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On Sun, 13 May 2007 15:25:56 +0100 Anton Channing <achanning@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote: > I was curious to know what those in the Linux > community thought about other open source OS > that are available, such as FreeBSD and > OpenSolaris? These all seem to run x86 > architecture... OpenSolaris : from Sun, currently employing Ian Murdoch - the guy who started Debian. Does some fairly fundamental things differently to Linux - not necessarily better, just sufficiently different to break stuff. It may just be me but I get the distinct impression that hardware support is less than Linux and I certainly get the impression it isn't one for a newbie - it probably isn't first choice for users of intermediate experience either. *BSD : Lots of different flavours and some are very good at what they do but I wouldn't say any are particularly newbie friendly. Generally, you can get most GNU software to run on each variant - Debian supports unofficial ports to a couple of freebsd variants. The variation happens at the low levels like udev, device driver support and other kernel issues. Even so, it is usually sufficiently different to make it a non-trivial task to port applications. Having said all that, it's also non-trivial to port Linux applications to embedded hardware when still using the Linux kernel so it isn't unexpected. If you get a chance to get to a Linux conference (like LinuxWorld Expo in Olympia each October), there are usually BSD guys around. Also at Fosdem. > What are their advantages and disadvantages > over using Linux distros? Generally, new hardware tends to be supported in the Linux kernel first. Don't forget, there is also the GNU Hurd kernel - again with an unofficial port in Debian. Unofficial doesn't mean that much, amd64 was unofficial until recently. It just means that not all Debian software will run on the unofficial ports, builds can be slower than official ports, security support is lacking and generally it's not ready for most users. > Are their open > source licenses 'less open' than Linux? YES. open source != free software. http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-software-for-freedom.html Always ensure you have a free software OS, not just an open source OS. Open Source includes licences that infringe on your freedom, limit your ability to share, reduce the opportunity to reuse code and can expose you to unnecessary legal risks - including forcing you to pay up to "compensate" certain open source companies. All free software is open source but the reverse is NOT true. Some open source software can actually be considered proprietary. Debian non-free (and Ubuntu restricted) are all open source but none of those are actually free. Don't surrender your freedom! > Just curious. > > Next time I get a spare PC to mess around > with I might perform some experiments with > these and various Linux distros. I experimented with lots of variants before settling on Debian and I would recommend everyone to do the same. Whatever you do, do not stay on the first GNU/Linux distro you installed. Few distributions can survive the learning curve from newbie to intermediate or experienced user. Whatever you choose at the start, you are very likely to outgrow it eventually. -- Neil Williams ============= http://www.data-freedom.org/ http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com/ http://www.linux.codehelp.co.uk/
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