# FreeBSD and GNU/Linux both GREAT



## jemate18 (Jan 24, 2009)

Both GNU/Linux and FreeBSD are great OS.

But what will make one choose over the other?
Advantages? Pros? Cons?


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## hitest (Jan 24, 2009)

jemate18 said:
			
		

> Both GNU/Linux and FreeBSD are great OS.
> 
> But what will make one choose over the other?
> Advantages? Pros? Cons?



Agreed.  FreeBSD and Linux are excellent OSs.  I run both (Slackware, FreeBSD).


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## anomie (Jan 24, 2009)

jemate18 said:
			
		

> Both GNU/Linux and FreeBSD are great OS.
> 
> But what will make one choose over the other?
> Advantages? Pros? Cons?



For personal use, I prefer FreeBSD where wireless network access is involved. Given the proper (ath) hardware, it is a snap to set up. Linux* is still one obnoxious kludge on top of another in the wireless realm, IMO. I also have a print/file server at home, but in that case I prefer Linux, which obfuscates printing details from me nicely. (I hate trying to set up *nix printing with a passion.) 

For business use, my employer has a sitewide RHEL license, so the majority of the servers I manage happen to run: RHEL. I still prefer to use FreeBSD for any servers that don't run commercial/proprietary applications. For example, I run Oracle and Oracle RAC on RHEL. It's well supported there. I run a http proxy service (and hopefully soon some front-end apache servers) on FreeBSD. 

My 2 cents.

* [ When I refer to "Linux" I'm really referring to RHEL/CentOS. That is all I use. ]


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## christian (Jan 24, 2009)

hitest said:
			
		

> Agreed.  FreeBSD and Linux are excellent OSs.  I run both (Slackware, FreeBSD).


I run both too (Slackware, Bluewhite64 and FreeBSD).
Linux can be a very great OS depending on the distribution. There are some distributions (esspecially those of companys like Fedora/Red Hat and openSUSE/Novell, I think they are test beds for the enterprise operating systems of those companys), which are quite unstable, but there are also distributions like Slackware and Debian which are very stable.
My father says, that FreeBSD has got a better Unix-Feeling than Linux, he worked with Unix in the late 80s.
My first Unix-like OS was FreeBSD (I was 8 years old, when my father tought me how to use a computer), but due to a slow internet connection I bought a SuSE Linux and used it for programming and so on. I changed to Slackware 3 years later and 
noticed how Unix-like a Linux distribution can be.
Today, nearly 10 years after my first contacts with Unix I use FreeBSD as well as Slackware Linux.
In my opinion both systems have got disadvantages, Linux has got a quite bad documentation, FreeBSD a quite bad hardware support. Of course they've got advantages too, but it's easier to list their few disadvantages :e
My reason for using FreeBSD is its standard conformity (tar is a good example, GNU tar is not 100% conform, FreeBSD's tar is conform). I also use FreeBSD to test the software I develope for portability between the different Unix-like operating systems.
I use Linux for things like flash, some games and multimedia. For software development I use both Linux and FreeBSD.

I think, the realization of the Unix philosophy is the crucial point. That can be realized by a Linux distribution as well as by the BSD operating systems.

Christian


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## oliverh (Jan 25, 2009)

Quality instead of quantity. So I tend to use *BSD, especially FreeBSD, sometimes OpenSolaris and as last resort Slack. The latter is almost perfect, apart from the kernel (ask PV about it). Maybe Linux needs another 15 years for greatness ;-)


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## hitest (Jan 26, 2009)

christian said:
			
		

> I think, the realization of the Unix philosophy is the crucial point. That can be realized by a Linux distribution as well as by the BSD operating systems.
> Christian



I like that statement!  I enjoy using a variety of operating systems.  Right now at home I primarily use Slackware, FreeBSD, and maintain my wife's Debian unit.  Each OS has strengths and weaknesses.


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## oliverh (Jan 26, 2009)

>Each OS has strengths and weaknesses

Every user has got different needs - so there is a high probability that most users in this _FreeBSD_-forum are using FreeBSD because of certain qualities they will not find within different operating systems. I don't want to start a flame war, but Linux is of minor interest in this forum and everyone should make his very own experiences. Asking such questions in a FreeBSD forum is as silly as asking in a Debian forum questions about Fedora etc. pp.


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## jemate18 (Jan 27, 2009)

oliverh said:
			
		

> >Each OS has strengths and weaknesses
> 
> Every user has got different needs - so there is a high probability that most users in this _FreeBSD_-forum are using FreeBSD because of certain qualities they will not find within different operating systems. I don't want to start a flame war, but Linux is of minor interest in this forum and everyone should make his very own experiences. Asking such questions in a FreeBSD forum is as silly as asking in a Debian forum questions about Fedora etc. pp.



The reason for asking this question is to get feedback from experience users. Therefore asking about the strengths and weaknesses of each, helps NuBis like me to determine which OS to choose on a particular settings.

I'm thankful for all the responds that gave me insight about the pros and cons and personal experiences with FreeBSD and GNU/Linux. It helped me a lot.

I respect what other people think of the thread.

Thanks a lot for the responses.


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## Oko (Jan 27, 2009)

jemate18 said:
			
		

> The reason for asking this question is to get feedback from experience users. Therefore asking about the strengths and weaknesses of each, helps NuBis like me to determine which OS to choose on a particular settings.


So you came to FreeBSD forum to seek objective advice about that matter from people who are using mostly FreeBSD:\ That is silly as Oliver said.
Just my $0.02.


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## jemate18 (Jan 27, 2009)

Oko said:
			
		

> So you came to FreeBSD forum to seek objective advice about that matter from people who are using mostly FreeBSD:\ That is silly as Oliver said.
> Just my $0.02.




Thanks...


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## hitest (Jan 27, 2009)

oliverh said:
			
		

> I don't want to start a flame war, but Linux is of minor interest in this forum and everyone should make his very own experiences. Asking such questions in a FreeBSD forum is as silly as asking in a Debian forum questions about Fedora etc. pp.



Sure.  But, this is the "Off-Topic" forum.  So I don't see a problem with discussing something that is off-topic like Linux.  I don't see a flame war here.  I'm not at all offended by your comments, I respect that you have chosen FreeBSD.  I think it is an exemplary OS too.  I enjoy using FreeBSD. 
Anyway I'm glad that the original poster saw some value in this thread.


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## jemate18 (Jan 27, 2009)

I would really like to know better about FreeBSD and I also enjoy using it even though I am just using it for just 3 weeks now..

Again, I'm sorry for creating this thread... I must have posted on the wrong forum.....

Again, I thank all of you guys for bearing with me and for giving me insights and ideas....


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## Oko (Jan 27, 2009)

hitest said:
			
		

> Sure.  But, this is the "Off-Topic" forum.  So I don't see a problem with discussing something that is off-topic like Linux.  I don't see a flame war here.  I'm not at all offended by your comments, I respect that you have chosen FreeBSD.  I think it is an exemplary OS too.  I enjoy using FreeBSD.
> Anyway I'm glad that the original poster saw some value in this thread.


Oliver prefers FreeBSD over Linux but he has been Slack user since 1992 or 1993. Some members of this forum have not been born back then let alone used Linux. He is the last person who will give you wrong advice about the matter. He just stated obvious that it is kind a silly to seek objective advice from people who obviously prefer FreeBSD or in my case OpenBSD over Linux.
As you stated it is cool as the original poser actually saw the value in comments. The funny thing is that BSD community is so intellectually honest that will for most part give fer answers. There is a thread on this forum about favorite Linux distro of forum users and is probably far more objective assessment of the quality of some major Linux distros than you will ever find on any of Linux forums.

Sorry, I am not going to make noise any more.
Cheers,
OKO


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## hitest (Jan 27, 2009)

Oko said:
			
		

> The funny thing is that BSD community is so intellectually honest that will for most part give honest answers. There is a thread on this forum about favorite Linux distro of forum users and is probably far more objective assessment of the quality of some major Linux distros than you will ever find on any of Linux forums.



I am very thankful to be a member of this forum!  Yes.  I very-much appreciate the candor and knowledge that I receive from the users here.   
Yeah, I also enjoyed the other thread about Linux.  Some of the observations were harsh, but, they were accurate.


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## jemate18 (Jan 27, 2009)

Yeah, I also enjoyed the other thread about Linux. Some of the observations were harsh, but, they were accurate. 

I agree, I have just read them......


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## susanth (Jan 27, 2009)

christian said:
			
		

> ...
> I think, the realization of the Unix philosophy is the crucial point. That can be realized by a Linux distribution as well as by the BSD operating systems.
> Christian



I Agree to this view


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## oliverh (Jan 28, 2009)

hitest said:
			
		

> Sure.  But, this is the "Off-Topic" forum.  So I don't see a problem with discussing something that is off-topic like Linux.  I don't see a flame war here.  I'm not at all offended by your comments, I respect that you have chosen FreeBSD.  I think it is an exemplary OS too.  I enjoy using FreeBSD.
> Anyway I'm glad that the original poster saw some value in this thread.



Sure this is offtopic, like this one http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=421 and so on. But "BSD offtopic" can have some common sense too.


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## hitest (Jan 29, 2009)

oliverh said:
			
		

> Sure this is offtopic, like this one http://forums.freebsd.org/showthread.php?t=421 and so on. But "BSD offtopic" can have some common sense too.



Point well-taken.  I have great respect for all users in this forum; I certainly don't want to upset you or anyone.  I can understand why you think these types of topics do not belong in the FreeBSD forum.


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## jemate18 (Jan 29, 2009)

Again I would like to apologize for being silly and creating this thread.

I learned my lesson well, and all posts that would be coming from me would be asking for tips, tricks, techniques, help, and anything purely FreeBSD style. 

FreeBSD rocks!


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## anomie (Jan 29, 2009)

I hate to drag this out further, but I don't see the problem. I read the thread as OP asking for opinions on FBSD vs. Linux (i.e. when do _you_ personally choose one over the other and why?). 

Of course there is a built-in bias (considering the audience), but that's life.


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## rghq (Jan 30, 2009)

Well - used and still using Slackware since 1994 (updated meanwhile of course ) - for Linux I see an advantage in some kind off all-in-one. As example installing Ubuntu is quite easy and most of the important things can be configured with a GUI - for people who like to have this, it's very nice.
Slackware is somehow a vise versa.

The advantage for BSD - all BSD's - is the separation between the base system and the ports that are under /usr/local or /usr/pkg - allows a good and easy mirroring of installed 3rd party software without the search where the distributor intended to place several files.

But at all - it's personal taste and you can do much with Linux, OpenSolaris or a BSD Unix - nothing is perfect, but all of them do their job pretty fine.


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