[ale] BSD(s) vs Linux

[Jonathan Rickman]

On Sun, 1 Jun 2003, Murali Raju | 4SecureNet wrote:

> Ok, I have read several "google-articles" on the BSD vs Linux wars. That
> said, I am curious what the users in the ale list think about this
> subject. Why would you choose Linux over BSD(s) for both server and as a
> desktop? I personally like OpenBSD and FreeBSD (security and stability
> respectively + I am a person with an interest in security^infinity ;-)).

I'll comment on my two personal favorites, Slackware and FreeBSD.

Both are very stable and secure out of the box. If you are comfortable
with one, you'll be comfortable with the other. If I had to classify
either I'd say FreeBSD leans more towards the server side, while
Slackware is the better desktop system. Note that I didn't say that Slack
leans anywhere. Which is better overall? I'd have to say Slackware. This
is a Linux mailing list, so by default most answers will be biased. To
help keep things in perspective, Slack is probably the only distro I'd put
ahead of FreeBSD for server use, with the exception of RHAS for a high end
machine, but RHAS commands a significant amount of money and therefore
SHOULD be better for SOMETHING. How's that for noncommittal???

Seriously though, as others will no doubt mention, all things being
equal...we're really talking about kernels here. Both are very capable.
FreeBSD has the slight edge in stability, while Linux has the slight edge
in HW support. That being said, the 2.6 kernel looks like it's going to
leave all the BSDs sucking wind.

--
Jonathan Rickman
X Corps Security
http://www.xcorps.net

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