[ale] difference between BSD and Linux

[Michael H. Warfield]

On Tue, Dec 14, 1999 at 03:20:57PM -0500, Lisa Chiang wrote:
> Can someone tell me the major differences between BSD and Linux?

> Isn't BSD the Berkeley variation of Unix? And, I know that Linux uses some BSD
> code, so why the distinction?  Thanks.

	BSD stands for "Berkeley Software Distribution" so, yes, it is of the
linage of the Berkeley variation of Unix.

	The Linux kernel itself does NOT use BSD code.  There is a conflict
between the BSD license and the GPL license which the respective parties are
not likely to iron out.  It's a matter of philosophy (or religious ideology)
more than a technical issue.

	Both use a number of the GNU utilities.  [ HEY!  RMS?  Why aren't
you clammering to have it be GNU/FreeBSD and GNU/OpenBSD and GNU/NetBSD???
Sorry, different religious rant...  Sigh...]  Both share a common look
and feel.  Both run the X-Windows windowing system if you are a GUI sort
of person.  Both run software from a number of common source "sources".
With appropriate emulators, they can even run each other's binaries.
Without the emulators, the binaries are NOT compatible.

	The distinction is that there are different sets of developers, with
different priorities, and different hierarchies for getting things done.
Things aren't even the same WITHIN the BSD bunch.  You've got FreeBSD and
OpenBSD and NetBSD (are BSDi and BSD386 still around?).  Each have their
own philosophy and flavor.  They are as diverse as the Gnome / KDE bunch and
sometimes barely speak to each other.

	OpenBSD, my favorite of the BSDs, is the high security flavor.  They
audit their code for security problems and trade off some inconvience for
better security in initial configuration (you can still make it insecure -
you just have to work at it).  OpenBSD, because it is packaged outside the
US (it's from Canada) includes bundled hardened crypto.  It also has some
pretty niffty firewall stuff.  I still like Linux for firewalls but would
not look down on ANYONE that opted for OpenBSD for their firewall platform
of choice.

	Others concentrate on platform or hardware support (although none
come close to Linux at this point).

	FreeBSD is popular amongst some ISPs.  It makes some claims that
its network stack is faster than the stack in Linux.  That may be true,
or may not be true.  Depends on how you test and who you ask.

	I haven't done enought with NetBSD to say anything about them,
pro or con.

	None of the BSD distros are as easy to install as some of the worst
of the Linux distros thought.  I can (and have) installed them all with about
equal ease and frustration (for me).  I would not throw the BSD packages at
newbies, though.

>  -- 
> Lisa Chiang
> Oak Ridge National Laboratory
> P. O. Box 2008, MS 6004
> Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37831-6004
> Phone: 423-574-5699
> Pager: 423-417-5538 

	Mike
-- 
 Michael H. Warfield    |  (770) 985-6132   |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
  (The Mad Wizard)      |  (770) 331-2437   |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
  NIC whois:  MHW9      |  An optimist believes we live in the best of all
 PGP Key: 0xDF1DD471    |  possible worlds.  A pessimist is sure of it!

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