Agreed. PF adds some very nice features that neither IPFW nor IPF have, and having ONE config file makes it simpler to manage. Anyone complaining that FreeBSD shouldn't have additional packet filters besides the defacto IPFW and the venerable IPF is doing the BSD community a disservice. If you don't want to use PF, don't use it; no need to complain. Freedom of choice is good.
Those that have used all three packet filters know that PF is where it's at. Looking forward to seeing it added to the ports tree very soon. If you're installing a new system or have a test node handy, do yourself a favor and give PF a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
As far as competition goes, as of now there is none. PF continues to improve drastically, while IPFW and IPF remain stale and stagnant (regarding new capabilities).
I think it all depends on what you want to do, in regards to what type of UNIX or pseudo-UNIX (linux) you want to use. If you need support for all the latest hardware and oddball stuff, linux is your best bet. If you want to play games, linux is your best bet, although I know several people that successfully run games on FreeBSD, albeit in linux-compat mode.
I still haven't been able to get my Voodoo 5 working under X, except in 640x480x8bbp (yuck), but I think that's more of an issue with XF86Free...
I used all the major versions of linux at one point, and certain things didn't work with each distro (I'll not go into detail here). I ended up with Libranet (Debian) and I was pretty happy with it until I tried to upgrade Netscape one day with apt-get and it totally hosed my system.
That's when I decided to go with BSD. I installed OpenBSD as a desktop and ran it for many months with nary an issue, I even upgraded it and got X 4.x.x running without too much trouble (although it did seem like a PITA at the time). The only reason I quit running OpenBSD as a desktop was because of not enough software in ports.
I've run several FreeBSD machines and, compared to linux, they're a dream to install, configure and maintain. I also run a few NetBSD machines, which I enjoy because it's a bit more challenging to get up and running, but then it's almost as easy as FreeBSD to maintain.
I really hated compiling new kernels in linux; it's too easy with *BSD. I found Slackware (BSD-lite as I like to call it) and Debian to be good primers for *BSD, so I don't totally discount linux; it's a good learning experience.
However, I won't go back to linux as my main operating system. Ever. *BSD is that good. Sure, I may not be able to play games, but I have plenty of other stuff to keep me busy, like studying for various certifications (Solaris, HP-UX, Cisco) and playing with old Sun, HP and Cisco hardware...
entrox: sounds like you need to cvsup those ports, buddy!;)
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Agreed. PF adds some very nice features that neither IPFW nor IPF have, and having ONE config file makes it simpler to manage. Anyone complaining that FreeBSD shouldn't have additional packet filters besides the defacto IPFW and the venerable IPF is doing the BSD community a disservice. If you don't want to use PF, don't use it; no need to complain. Freedom of choice is good.
Those that have used all three packet filters know that PF is where it's at. Looking forward to seeing it added to the ports tree very soon. If you're installing a new system or have a test node handy, do yourself a favor and give PF a try. You'll be pleasantly surprised.
As far as competition goes, as of now there is none. PF continues to improve drastically, while IPFW and IPF remain stale and stagnant (regarding new capabilities).
Maybe your laptop just sucks.
I think it all depends on what you want to do, in regards to what type of UNIX or pseudo-UNIX (linux) you want to use. If you need support for all the latest hardware and oddball stuff, linux is your best bet. If you want to play games, linux is your best bet, although I know several people that successfully run games on FreeBSD, albeit in linux-compat mode.
;)
I still haven't been able to get my Voodoo 5 working under X, except in 640x480x8bbp (yuck), but I think that's more of an issue with XF86Free...
I used all the major versions of linux at one point, and certain things didn't work with each distro (I'll not go into detail here). I ended up with Libranet (Debian) and I was pretty happy with it until I tried to upgrade Netscape one day with apt-get and it totally hosed my system.
That's when I decided to go with BSD. I installed OpenBSD as a desktop and ran it for many months with nary an issue, I even upgraded it and got X 4.x.x running without too much trouble (although it did seem like a PITA at the time). The only reason I quit running OpenBSD as a desktop was because of not enough software in ports.
I've run several FreeBSD machines and, compared to linux, they're a dream to install, configure and maintain. I also run a few NetBSD machines, which I enjoy because it's a bit more challenging to get up and running, but then it's almost as easy as FreeBSD to maintain.
I really hated compiling new kernels in linux; it's too easy with *BSD. I found Slackware (BSD-lite as I like to call it) and Debian to be good primers for *BSD, so I don't totally discount linux; it's a good learning experience.
However, I won't go back to linux as my main operating system. Ever. *BSD is that good. Sure, I may not be able to play games, but I have plenty of other stuff to keep me busy, like studying for various certifications (Solaris, HP-UX, Cisco) and playing with old Sun, HP and Cisco hardware...
entrox: sounds like you need to cvsup those ports, buddy!