[ale] BSD anyone?

Dave Brooks dbrooks at comstar.net
Mon Jul 26 16:50:46 EDT 1999


Bob wrote:
> 
> After using Linux for six years, I find BSD (FreeBSD) to be a dinosaur,
> hard to use and lacking in useful features and without advantages for
> most.
> 

-DISCLAIMER-

I do not use any sort of *BSD as my _primary_ operating system.  I use
Linux for that, as its more atuned for the desktop and that sort of
thing than BSD is.  I only use BSD on one small box that I use as an
internet gateway.  (Although, I have used BSD on a workstation
before...)

-END DISCLAIMER-

I disagree.  While yes, you do have more experience probably in both
areas than I do (hey, gimme a break, I just went though puberty like 6
years ago...), I find BSD to be a very nice way to handle a server in a
networked environment better than Linux does.  

BSD seems to "conform" to your network -- things like NATD (FreeBSD),
ipnat (Net- and OpenBSD), and ipfilter are incredibly easy to set up in
almost any situation and is just a matter of editing a few lines in some
text files.  For linux to be able to do NAT, for instance, chances are a
kernel recompile is necessary to compile in IP Firewalling and
Masquerading (although, if its a fresh install, many of thenewer
distributions are starting to compile this in their default kernel
[i.e., RedHat 6.0 (5.2?) and Debian 2.1]).  After the kernel is
recompiled, you still need to decipher the cryptic ipfwadm syntax to set
up your firewalling and masquerading rules (which, by the way, aren't
readily available or explained in much detail in the man page).  

I had OpenBSD installed, sitting comfortably on my network, passing
traffic and doing NAT within 10 minutes of finishing the install thanks
to great documentation and "ease of use" for those who are accustomed to
other ways of setting this stuff up.

Don't get me wrong, as I'm not (consciously) trying to flame Linux. 
Linux is an awesome performer on the network as well, I just find it to
be somewhat more awkward when it comes to things like routing, etc.  BSD
simply cannot compare when it comes to things like software
availability, user support, community, etc.  Heck, I use Linux every day
and love it.


> [Note that my bias is *towards* BSD as I am one of the 162 recognized
> contributors to it but Linux is technologically superior.]
> 
Wow.  Just for Free/Open/NetBSD or for the commercial BSD stuff?


> (It is rumored to have better performance under very heavy load and has
> less restrictive redistribution requirements.)
> 
Linux or *BSD?  Take a look at ftp.cdrom.com...

Regards,

--
David A. Brooks
ComStar Communications, Inc.
voice : 770-485-6029
pager : 770-379-2333
:wq






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