FreeBSD
FreeBSD is one of the *BSD flavor of
unix operating systems that includes BSDi, FreeBSD, NetBSD, Mac OS X Server
and Mac OS X.(Actually, OS X is built on a core of FreeBSD utilities, but the
kernel is Mach, so it is not really *BSD although it is closely related.)
The current furror over Linux that has gone on for the past year or so, overlooks
some of the other operating systems in roughly the same neighborhood as Linux.
FreeBSD is available for no cost and is available through the FreeBSD license
which is simlar to the Gnu Public Licence (GPL) that Linux is available under
except that there is no requirement to contribute code back to the project.
This ability to take the core code, make changes to it and create a commercial,
closed source product appeals to companies that see the GPL as far too restrictive.The
debate rages on and there are interesting points on both sides of the argument.
We use FreeBSD because it is incredibly fast, very efficient and rock solid.We
don't really measure uptimes for the machines because the only time they go
down is for upgrade or hardware repair. The memory and network code is very
fast and stable. FreeBSD is in some ways like an older sibling to Linux, having
already dealt with some of the issues that Linux is encountering and contributing
wisdom (and code) to Linux.
FreeBSD is a much smaller and more controlled developer base as opposed to Linux
which is open to all comers and code is vetted by the project leaders.The core
development team for FreeBSD is more directly involved with the development
and this has led to a somewhat more coherent system because it is a limited,
known number of contributors as opposed to code from everywhere that may have
different style and intent.
I really don't like to get into religious wars about operating systems, but
I do think that in the rush to Linux, FreeBSD is getting overlooked unnecessarily.
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