Before I say anything else, let me just say that I like Linux. Really, I do, though my first experiences with it were back when it was a lot buggier than now, and I was rather annoyed with its instability for some time. It has improved considerably, though, and for a Unix emulator, it does most things right.

What I really missed, though, was a BSD-style Unix. Stable, flexible, friendly (as Unices go), and . . . well, legally contested. For years, BSD had to sit on the sidelines while Linux pulled itself slowly off the floor.

A few years ago, BSD-Lite 4.4 was released---a completely unencumbered codebase---and the BSD mantle was taken up by open-source groups. And then the infighting started.

But out of the struggle came three of the best versions of BSD out there: NetBSD (unbelievably portable), OpenBSD (incredibly secure) and FreeBSD.

The FreeBSD group seems to be more diplomatically oriented than many Unix open-source groups, forming strong ties with the OpenBSD and NetBSD groups and Linux advocates alike. FreeBSD was one of the first to have a Linux emulator available for their operating system, and indeed, FreeBSD has made a point of encouraging people to lobby for Linux versions of binary distributions before FreeBSD.

So their hearts are in the right place.

FreeBSD is a solid, fast BSD-4.4 system designed primarily for Intel-compatible processors, though an Alpha port is in the works. It has all the standard Berkeley features, plus some really nice ones of its own. Its "ports" system, which permits you to compile and install third-party sources with (usually) a single command is brilliant---instead of transferring the already-compiled binaries (typically large files), each port is essentially a Makefile with a few auxiliary "readme"s and the like. Typing "make install" fetches a recent version of the actual source code, configures and patches it as necessary, and installs it properly.

The website (http://www.freebsd.org/) includes mailing list archives (the very active mailing lists are the primary means of support for the operating system), an extensive handbook, various tutorials, resources, and so forth.

Uptimes on well-configured BSD systems are legendary. Eventually, once USB and FireWire support is ubiquitous, I'll hardly ever need to shut down my FreeBSD system at all.

The one downside to FreeBSD is that drivers don't appear as quickly as those in Linux. That's also an upside, of course; stability is more important to the FreeBSD folks than unstably supporting the bleeding edge of technology.

Linux does run a little faster under low process loads and network loads, but BSD really holds its own even when heavily loaded.

In all, I heavily recommend FreeBSD to any Unix/Linux geek or geek-wannabe.



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