Date: Sat, 10 Feb 2001 10:40:48 -0600 From: Glenn Johnson <glennpj@charter.net> To: DanSV@aol.com Cc: freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: Linux vs FreeBSD Message-ID: <20010210104048.A1621@gforce.homelan.net> In-Reply-To: <cc.108a0195.27b61957@aol.com>; from DanSV@aol.com on Fri, Feb 09, 2001 at 11:11:02PM -0500 References: <cc.108a0195.27b61957@aol.com>
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On Fri, Feb 09, 2001 at 11:11:02PM -0500, DanSV@aol.com wrote: > Howdy. > > I run Debian Linux. The evil thing has crashed for the last time. I > was convinced that one program was not supposed to be able to bring > down an entire system, yet netscape apparently could. > > Anyway, X also crashes. > > Since I now run this system 24/7, and host my own site, I am naturally > pissed. > > I want another os, but come on ... windows? > > get serious. > > So I thought of FreeBSD. > > Yet before I mash my hard drive and start fresh... > > My Questions: > > 1. Apt-get. Anything similiar in FreeBSD? I loved being able to > apt-get upgrade. With the combination of cvsup and the ports collection you can keep your system up to date (both ports and the base system). > 2. ATI XPERT 2000. Supported? Hardware Accel? For the most part this is an XFree86 issue. However, with XFree86-4 and 3D hardware acceleration, there is an OS component because you have to be able to build the necessary kernel modules. For the ATI rage128 based boards there is support in XFree86-4 for the ati128 dri Linux kernel module but not for FreeBSD yet. > 3. Memory. Can one program ever crash the system? The same theory applies to both FreeBSD and Linux. No, it should not happen; but yes, it can happen. You have had it happen with Linux and I have had it happen with FreeBSD. Sometimes it can be traced to hardware but sometimes it may just be a bug that gets tickled. You did not say how often your Debian box was crashing but obviously enough to cause you to make a change. I have been using FreeBSD on about a dozen machines for about 4 years and have had maybe 2 complete system crashes that could not be traced back to faulty hardware. > 4. Ease of use: > > General? The general user feel should not be much different. A few commands may have different switches, etc. From an administrator's point of view though things are a bit different because Linux distributions use SysV style init scripts. > Setup? If you can install a Debian system then you can certainly install a FreeBSD system. I think it is easier but may require a bit more work to get your desired ports/packages installed. > 5. How is the support for say, an acer cdrw (ATAPI, mmc compliant) > 6x4x32?, for a K6-III? The Acer CDRW may give you problems. FreeBSD does not use a SCSI layer with ATAPI like Linux does. There is an interface to the ATAPI system but it does not work with all drives. I know this because it does not work with mine. I can read from my CDRW drive fine but I can not write to it. Other people have had success with ATAPI CDRW drives so you might want to post your exact model drive and ask if anyone can burn CDs with it. > 6. What is the stability of the system like in general? compared to > linux? About the same. > 7. Same as above but for speed? Faster for some operations, slower for others. I have found that FreeBSD maintains user responsiveness a bit better than Linux. > 8. How do I install it? I have a T1 connection though my school. Read installation instructions posted on FreeBSD Web site (http://www.freebsd.org). > 9. Can I run debian apps on it? You can run Linux apps using the Linux compatibility module but you would probably want to compile most software. The ports collection has over 4000 ports I believe. > 10. How fast are you at incorporating new technology, programs? > As compared to linux (both redhat speed, and debian speed)? This varies. I have had network cards that were supported under FreeBSD long before they were supported under Linux. Things like KDE and GNOME are being developed on Linux and so tend to run a bit better on Linux than FreeBSD. > 11. If When I take this comp home, and it is no longer hooked up in > any way to the internet, how could I install new stuff? Just as easy? > (ie are there packages?) If you are not hooked up to the Internet then you would have to have the CD-ROMs. Obviously the CD-ROMs can not contain all packages because of licensing restrictions on some software. > 12. How clean/easy is uninstalling a program? It works pretty well but not as sophisticated as dpkg that Debian has. There is work ongoing at making the package/port management system work better. -- Glenn Johnson glennpj@charter.net To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-questions" in the body of the message
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