I am another developer who went from using Linux to using FreeBSD. I was also very impressed at the lean installation procedure, which doesn't put in anything more than you need.
The main thing I like about FreeBSD is that it has this...authenticity. It is the real deal, a true Unix. It is a very mature codebase, derived straight from the original Berkely Unix. This code has been the subject of over 30 years of refinement and troubleshooting, and it shows. I don't know about whether FreeBSD is that much faster than Linux, but I really think there is NO operating system out there that is more stable, perhaps even among the big-time commercial Unix systems. I have done all kinds of crazy stuff on my test FreeBSD servers, and have never yet had a system crash, resulting in a loss of data, except when caused by hardware failure.
I think there is a small performance edge with FreeBSD over Linux, but that really depends on what kind of task you are performing. Definitely it is the star of network computing. (Not so funny since TCP/IP itself was developed on the BSD systems).
It is unfortunate that FreeBSD, and the other *BSDs are treated like stepchildren now in the Open Source world. I know, there is all this kvetching about the BSD license being too capitalist-friendly, while the GPL puts those horrible corporations in their place. I personally don't care... If the developers of FreeBSD were happy to allow *anyone* to take the code and use it, why complain? If anything, that eventually will raise the bar for all of computing.
(lol) when Linux Magazine interviewed Dennis Ritchie (one of the inventors of Unix) last year, he actually mentioned 1) that he didn't really like the GPL, because it was too restrictive, and 2) many of his colleagues were really getting into FreeBSD.
Not that I dislike Linux. I think it has done great things for the computing world, and I use Linux for quite a few things, also. I just don't see that it is the end-all of computing.
My biggest complaint is that corporations like IBM and Oracle have jumped on the hype bandwagon and released versions of their software for Linux, and put major bucks into development and promotion, while blandly acting as if they have never even heard of FreeBSD.
A tip: if you are forced to use Linux for a project, try Slackware. It is the most BSD-like of the Linuxes, both in system layout, and in performance.
