What am I talking about?

My computers are running FreeBSD . Many of my friends have Linux on their computers, at least one of its distributions. Despite the fact that we agree that * nix systems are the right choice, our opinions differ in the choice of specific distributions. I got the impression that the BSD community, in general, understands Linux better than the Linux community understands BSD . I have a few suggestions why this is happening, but it doesn’t matter. I believe many Linuxers have abandoned BSD because they don’t quite understand what’s what. Thus, as a BSD user, I will try to explain how BSD works in an accessible form. Although the systems are very similar in many aspects, there are many differences. If you dig deeper, you will find out that they arise from deep-rooted disagreements. Some of them relate to the development methodology, others - installation and use, the third - what is important and who is important, and the fourth - which ice cream tastes better. Comparison of surface differences will not tell you about anything - only a deeper comparison will explain and put everything on the shelves.

What is not here?

There is no:

• a list of matching commands, like " netstat -rnfinet in BSD = netstat -rnAinet in Linux" and so on.
• How to do certain things when administering and working BSD.
• Why you should use BSD instead of Linux.
• Why use Linux instead of BSD.
• Why you should use this BSD, and not that BSD.
• Why use this linux instead of linux.
• Why BSD is right and Linux is wrong.
• Why Linux is right and BSD is wrong.

Personally, I believe that my choice of OS is correct. But it's me . I am not telling you that you should believe the same thing. Study the facts, their prerequisites, and make your choice. After all, it is for this that he is given to you.

Some considerations.

There are many philosophical differences between the Linux world and the BSD world. And a lot of statements about this. One of my favorites looks like this:

“BSD is what happens when a bunch of Unix hackers try to port Unix to a PC. Linux is what happens when a handful of PC hackers try to write a Unix system for PCs. ”

I like how subtly seen, not because it is some kind of sacred truth, but because it gives impetus to the understanding of some differences. BSD systems are generally more similar to traditional Unix than Linux. This is largely due to the fact that they are direct descendants of Berkeley Software Distibution, which in turn was born from AT & T Unix. The Unix trademark belongs to The Open Group, and the Unix code is the property of SCO, so you cannot say that the BSD system is Unix. But, in many respects, BSD systems are direct descendants of traditional Unix. This can be traced in many ways: in system design, in additions, in partitioning a hard disk, in details of commands, in relation to prejudices and reactions of developers and in users. BSD develops. Linux is grown. Perhaps this is the only brief description, and perhaps the most correct.

With this small introduction, I begin to translate a series of articles by Matt Fuller , which at one time inspired me to switch to FreeBSD.