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Migrating from Linux to FreeBSD
Eugenia writes: "OSNews published a guide that could help users migrate from Linux to FreeBSD by spotting the main differences between the two popular systems. Interesting read & relevant to the recent FreeBSD 4.5 release a few days ago."
On another note though. After reading this article it really does not tell you anything and it has a few flaws.
1) I believe that the latest rpm system DOES detect libraries on your system like QT even if they have not been installed through rpm. It does this by running ldd or ldconfig or something. Also if you know you have it on your system you can use the --nodeps to install it. You can also get the source rpm and install that which you can then edit the spec of. Also the newest rpm can handle some tar.gz files if they are built with rpm in mind with the --tarbuild command (I think this is it).
2) Keeping your system 'up to date' Redhat has an update program, ximian has an update program, and I believe Mandrake has an update program. And they even mention that debian has apt-get. What about a better article of moving from rpm to apt-get / deselect. Or even why BSD is really better than deselect. Also they fail to mention why you want your system up to date. Do you really want the latest kernel if it is untested on a production system?
3) They fail to mention any real advanatges of why should one want to go from Linux, which they clasify as the 'kernel', to FreeBSD, which they classify as the system, or any other BSD. Like weather it has better SMP or support for hardware. Package management is not a good argument. If that were the case I think windows installer is better. It allows more options than rpm -Uvh or make && make install and it is menu driven.
4) While the mention the linux compatiblity layer, they fail to point out a list of all the programs that run just on Linux and which ones ARE compatible. I know some software that we use where I work would probably not work on FreeBSD.
This article is a start I think, but they really need to do a series of articles that describe this rather than a 2 pager.
rpm is also a open source program that if one wanted they could probably install it under FreeBSD and get it to work.
Does FreeBSD have a journaling file system? If so how many? How do they compare to ext3 or JFS?
Does it support all the same audio hardware that Linux does? If not what does it lack or what does it support more of? (Video is done mostly through XFree so both are about equal in that respect).
Only 'flamers' flame!
Package management is not a good argument. If that were the case I think windows installer is better.
:)
:)
When I go to windows.update does it upgrade all the 3rd party software I've installed ?
For instance, I cvsup on a daily cron and once a week run portupgrade. It upgrades ALL the software I install via the ports tree such as KDE, Opera, Mozilla. I'd be impressed if windows update upgraded my mozilla for me but as we know, it doesn't.
I tried Mandrake for a week or so and found the Mandrake RPM updater a pain to use, not least of which was the fact that I had to point and click things. I'm not really knocking Mandrake, Penguins for Courses n that but portupgrade is a vast improvement.
As for audio cards, well here's the list
I do realise that your critique is directed at the article & not FreeBSD
One of FBSD's advantages is it's centralised nature. You can contribute & use as you see fit but there is one definitive point of contact which does make a difference when it comes to finding answers to questions.
Linux is in the light and I like the GPL and the politics that goes with it. I don't think I would ever seriously tell anyone to migrate from Linux to FreeBSD but if you are a bit of a geek you'll try them all anyway!
If you want me to evangelise I'll reply plan9
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
I believe that the latest rpm system DOES detect libraries on your system like QT even if they have not been installed through rpm.
RPM has been able to do this for quite a while. The capabilities of RPM is not the problem, the idiots who write the RPM specs are the problem.
Do you really want the latest kernel if it is untested on a production system?
Under FreeBSD, the latest kernel in -STABLE has been tested on production systems.
Package management is not a good argument. If that were the case I think windows installer is better.
The Windows installer (or rather, the numerous Windows installers) has one good feature. You typically get to choose between full, minimal and custom installs. Other than that, FreeBSD ports, Debian apt-get and RPM urpmi are vastly superior. Most Windows installers can't handle dependencies very well (if at all) so the typical solution is to bundle all the dependencies with the package. The user ends up with dll hell and duplicate libraries scattered across the system. Neither are they any good at updating. The only reliable way of upgrading to uninstall the old then install the new.
they fail to point out a list of all the programs that run just on Linux and which ones ARE compatible.
I've never had a problem with the Linux layer. I've been able to run everything from Loki games to StarOffice under it. Where you will have a problem is with programs that depend on Linux kernel-only features, software dependent on drivers only written for Linux, and trying to link FreeBSD applications to Linux libraries.
Of course, I wasn't expecting them to do an exhaustive search of all 10,000+ packages available for SuSE just to find the 100 that won't work, and the 10 inside that list that you might actually want to use. So I'll give you the only one I have ever found: the Flash plugin. Actually the flash plugin works, but since it is a linux library, you can't link it at runtime to a FreeBSD application. So it won't work under a natively built Konqueror or Mozilla. But it *will* work under a Linux Konqueror or Mozilla running under FreeBSD.
rpm is also a open source program that if one wanted they could probably install it under FreeBSD and get it to work.
Yup. Been there, done that. An awful lot of software is shipped ONLY in RPM format. Even the source code. So when you go to ports to install such software, ports will see that it needs RPM and go install that first.
Does FreeBSD have a journaling file system? If so how many? How do they compare to ext3 or JFS?
This is the debate that will never end because no one can ever win. People smarter than both you and I have weighed in on both sides of the issue. In my opinion, I think transaction atomicity at the filesystem level is simply not needed for the vast majority of users. For them softupdates might be a better solution. One thing I do know though, if you need the kind of stability that only a jfs can provide, then you also want the stability of the 2.0 Linux kernel, which doesn't provide it.
Does it support all the same audio hardware that Linux does?
This was addressed in the article. There are more users using Linux than FreeBSD, consequently there is a larger pool of developers working on last weeks latest and greatest hardware. Linux will always have better hardware support so long as it has a larger user base. In the same way, Windows has better hardware support than Linux.
In practical terms, if your hardware is newer than six months old, Linux may be your only option for a free software OS. Otherwise FreeBSD will be just fine.
A Government Is a Body of People, Usually Notably Ungoverned
As far as XFree is concerned:
I remember runnning XFree4.x.x several years ago
on FreeBSD. It is entirely possible that this
came from ports(I honestly don't remember) but it
has been there for a while even if it wasn't part
of the base system.
As far as nVidia Xfree drivers are concerned:
This was actually one of the reasons that I
switched my desktop OS from FreeBSD to Linux
a while ago. The only other reason being Java
support. However, the nVidia situation was only a
problem since I needed to be able to do hardware
accelerated GL. If you don't need this, then the
drivers provided by Xfree86 work fine under FreeBSD.
If you do need this then it will most
likely be available in the not so distant future.
I would expect it to be in FreeBSD 5.0. You can
track the work being done and try the latest drivers
by checking out this link.
First up, I'm not a purist -- not by any stretch of the imagination -- i tend to migrate to a "best fit solution"
;)
I develop FreeBSD based embedded server apps for clients -- but until recently I had to use Linux in order to get support for my commercialware programmers editor (slickedit) -- took over two years of sending "nastygrams" or rather good natured pokes to get them to make an honest port instead of trying to get it work under the emulator.
Oracle would be great on freebsd, but that seems unlikely for awhile.
Coldfusion would be awesome on freebsd -- but considering Macromedias arcane licensing policy even when it comes to the Solaris version (jeezus I spent less money on my SparcEngine ATX motherboard then I did on my last Intel supermonster -- do they care? no they think their server is worth $5000 for the privilege to run on sparc -vs- the reasonable windows/linux server pricing they have)
The fact is, unless you can live with all the portable "free" stuff, get used to either being a cheerleader or a jeerleader when dealing with commercialware vendors.
Yeah, like its that friggn difficult for them to recompile on freebsd
Old age and treachery almost always overcome youth and skill.