Date: Wed, 17 Jun 2020 12:03:27 -0600 From: "Kurt Buff - GSEC, GCIH" <kurt.buff@gmail.com> To: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: Why does FreeBSD not use the Linux kernel? Message-ID: <CADy1Ce70Ck3a_ybKp92Qzn1PumRjjRg5CZU%2BfArpp4iOF%2Bm=Gg@mail.gmail.com> In-Reply-To: <CA%2ByoEx-xY5DsaVZrNAoCmVtcPkgJxbsCyk8nWso9WWZdy5zbug@mail.gmail.com> References: <3a48ab1ab198c330400be3e942f921f2cd3c3e11.camel@tom.com> <20200617141857.b208232a.freebsd@edvax.de> <CA%2ByoEx-xY5DsaVZrNAoCmVtcPkgJxbsCyk8nWso9WWZdy5zbug@mail.gmail.com>
next in thread | previous in thread | raw e-mail | index | archive | help
On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 11:43 AM Mario Lobo <lobo@bsd.com.br> wrote: > > On Wed, Jun 17, 2020 at 9:19 AM Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> wrote: > > > On Wed, 17 Jun 2020 11:33:25 +0800, kindu smith wrote: > > > Why does FreeBSD not use the Linux kernel? The structure of FreeBSD is > > > very good, such as the startup and directory structure, and the user > > > island program. The only shortcoming is poor hardware support. This is > > > mainly due to the lack of drivers provided by the kernel. Reading this thread, several thoughts came to mind, which might have only minimal bearing on the discussion, but perhaps OP might find them useful/amusing/provocative. JFTR, my thoughts do not imply anything regarding the relative merits of FreeBSD vs. Linux. I'm not primarily a *nix guy, and never have been, but use both freely, as my job requires, and prefer using FreeBSD at home, vs. Linux. - Linux is more properly known as GUN/Linux. GNU, in this context, is a recursive acronym, meaning "Gnu's Not Unix". This is pertinent, because considered from the perspective of lineage/heritage, FreeBSD (all of the BSDs) *are* Unix. Once might quibble about several assumptions in that statement, but for the purposes of this discussion, it's true enough, and brings to the fore the idea that FreeBSD and Linux are very different in critical ways. Others have pointed out the more technical reasons what this is so, but this bit of background might illuminate the topic a bit. - I started playing with Linux back in the '90s. I didn't like it much, and flitted from distro to distro, and wasn't terribly successful. I then started a job with a small startup which used FreeBSD for its platform. I got some tutoring from one of the devs (who was, and I think still is a kernel committer), and things just fell into place. i felt comfortable. It wasn't until several years later than I found an article that clarified my thoughts. It's old now, and therefore some of it is out of date, but I still point people at it: https://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd/rants/bsd4linux/01 So, take the above for what it's worth. Kurt
Want to link to this message? Use this URL: <https://mail-archive.FreeBSD.org/cgi/mid.cgi?CADy1Ce70Ck3a_ybKp92Qzn1PumRjjRg5CZU%2BfArpp4iOF%2Bm=Gg>