What different in BSD than in Linux

**msg43** · 10-16-2005

Hi.
I've been wanting to try bsd for a while but I just haven't gotten around to it. Though I have no clue what is diffrent from Linux and BSD may someone want to explain? Thanks

**bigtomrodney** · 10-16-2005

They're both Unix like systems, but historically BSD is closer as it was at times actually Unix (as part of AT&T Unix). It's really like speaking different dialects of the same language. Device names may be different but you're still using the same xorg/XFree, same Desktop environments, same shells - Bash/csh etc...

An example of a difference would be /dev/hda might look more like /dev/ad0 (from memory). You'll certainly get by but with BSD you tend to install a base system and then build from there, no nice SUSE equivalent of drop everything in and it will just work.

That tends to be the real difference, aside from licensing. BSD although working well on the desktop, is more server oriented as linux has been getting all of the desktop attention.

**a thing** · 10-16-2005

Originally Posted by bigtomrodney

An example of a difference would be /dev/hda might look more like /dev/ad0 (from memory). You'll certainly get by but with BSD you tend to install a base system and then build from there, no nice SUSE equivalent of drop everything in and it will just work.

Some distros like Debian already do this.

**msg43** · 10-16-2005

So Linux is aimed for the desktop and bsd is more aimed for the server?

**valan** · 10-16-2005

http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd...bsd4linux1.php

**bryansmith** · 10-16-2005

Originally Posted by msg43

So Linux is aimed for the desktop and bsd is more aimed for the server?

Yes, but some projects like PC-BSD and DesktopBSD are doing great work at providing BSD for desktops.

Bryan

**genesus** · 10-16-2005

but you can run a good fast desktop from just about any bsd, you just have to install things, very similarly to gentoo if you are experienced at all with that, for example in OpenBSD if you install the xserver package at install all you have to do is run xorgcfg to get a basic configuration of the system...if you want a window manager you search for it then compile it; for example if you wanted blackbox, you would simply

Code:

cd /usr/ports
sudo make search key="blackbox"
...this will return where blackbox is in ports...then go to it and install it
cd x11/blackbox
make install

then you will have blackbox as your window manager...its not really that difficult, and alot of nifty apps are installed by default, such as ftpd and sshd...

**msg43** · 10-16-2005

So what I've been getting from this is that linux and freebsd is pretty much the same. They have similar apps, drivers are a bit different, and the way the OS works is a bit different. Am I wrong?

**genesus** · 10-16-2005

very, very, very, very similar...being pretty experienced with linux I had little trouble with bsds...

**Vergil83** · 10-17-2005

The biggest differences IMHO are
A) the developement process (bsd is more cathedral than bazar)

B) the licenses. "Linux programs" tend to be licenses using something called copyleft. BSD is under a different type license philosophy

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