On Mon, 11 May 1998, Jason Thorpe wrote:

>On Tue, 12 May 1998 00:20:59 -0400 (EDT) 
> Chris <smirks@mail.eclipse.net> wrote:
>
> > I will agree with Chris.. FreeBSD on a PC just plain ol kicks butt...=)
>
>Well, I'd say NetBSD on a PC just pain old kicks butt, too... :-)
>
> > > FreeBSD is very much like NetBSD.  In my opinion it is a very nice polished
> > > system.  Where NetBSD concentrates on being available on manyy different
> > > platforms, FreeBSD seems to be more interested in working well on the IBM
> > > PC compatable architecture.  I run NetBSD on my mac, and have never run
> > > linux or NetBSD on my PC, but I would highly recomend FreeBSD if you
> > > want to run UNIX on a PC.  For more information see www.freebsd.org
>
>You ought to try out NetBSD on your PC... especially if you run NetBSD
>on another platform.  I vastly prefer NetBSD over FreeBSD because NetBSD
>tends to do lots of things Right from the get-go, with an emphasis on
>clean design and implementation (one of the reasons we can run on so many
>platforms!).

I should have been more verbose when I wrote my orriginal comments.  I
thought that I could just slip through the cracks but now I see that this
was a mistake.  I have no desire to start a flame fest, and I suspect that
jason doesn't either and merely meant to tweak me for putting this on a
NetBSD list.  In my orriginal message where I mention FreeBSD I did so
only becase I don't have X on my IIci (since it doesn't have a monitor)
but I have XFree86 on my FreeBSD box and as I understand it NetBSDs X
is based on XFree sources.  I would not have mentioned FreeBSD otherwise.
Then some one asked what FreeBSD was and I tried to describe it without
bias.  I EXPLICITLY said I had no experience with NetBSD or linux on PCs
in an attempt to avoid flames or comments.

Having now started down this path I want to make several comments.  First
and foremost, I stand behind everything I said FreeBSD is a very nice
polished.  This sais nothing about other systems, and indeed I admit no
experience with NetBSD or linux on PCs.  At the time I started with
FreeBSD it had a few advantages over NetBSD:

1) It had better documentation (in my opinion) and was easier to install
from what I could gather.

2) Their ports system made it very easy for me to get Magic, Spice and Irsim
(and many other packages) up and running immediately.  Since I was designing
3 computer chips at the time, this was VERY important to me especially as
the deadlines loomed closer.

3) Their CVSup source distribution system really made it easy to examine
the source in a way that sup doesn't.

4) It was easy to get on a CD instead of downloading over a modem at
9600 baud.

There is no debate about this as this was my PERCEPTION, correct or not,
thats what it was.  Having used FreeBSD and NetBSD/Mac for several years now,
I would say that 1 is no longer an issue for me.  2 has obviously been
rectified, but I still think that 3 needs correction.  People might
suggest that I just sup every day and import into my own CVS tree, but
to my mind that just isn't the same.  I like being able to check out a
particular TAG and know that I am getting the same thing as everybody else.
I like being able to see the complete history of a file, and all the changes
that were made I really wish that there were a "one true CVS tree"
available to the unwashed masses.

Now, let me reply to some of Jasons comments more directly. Jason sais above:

>                      I vastly prefer NetBSD over FreeBSD because NetBSD
>tends to do lots of things Right from the get-go, with an emphasis on
>clean design and implementation (one of the reasons we can run on so many
>platforms!).

I object to this comment with out more support, I don't see that NetBSD is
that much better than FreeBSD, I don't see "things Right from the get-go"
that aren't in FreeBSD, and the way it is said it makes it seems as if
FreeBSD isn't concerned about clean design and implementation.  I think
their work towards DEVFS, SLICES, softupdates, and  their VM system as well
as terry's work towards filesystem cleanup is good.

Before I close, let me add lastly, but surely not least, a heart felt
thank you to all the members of the NetBSD and FreeBSD teams for their
excellent work.  And particularly for Jason for whom I have great
respect admiration and apprecation for all of his work.

---------
Christopher R. Bowman
crb@ChrisBowman.com
My home page