On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 11:30:54 -0700 (PDT), Chad Simmons wrote: > > --- Tom Whiting <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Keep in mind as well that *BSD is -=NOT=- linux and you may have >> to make some pretty drastic changes to get 'er up and running >> under a BSD box. There are a number of reasons for this from the >> way BSD handles memory to the way it handles connections. If >> you're not sure what you're doing, or don't have the time to play >> with it, I'd suggest going with a redhat (or fedora now) box. >> > > Eh.. They are both POSIX compiant afaik, and the BSD socket api is > also pretty much the same. I don't see that it would be all that > different. As for memory.. well malloc has the same interface (args > & return value). > > Why is it so much harder?
To a degree, you are correct, however, to another one you are not. "Why is it so much harder?" It is so much harder because of the structures and designs of BSD. Numerous linux applications have the same problem, not just rom (though, admittedly I haven't tried stock rom on *BSD). Why? Why is the sky blue? Who knows, without getting into a philosophical debate why it happens. The fact is that it does, and there is a problem with numerous applications between *BSD and Linux. Example #1: I've been working on D.R. for going on 4 years now, building the code constantly on redhat/slackware servers. Never have I ever had an issue with the code, except for once. I was looking for a host, checked out a BSD box, the code compiled perfectly, but dumped every time someone logged into the game. Once we found that problem out, it dumped somewhere else. It was a never ending battle of code dumps, which we kept working on for days until I just decided to pull it to another server. Once we got to the new server? No problems at all, no core dumps, no seg faults, in fact it stayed perfectly normal for weeks until I ran a copyover. Both times the source was compiled from scratch, the libraries were compiled from scratch, only on the *BSD box did it ever cause any problems. Example #2: A few years back I ran a text based BBS, same scenario. We were running on a redhat box, had no problems. As soon as we moved to a *BSD box, there were numerous issues, it took a week just to get the code straightened out, and even then the connections weren't logging right, various things were going nuts. I've had the same types of experiences with Linux apps (most recently TurckeMMcache) compiling on a BSD server for work, and have noticed numerous differences in both security and design between the two. Again, why is it so much harder? Most likely because the *BSD distros focus on security and not usability. There are more differences between the above mentioned differences, but for just a basic game application such as quickmud or rom, *BSD isn't usually the best choice, unless, of course you like putting out more work than required to get something running.
