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Linux vs FreeBSD 4
- Thread starter BIS
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4
- #2
This is a big question, and to a large extent depends on exactly what you want to do with it.
I would not suggest FreeBSD for the casual user, unless that user wants to learn how Unix works, and desires a truly professional approach to networking, webservers, etc...
FreeBSD == the best webserver/appserver/fileserver/ etc... Basically, anything to do with the network services works absolutely like clockwork on FreeBSD. The internet was built on BSD computers, the TCP/IP networking stack was originally built on BSD computers.
I went from using RedHat, then Mandrake to using FreeBSD on all server systems. I just found that it worked, with no apologies, nasty surprises, quirks, etc... For example, I can start with a bare machine, and the two FreeBSD boot floppies, and do an FTP install of FreeBSD, and be up and running with a fully configured webserver, mailserver, with Apache/PHP/MySQL/PostgreSQL, and many miscellaneous utilities, all in less than an hour. I have never yet seen a Linux system that can do this.
Truly, my main love of FreeBSD is the fact that everything is in a logical place, according to the classic approach to Unix. Linux libraries tend to be a mess, different for different distributions, not consistent in filessystem layout, etc... Once you learn FreeBSD, you have learned Unix, and you can make things happen, from the command line faster than you could ever handle it from the desktop.
Now this isn't to say that Linux is bad. There are some benefits to Linux. I personally think the 3 main benefits to Linux are:
1. More attention paid to end-user experience. Linux distributions tend to be easier to set up as a desktop/user system. Even Slackware, the least GUI-ish Linux, still sets up a desktop more easily than FreeBSD.
2. More support for a wide range of hardware, even including the oddball hardware components. FreeBSD developers tend to focus on the core of "professional" hardware, meaning that which would be used by people using FreeBSD for serious work. Linux is more likely to support that no-brand scanner you found at a garage sale.
3. More support by commercial vendors. More commercial software tends to be aimed at Linux than at FreeBSD, such as the commercial database vendors like Oracle, Sybase, DB2.
4. More "bleeding edge" advancements. Linux tends to be a little less stable than FreeBSD, because the developers are pushing the boundaries. FreeBSD tends to be more conservative, which is why I prefer it for servers.
5. In terms of performance, Linux and FreeBSD tend to run neck-and-neck, but FreeBSD generally runs better on low-end hardware.
Some links for you:
(and search for other similar threads in this forum)
(*BSD news)) -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
I would not suggest FreeBSD for the casual user, unless that user wants to learn how Unix works, and desires a truly professional approach to networking, webservers, etc...
FreeBSD == the best webserver/appserver/fileserver/ etc... Basically, anything to do with the network services works absolutely like clockwork on FreeBSD. The internet was built on BSD computers, the TCP/IP networking stack was originally built on BSD computers.
I went from using RedHat, then Mandrake to using FreeBSD on all server systems. I just found that it worked, with no apologies, nasty surprises, quirks, etc... For example, I can start with a bare machine, and the two FreeBSD boot floppies, and do an FTP install of FreeBSD, and be up and running with a fully configured webserver, mailserver, with Apache/PHP/MySQL/PostgreSQL, and many miscellaneous utilities, all in less than an hour. I have never yet seen a Linux system that can do this.
Truly, my main love of FreeBSD is the fact that everything is in a logical place, according to the classic approach to Unix. Linux libraries tend to be a mess, different for different distributions, not consistent in filessystem layout, etc... Once you learn FreeBSD, you have learned Unix, and you can make things happen, from the command line faster than you could ever handle it from the desktop.
Now this isn't to say that Linux is bad. There are some benefits to Linux. I personally think the 3 main benefits to Linux are:
1. More attention paid to end-user experience. Linux distributions tend to be easier to set up as a desktop/user system. Even Slackware, the least GUI-ish Linux, still sets up a desktop more easily than FreeBSD.
2. More support for a wide range of hardware, even including the oddball hardware components. FreeBSD developers tend to focus on the core of "professional" hardware, meaning that which would be used by people using FreeBSD for serious work. Linux is more likely to support that no-brand scanner you found at a garage sale.
3. More support by commercial vendors. More commercial software tends to be aimed at Linux than at FreeBSD, such as the commercial database vendors like Oracle, Sybase, DB2.
4. More "bleeding edge" advancements. Linux tends to be a little less stable than FreeBSD, because the developers are pushing the boundaries. FreeBSD tends to be more conservative, which is why I prefer it for servers.
5. In terms of performance, Linux and FreeBSD tend to run neck-and-neck, but FreeBSD generally runs better on low-end hardware.
Some links for you:
(and search for other similar threads in this forum)
(*BSD news)) -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
- Thread starter
- #3
RyCamor,
You said in a post above: "rycamor (Programmer) Sep 23, 2002 / For example, I can start with a bare machine, and the two FreeBSD boot floppies, and do an FTP install of FreeBSD, and be up and running with a fully configured webserver, mailserver, with Apache/PHP/MySQL/PostgreSQL, and many miscellaneous utilities, all in less than an hour."
I was wondering if you could elaborate on this. I am downloading a copy of FreeBSD and trying this upon the info on your recomendation. <Grin> I guess the first question would be where do I go to get the boot floppy copies, and then which FTP address for the download. You have tweaked my curiousity. If you have any more information, I would love to hear about it.
You said in a post above: "rycamor (Programmer) Sep 23, 2002 / For example, I can start with a bare machine, and the two FreeBSD boot floppies, and do an FTP install of FreeBSD, and be up and running with a fully configured webserver, mailserver, with Apache/PHP/MySQL/PostgreSQL, and many miscellaneous utilities, all in less than an hour."
I was wondering if you could elaborate on this. I am downloading a copy of FreeBSD and trying this upon the info on your recomendation. <Grin> I guess the first question would be where do I go to get the boot floppy copies, and then which FTP address for the download. You have tweaked my curiousity. If you have any more information, I would love to hear about it.
No problem, although this question really should have been posted to a separate thread:
Go to any FreeBSD ftp mirror, then navigate to the main folder for the release you want, and look for a folder called "floppies". In there, you will download 'kern.flp' and 'mfsroot.flp'. Then, back at the release directory, go to a folder called 'tools'. (Assuming you are running Windows, this folder contains some convenient tools; read the README.txt file at the top).
Download 'fdimage.exe' into the same folder (for convenience). 'fdimage.exe' will write each of the other two files to disk. Just run 'fdimage' from the DOS command prompt, and it will tell you what to do.
(if you are running Linux, you should use 'dd' to write the files to floppy)
When done, you will have two floppy disks. Boot with 'kern.flp', and then insert the other one when prompted. Follow directions. Don't be afraid to experiment. You might trash everything and start again several times, but once you get the hang of it, you will love it ;-).
(P.S. Always install a 'Developer' distribution, because it includes sources and always say "yes" when prompted to install the 'ports' system. The ports system is an incredibly convenient way to install any software over FTP quickly.) -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
Go to any FreeBSD ftp mirror, then navigate to the main folder for the release you want, and look for a folder called "floppies". In there, you will download 'kern.flp' and 'mfsroot.flp'. Then, back at the release directory, go to a folder called 'tools'. (Assuming you are running Windows, this folder contains some convenient tools; read the README.txt file at the top).
Download 'fdimage.exe' into the same folder (for convenience). 'fdimage.exe' will write each of the other two files to disk. Just run 'fdimage' from the DOS command prompt, and it will tell you what to do.
(if you are running Linux, you should use 'dd' to write the files to floppy)
When done, you will have two floppy disks. Boot with 'kern.flp', and then insert the other one when prompted. Follow directions. Don't be afraid to experiment. You might trash everything and start again several times, but once you get the hang of it, you will love it ;-).
(P.S. Always install a 'Developer' distribution, because it includes sources and always say "yes" when prompted to install the 'ports' system. The ports system is an incredibly convenient way to install any software over FTP quickly.) -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
Okay, I have made it that far, but the house connection is via RoadRunner. I made it through the Floppy downloads and I made an ISO image download and burned the CD's also (Just in case). Once I got the diskettes installed, It made it to Dsl/Cable connection and was requesting my Hostname, Domain, ipv4 gateway, NameServer, ipv4 address, Mask and extra configurations. UUUummm... <Grin> It kind of lost me there. I did a check and got my IP address for that system. Do I need the hostname for my roadrunner connection, and/or domain ???
Most DSL systems give you an IP address via DHCP. Right before the part where it asks you the networking information, you are given the opportunity to use DHCP. Just make that choice, and the IP address and DNS info will be handled automatically.
Every Unix system has a hostname and domain (hostname.domain.com). The hostname can be any alphanumeric combination you want, as long as it is not currently in use. The domainname can actually be 'faked', for now. (since you won't have a DNS server serving your hostname out to the public), so you could do something like myemail.roadrunner.com, me.ibm.com, or even jabberwock.slithytoves.com ;-). It doesn't matter, because the host/domain will only be 'seen' by you internally.
Usually, you don't need to enter anything in the 'extra configurations' areas. That's mainly for Unix gurus who want to tweak.
Really, if you start reading the website, you will find that there is greate documentation on all this. For even more user-friendly help, go to and read through all the links in little boxes on the home page. After you have FreeBSD installed, spend some time surfing (Unix Guru Universe).
Honestly, FreeBSD takes some time to get used to. Here is my FreeBSD mantra:
Many things in life require some sacrifice up front for greater gain later.
FreeBSD is such a system.
It does take more work to understand, but when you do understand, you can do anything quickly and directly.
It lets you cut through the fluff
FreeBSD is not about giving you convenient ways to do things, but about giving you absolute power over everything that happens on your system. -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
Every Unix system has a hostname and domain (hostname.domain.com). The hostname can be any alphanumeric combination you want, as long as it is not currently in use. The domainname can actually be 'faked', for now. (since you won't have a DNS server serving your hostname out to the public), so you could do something like myemail.roadrunner.com, me.ibm.com, or even jabberwock.slithytoves.com ;-). It doesn't matter, because the host/domain will only be 'seen' by you internally.
Usually, you don't need to enter anything in the 'extra configurations' areas. That's mainly for Unix gurus who want to tweak.
Really, if you start reading the website, you will find that there is greate documentation on all this. For even more user-friendly help, go to and read through all the links in little boxes on the home page. After you have FreeBSD installed, spend some time surfing (Unix Guru Universe).
Honestly, FreeBSD takes some time to get used to. Here is my FreeBSD mantra:
Many things in life require some sacrifice up front for greater gain later.
FreeBSD is such a system.
It does take more work to understand, but when you do understand, you can do anything quickly and directly.
It lets you cut through the fluff
FreeBSD is not about giving you convenient ways to do things, but about giving you absolute power over everything that happens on your system. -------------------------------------------
Big Brother: "War is Peace" -- Big Business: "Trust is Suspicion"
(
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