Re: Debian/GNU Freebsd

[Joseph Carter <knghtbrd@debian.org>]

On Thu, Feb 18, 1999 at 05:53:13PM +1100, Hamish Moffatt wrote:
> > I'm no FreeBSD advocate. In truth, I believe that they could use a lot of
> > help from us, as they're lagging behind. But that's not what I'm going to
> > talk about. I have a rule; I won't put down any one variant unless I'm
> > doing a comparison. And this isn't a comparison.
> > 
> > I personally can see absolutely *no* reason NOT to do Debian/GNU FreeBSD.
> > Nor do I see any reason not to do Debian/GNU Hurd. Or any other open
> > source unix variant that there is. 
> 
> There's no reason not to do it really... but who would use it?

I very well might, actually.


> Existing Debian users are probably pretty happy with the Linux kernel.
> Existing FreeBSD users are probably pretty happy with their existing
> installation and management system. (To us Debian users, it looks terrible --
> I've tried it and didn't think much of it -- but to FreeBSD users it's
> probably fine.)

I know a lot of other people who like BSD more than Linux for a variety
of reasons but would like a distribution with the the consistancy,
policy, and packaging system found in Debian.  Even if it means
everything ends up in /usr instead of /usr/local, some have said.




> > I've talked with a lot of webmaster types. And the word on the street is
> > that they prefer FreeBSD/OpenBSD/NetBSD. They handle higher loads better
> > than Linux, supposedly. Now, if I'm not mistaken, it's "Software in the
> 
> I think that's a myth. A Debian FreeBSD might look like we're confirming it.

Bah, unix flavor bashing, on all sides.  FreeBSD's kernel is just as good
as Linux and Linux is just as good as FreeBSD's kernel.  A little
different optimizations here and there but they'll usually balance out. 
I've actually considered using UFS in a couple of places for example
because I prefer it to ext2.  It's a little slower but my personal
experience has shown me that ext2 needs to be cleaned up a little now and
then, nothing serious and not necessarily an error, but still.

I don't like Slowaris, but it's mostly just because it felt somewhat
broken to me..  Maybe I'd feel better with a GNU/Solaris, but I know
Debian isn't going to do that one anytime soon..  =>

-- 
"There are 3 things to remember about being a Starship Captain: 
 Keep your shirt tucked in, go down with the ship, and never, 
 ever abandon a member of your crew."
                        -- Kathryn Janeway, Star Trek: Voyager