of any worry to anyone, and to be perfectly honest I don't think anything will ever come of them.

In summary, both FreeBSD and Linux are quite alike and both the BSD kernel and the Linux Kernel have their advantages and disadvantages. Having used both at some point in time I don't have a favourite. I mainly stick to linux because work requires me to do so.

Paul