Your "summaries" are not quite right, AND you make a couple incorrect assertions.
I wish people wouldn't cough up sweeping statements like these, and on a Linux mailing list at that! On Sat, 23 Mar 2002, Michael Balcos wrote: .. > FreeBSD, for instance, is good for general TCP/IP purposes. NetBSD > is for high security networking. I only know that OpenBSD exists, and I > think it is meant for developing software solutions(not sure though). No. FreeBSD goes for maximum performance and stability on x86. OpenBSD is for paranoiac security. NetBSD tries to be as portable as possible -- you can run it on a very wide variety of machines. .. > BSDs provide considerable better performance > than Linux, Wow. And where did you get this amazing fact? The truth is, most people who've actually TESTED the two show that Linux with a 2.4 kernel is just as fast or even faster than FreeBSD 4/5. The other BSD's lag FreeBSD in performance (e.g. OpenBSD isn't even SMP capable). Linux has about "a one year head start" on FreeBSD in the area of SMP (quoting a FreeBSD kernel developer) -- one area where your "..considerable better performance.." is DEAD WRONG: put Linux and FreeBSD on a quad-processor box and watch Linux run rings around FreeBSD. Basically: 1) use NetBSD if you have exotic hardware and want a BSD UNIX 2) use Linux if you have exotic hardware and want Linux 3) use FreeBSD if you can spec your X86 hardware, you run fairly standard apps (web server, email, etc..) and reliability/scaling is your number one goal -- FreeBSD has nowhere near the hardware support of Linux 4) use OpenBSD if you must have absolutely the best security: but prepare to be using old versions of everything 5) use Linux if you need something -- e.g. Oracle 8i/9i -- which is unavailable on the other platforms Basically what it means is, for most tasks I find Linux to be the best fit. Sure it doesn't have "years behind it" -- but FreeBSD for example is not demonstrably faster; NetBSD is basically a curiosity, besides you can run Linux on everything from iPAQ to mainframe, which you CANNOT say for NetBSD; and OpenBSD is for Theo and his zealots. For desktop, the killer factor is drivers. And Linux leaves all the other X86 UNIX'es behind by a mile. -- Orlando Andico <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Mosaic Communications, Inc. _ Philippine Linux Users Group. Web site and archives at http://plug.linux.org.ph To leave: send "unsubscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the Linux Newbies' List: send "subscribe" in the body to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
