FreeBSD is Another Alternative Open-Source Operating System
August 06, 2004
By Robert Thoelen III
Principal Software Engineer
RTCubed Consulting, LLC
In the fall of 2000, I was getting bored with Linux. I like Linux, and have been an avid user of it since 1996, when I first heard a dean at the engineering school I attended mention it. This was a on a recruiting trip that my father took, and I tagged along to see if the school would be right for me. I figured if other students were using Linux, it would help if I learned Linux before I got there. So I spent my senior year in high school hacking away at installing and learning Linux, which is probably the best thing I could have done for my career. Anyways, since then, I've had a fascination for Unix. But I after a few years, boredom set in, and I had always wondered about FreeBSD.
The purpose of this article is to show the strong points of FreeBSD. It is not intended to speak poorly of Linux. The comparisons I make are meant to show the differences between the two, in order to give someone new to FreeBSD a taste of the strengths and capabilities of the product. Linux is an equally good operating system, and most of my Unix experience has been with the Linux kernel.
FreeBSD is a Complete Package
When someone refers to Linux, in reality they are speaking of the kernel. The support files around it, such as ls, chmod, and others are dependent on the distribution. Many distributions exist for Linux, such as Slackware, RedHat, Debian, and hundreds of others. This is why many refer to Linux as GNU/Linux. GNU has developed the utilities around the kernel, and Linux is the kernel itself. FreeBSD is different, in that everything comes in one distribution. FreeBSD is a kernel and the support files.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. The advantage to the Linux approach is many distributions, catered to individual needs and preferences. FreeBSD has an advantage in that there is only distribution to worry about. Much of the decision to use Linux or BSD may come from this point. If you want to be bleeding edge, the drivers and support files will be more abundant with Linux. However, if you want a distribution that lags behind a little, but is more tightly controlled, FreeBSD may be for you.
Installation Options
Installation is about as easy as Linux, although not as graphical as some Linux distributions, such as RedHat. If you have specialized peripherals, expect to spend some time on Usenet or surfing for help. I was really asking for punishment the first time I installed FreeBSD. I was installing it to a clone laptop, and trying to get the PCMCIA slots working. It took a weekend of searching the newsgroups and websites to get things running. This was important, because my network card was a PCMCIA NE2000 compliant adapter, and without it, I'd have no network access.
So plan some time to get things running. I can now do most installs in a couple of hours, depending on what is needed. You have the options of installing from CDs, a network connection, or other locations. I have installed from CDs and over the Internet. There are options to tell the installer you need to go through a proxy server, if you are behind a corporate firewall.
Package Management
I definitely think that FreeBSD has the best package management. It is so easy to install new applications through the sysinstall program. You can install and remove applications, and the installer knows what dependencies each package has, and fetches and installs those as well. This certainly beats the old days of downloading tarballs, extracting them, running make, and then finding out that you need to download another tarball. Other Linux distributions have improved greatly over when I first started using Linux. Next to FreeBSD, Debian has my vote for a good package management system.
Ports Collection
This unique feature of FreeBSD is what made me enthusiastic about using this platform. The ports collection are many third-party utilities, that maintainers patch if necessary, create into a scripted install, and release in a very large tarball, or you can install it through sysinstall. The nice thing about the ports collection is that you just have to enter the directory which has the utility you want, such as nmap, and type "make", or "make install". Within minutes, unless it is a large build, the scripts go out to the internet if needed and fetch all the sources, compile them, and install them on your machine. You can sit back, or head to the water cooler while these things are taking place. It is really a no-nonsense way to get all your favorite Unix utilities fast. I have had very few problems with the ports collection, and view it is a big selling point for FreeBSD.
Conclusion
I should mention that there are two other major distributions of BSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. OpenBSD especially is interesting if you are worried about security. Each of these other BSD distributions has their own developer teams, so I view each as a separate product, not another distribution. I run FreeBSD for one of my company's web servers, and have been very pleased with the performance. While Linux probably would do just as well for me, I like the "feel" of FreeBSD. If you are a serious Unix user, and have not tried FreeBSD, you owe it to yourself to give this product a try. It won't cost you anything, except for a few hours of setup time. If you are interested in FreeBSD in your business as a server operating system, please give us a call at RTCubed.
Related Links
August 06, 2004
By Robert Thoelen III
Principal Software Engineer
RTCubed Consulting, LLC
In the fall of 2000, I was getting bored with Linux. I like Linux, and have been an avid user of it since 1996, when I first heard a dean at the engineering school I attended mention it. This was a on a recruiting trip that my father took, and I tagged along to see if the school would be right for me. I figured if other students were using Linux, it would help if I learned Linux before I got there. So I spent my senior year in high school hacking away at installing and learning Linux, which is probably the best thing I could have done for my career. Anyways, since then, I've had a fascination for Unix. But I after a few years, boredom set in, and I had always wondered about FreeBSD.
The purpose of this article is to show the strong points of FreeBSD. It is not intended to speak poorly of Linux. The comparisons I make are meant to show the differences between the two, in order to give someone new to FreeBSD a taste of the strengths and capabilities of the product. Linux is an equally good operating system, and most of my Unix experience has been with the Linux kernel.
FreeBSD is a Complete Package
When someone refers to Linux, in reality they are speaking of the kernel. The support files around it, such as ls, chmod, and others are dependent on the distribution. Many distributions exist for Linux, such as Slackware, RedHat, Debian, and hundreds of others. This is why many refer to Linux as GNU/Linux. GNU has developed the utilities around the kernel, and Linux is the kernel itself. FreeBSD is different, in that everything comes in one distribution. FreeBSD is a kernel and the support files.
There are advantages and disadvantages to this approach. The advantage to the Linux approach is many distributions, catered to individual needs and preferences. FreeBSD has an advantage in that there is only distribution to worry about. Much of the decision to use Linux or BSD may come from this point. If you want to be bleeding edge, the drivers and support files will be more abundant with Linux. However, if you want a distribution that lags behind a little, but is more tightly controlled, FreeBSD may be for you.
Installation Options
Installation is about as easy as Linux, although not as graphical as some Linux distributions, such as RedHat. If you have specialized peripherals, expect to spend some time on Usenet or surfing for help. I was really asking for punishment the first time I installed FreeBSD. I was installing it to a clone laptop, and trying to get the PCMCIA slots working. It took a weekend of searching the newsgroups and websites to get things running. This was important, because my network card was a PCMCIA NE2000 compliant adapter, and without it, I'd have no network access.
So plan some time to get things running. I can now do most installs in a couple of hours, depending on what is needed. You have the options of installing from CDs, a network connection, or other locations. I have installed from CDs and over the Internet. There are options to tell the installer you need to go through a proxy server, if you are behind a corporate firewall.
Package Management
I definitely think that FreeBSD has the best package management. It is so easy to install new applications through the sysinstall program. You can install and remove applications, and the installer knows what dependencies each package has, and fetches and installs those as well. This certainly beats the old days of downloading tarballs, extracting them, running make, and then finding out that you need to download another tarball. Other Linux distributions have improved greatly over when I first started using Linux. Next to FreeBSD, Debian has my vote for a good package management system.
Ports Collection
This unique feature of FreeBSD is what made me enthusiastic about using this platform. The ports collection are many third-party utilities, that maintainers patch if necessary, create into a scripted install, and release in a very large tarball, or you can install it through sysinstall. The nice thing about the ports collection is that you just have to enter the directory which has the utility you want, such as nmap, and type "make", or "make install". Within minutes, unless it is a large build, the scripts go out to the internet if needed and fetch all the sources, compile them, and install them on your machine. You can sit back, or head to the water cooler while these things are taking place. It is really a no-nonsense way to get all your favorite Unix utilities fast. I have had very few problems with the ports collection, and view it is a big selling point for FreeBSD.
Conclusion
I should mention that there are two other major distributions of BSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD. OpenBSD especially is interesting if you are worried about security. Each of these other BSD distributions has their own developer teams, so I view each as a separate product, not another distribution. I run FreeBSD for one of my company's web servers, and have been very pleased with the performance. While Linux probably would do just as well for me, I like the "feel" of FreeBSD. If you are a serious Unix user, and have not tried FreeBSD, you owe it to yourself to give this product a try. It won't cost you anything, except for a few hours of setup time. If you are interested in FreeBSD in your business as a server operating system, please give us a call at RTCubed.
Related Links