On Sun, 02 Sep 2007 03:49:12 -0700 [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> Not every FreeBSD user is [still] a "computer enthusiast". It just so
> happens that the OS at the time is the best one for many, many different
> uses, such as: server, router, research workstation, 'desktop', etc.
> It is basically an excellent universal tool for many
> (computer_science|IT)-unrelated tasks, e.g. machine in a physics lab.
For me, FreeBSD is the best platform for developers and senior support
personnel to build custom solutions to those problems on. It provides
a basic platform on which you can build things with minimal
effort. Developers love this.
> You see, it'd make me really sad to see FBSD go in the direction of
> Linux one day, and be geared towards (hackish) developers.
You know, I see GNU/Linux (as RMS notes, most of the userland
utilities are from GNU, and they, not Linus, deserve the credit - or
in this case the blame) as being much more geared towards users than
developers when compared to FreeBSD.
GNU/Linux distros tend to come prebuilt to solve those problems the
way the distributors think they should be solved. If that happens to
work for you, great - you win. Users love this. If it doesn't work for
you, you have to build your own. Of course, first you have to get the
GNU/Linux distro to the point where you can build your own. The
prepackaged solutions wind up getting in the way all along the
path. Developers hate this.
FreeBSD, on the other hand, doesn't have those solutions preinstalled
- you have to at least navigate the packages or ports system. Users
hate this.
I won't go into the differences between the packages software for
FreeBSD vs. RHE, I'll just note that software installed by RHE has a
habit of not working the way I need it to, and getting it to do the
right thing almost always involves something disgusting, obscene or
both.
<mike
--
Mike Meyer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> http://www.mired.org/consulting.html
Independent Network/Unix/Perforce consultant, email for more information.
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