lewst <lewst@yahoo.com> writes:

> Julian Assange <proff@iq.org> wrote:
> 
> > > I wonder if I could ask you why you prefer NetBSD to other
> > > free unix operating systems such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD and Linux?
> > > I'm trying to learn more about BSD and would like your opinion
> > > as a seasoned user.
> > 
> > Sure -- but why have you written to me?
> 
> Still waiting for your opinions Julian.  Thanks.

Sorry. Busy period.

a) It's the underdog. And hanging with the underdogs is somehow more enjoyable.
b) Unlike other clueful underdogs, such as vista VSTa, NetBSD has enough critical
   mass to get useful things, not just research done.
c) Full distribution and packages for 23+ architectures(!)
d) There's a disproportionate number of NetBSD developers in my home city (Melbourne).
e) I'm one of them.
f) The development community is small enough such that ones contribution can have
   a significant impact and is usually welcomed, rather than being contiually forced
   to play politics inorder to get code into the tree.
g) Because of the focus on strange architectures, code correctness, and the lack
   of pretty install programs, almost every developer has a clue.
h) Running the same OS on my i386, sparc, alpha and arm32 machines eases
   administration burdens.
i) Security. I'm philosophically opposed to security, but there is undenable reality
   that my networks are considered targets, simply because a few people interesting
   to the computer underground are on them.
j) http://www.netbsd.org/Misc/features.html

If you want something to just sit on your desk to run unix applications, you are
probably better off with debian/linux.

Cheers,
Julian.

--
   Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyoming, recorded a message that
   one of its Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles was
   about to launch from its silo due to a computer malfunction. To
   prevent the possible launch, an armored car was parked on top of
   the silo.

     - Shaun Gregory, The Hidden Cost of Deterrence: Nuclear Weapons
       Accidents, Brassey's UK, London, 1990, pp. 181-182.