FreeBSD > *nix

As you can see from my avatar!

My personal favorite has come down to FreeBSD! :twisted:

I hope the point of this thread was not to start a flame war between the unix fanboys and the *bsd fanboys, but I guess I'll start, but with a more balanced look on both,

BSD - The main issue with bsd is the fact that the operating system has some of the crappiest hardware support I have ever worked with. BSD was not made for the the top of the line desktop computer. That is not the goal of bsd nor are they even close to getting there in my opinion. Where BSD really shines is it's ability to outthrow most nix distributions when it comes to server based applications. If your focus is a high throughput, secure, and flexible server OS, then *BSD(more so openBSD) should be at the top of your list. I have worked with all flavors of bsd, other then dragonfly which doesnt appeal to me at all. The only reason it stuck on my laptop for so long was because of the enormous freebsd port tree. Then I found gentoo's emerge system and turned forever away from bsd.

*nix - The power in *nix is the elequence and simplicity of the operating system itself. Looking at the archaic system calls and kernel hooks of bsd is just.. well.. I just don't enjoy it as much as I do the linux kernel code. Also, *nix has a flavor for just about every single need for any computing user out there(even you grandma's) and that makes it the most flexible operating system there is to the date. My biggest problem with linux is the lack of any sort of leadership for the whole. I feel very strongly with the philosophy of linux and linux is at a critical point in its evolution and needs to sieze the oppurtunity but this will not be possible without good leadership and organization(SCO, you scum, you don't count). Novell is getting there, but it is still defeating the purpose by putting a price on linux(yes, I know encryption licenses cost money, but there are alternatives). But the main point here, for most users, they can get a copy of linux for no more then a blank cd and when they pop it in, most of the time it works. I'm sorry, but I do enough configuring and troubleshooting hardware and software issues at work, that I do NOT want to come home to a system that throws a new issue at me every time I change a setting and have to sift through documentation. I want an intuitive operating system that can handle a problem without spitting errors at me that stall the system(Yes, this is what consisted my experience of BSD). The fact of the matter, linux is simply a better and more balanced operating system then bsd IMHO.

All in all, it all comes down to personal preference when it comes to operating systems these days. I think that you should be able to appreciate the qualities of every operating system and know the best situation in which to implement them would be. Now, eddy, I hope to hear you elucidate as to WHY bsd is better then *nix!

*sigh*, these discussions rarelly end up somewhere.. Anyway, just a couple of clarifications, to avoid confusion:

- UNIX: Originally the operating system developed by AT&T Bell labs in 1969, today the term is used mostly to describe either:
1) Operating Systems that follow the general philosophical principles of UNIX. These are often refered to as "*nix" or "unix-like operating systems". This is the general sense in which even operating systems that have no roots at UNIX, like Linux, belong to, as long as they share a similar way of work and development.
2) Operating Systems that are direct derivatives of Unix, or an other UNIX derivative. Some of them, like Solaris and HP UX, are certified with the Single Unix Standard, specified by the Open Group . Well known UNIX derived operating systems are Free/Open/Net-BSD, Solaris, Darwin/MacOS, IRIX, AIX, SCO Unix, HP UX, some more"pure blood" than others, without that impying anything about their quality.

- BSD: Berkeley Software Distribution, one of the first and probably the best supported of the first-generation Unix derivatives.

- GNU/Linux: (usually refered as just "Linux") is the GNU operating systems designed and developed by Richard Stallman in 1984, along with Linux Kernel developed by Linus Torvalds. GNU stands for "GNU is Not Unix" and is just about that, a completelly free of any proprietary UNIX or other code operating system, that shares the same philosophical approach and even compatibility for the most part with Unix. Technicaly, GNU Linux is not a UNIX compliant OS, it follows a similar standard, called POSIX (Portable Operating System Interface).

Whenever I refer to anything unix, I use *nix and I thought the wildcard included any variation of the name before it, including linux(minus the u, but that doesnt count )....thats how I've always used it anyways. I'm used to having discussions like these and I agree, they don't get very far, but I can't help myself sometimes :oops:

Cybersorcerer, my *sigh* wasn't meant as a reply to your post, on the contrary I totally agree with what you said. If everyone posted, thoughtfully and without prepossession like you, there would be no problem. Ufortunatelly usually it becomes a "MINE VS YOURS" thing that keeps growing and growing (see slashdot)

lol, I must say, when someone of your calibur throws a *sigh* out there, I usually become a little self conscious... call it a personality flaw if you will. But yes, the flame wars on slashdot rarely get anywhere in the arguments, it seems that no one even reads the post before them and just can't wait to throw in their opinion. I visit slashdot a lot, but for that reason I rarely participate in the discussions.