BSDForums Interviews Scott Long

Dan writes that BSDForums is featuring and interview with FreeBSD's Scott Long. Scott fills us in on some of the new things in FreeBSD 6.0 including Apple G4 PowerMac, AMD64, and wireless compatibility. In addition to specifics Scott also abstracts on the overall snapshot of BSD development with respect to OpenBSD, NetBSD and the ongoing debate between BSD vs. Linux.

Comments

What debate?

[ChrisF79]

There's a debate between Linux and BSD? Hmm, I must have missed it.

Re:What debate?

[molnarcs]

Parent post is not offtopic - in fact, it is right on target: there is no linux vs. bsd debate, except here on slashdot (and that's the point Scott Long makes, except for the slashdot part). That is my experience as well. I came to bsd from a linux background (mandrake), and I only met friendly people at bsdforums.org. Friendly as in not trying to convince you to use bsd instead of linux at all cost. In fact, I read good reviews of various linux distroes on bsdforums. Generally speaking, bsd users (and I think bsdforums is a good representation of the userbase) are basically friendly towards linux - so don't let ./ trolls convince you otherwise (or journalists, who like this kind of x vs. y stuff because, like all controversies, they make better headlines).

Re:A n00bs look in

[Thalagyrt]

It may be a quip, but at least in my experience, most people I know personally who use Linux use it out of hatred for Microsoft, and those that use BSD use it because they love Unix.

Of course I can't say this is true for everyone, because I don't know everyone. I'm just saying this out of experience with my personal real life friends and coworkers. There's definitely exceptions to this - it can't be said that every Linux user uses it out of hatred for Microsoft and that every BSD user uses it for love of Unix. This would be simply untrue. This is just my observation.

I also know that I'll probably get modded troll or flamebait for this, even though I'm simply stating something that I've noticed throughout the years.

BSD .vs. Linux

[Medievalist]

It has generally been my experience that the people who argue "BSD versus linux" fall into one of two categories.

1) BSD people who have no in-depth knowledge of linux, and therefore speak from a position of ignorance

2) Linux people who know very little about any particular BSD, and therefore speak from a position of ignorance

The people with truly deep knowledge of both systems always say "use the right tool for the right task" and typically have no time for OS religious wars.

Re:A n00bs look in

[ettlz]

...it can't be said that every Linux user uses it out of hatred for Microsoft and that every BSD user uses it for love of Unix.

There are BSD fans like to "rile" Linux users with [friendly] jibes of "weenie" and "get a proper operating system". But it really goes without saying what some of them think of Microsoft products. Not so much hatred, as sheer, unbridled contempt: they barely acknowledge Windows as software. And for the record, I use Linux because I like Linux.

(I also read Playboy for the articles, and BoingBoing for the SuicideGirls adverts.)

Re:FreeBSD vs Linux

[compass46]

troll, troll, troll your boat... But hey, I'm bored at work right now.

Wasn't FreeBSD the only other operating system Microsoft ported C# to?
they planned to are those plans still alive?

No the plans are not still alive because no one really cared. Mono on the other hand is pretty well supported.

Didn't Hotmail run for a LONG time on FreeBSD?
they no longer do. if FreeBSD is so great, why don't they still use it?

Yes hotmail before Microsoft was heavilly FreeBSD + Qmail. I'd expect Microft to use Win2k3 over any OS as would most normal ppl.

Re:My Experiences with BSD...

[Anonymous Coward]

BSD not complying to standards? At least it has some, which is more than can be said for Linux

Re:My Experiences with BSD...

[Arandir]

1. Partitioning. Why in the fucking hell do you have to partition TWICE? Why do you need a standard partition that can be seen by other OSes and then those weird ass partitions within that partition that only BSD can see? How is that useful?

How useful is the partitioning scheme of Linux and Windows? First you have primary partitions, then extended partitions, and then logical partitions. Huh?

Here's the scoop, numbnut: way back in the beginning of harddisks on the PC, the idea was that every OS got its own primary partition. Then the OS could slice up its own partition however it wanted to. Microsoft decided to use extended/logical partitions, while 386BSD decided to use the traditional BSD slices. Then Linux came along and said "let's do it the Microsoft way!" The truth is that neither method is better or worse than the other. In the absence of any standard, each OS is free to subdivide their primary partition however they want.