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Linux vs. BSD?

S

-Sn1PeR-

2[H]4U
Joined
Dec 26, 2002
Messages
2,950
I've always used linux for most everything(aside from games) but am wondering if I'm missing alot by not using a form of BSD. Anyone have any input on pros/cons? Is BSD more secure?
 
*nod*

// normally this type of question would cause my head to explode, but lets leave it at that.
 
haha ok I get it. I'm just gunna give it a try and see how I like it. Found freeSBIE live CD so I'll give it a shot. Thanks :D
 
On a sidenote, I did purchase a copy of OpenBSD - now how do I install it :cool:
 
Originally posted by Josh_B
On a sidenote, I did purchase a copy of OpenBSD - now how do I install it :cool:
Click to expand...

http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq4.html should be helpful.

-Sn1PeR- : I extremely strongly suggest spending some time with www.freebsd.org. The handbook, especially, is worth skimming.
As for pros/cons: The best, IMO, thing about FreeBSD is the ports system. I'm stil a bit angry at ati for not getting any *BSD-drivers out, though. (unlike nVidia).

I use it for everything you could use a linux for, except 3d-accelerated gaming, and had I had a geforce, even that. The main differences, IMHO, are the different kernel, a more organised userland than most (all?) linux distros, and, well, what I think is a pleasantly sane organisation of base utils/system/kernel.

Matter of taste, probably, and worth trying.
As for safety, well, they aren't less secure. Much depends on the software you add and how you set everything up, as always.
 
I just install the basics from floppy/ftp, then cvsup, rebuild, and go from there. Never really got into the CD thing for some reason; probably something to do with my hatred for linux and all that time wasted with it, both using, administrating, and downloading ISOs for. Oh, but what fun I had setting fire to those CDs several years ago...

Depending on your comfort level with UNIX, you may want to jump in and learn how to CVS and rebuild the kernel & world right away, or you might not. BSDVault has some decent writeups on that stuff to fill gaps in the handbook. FreeBSD Forums is also a decent place to ask advanced *BSD questions if you're not on the mailing lists.
 
Linux has a lot of good qualities about it. Its two best qualities are that it is cheap and it is an imitation of unix.


FreeBSD is as *unix* of an operating system you can get now days. It to is also cheap as dirt but it is no immitation.


So from a glance, Linux is just a cheap imitation of UNIX :D


FreeBSD is hardcore unix. And YES it is more secure.


FreeBSD isn't the easiest thing to install in the world. But if you can use gentoo Freebsd is nothing. FreeBSD will also run a lot of the same software and desktop environments as Linux will, food for thought.
 
Originally posted by Mushroom Prince
Linux has a lot of good qualities about it. Its two best qualities are that it is cheap and it is an imitation of unix.
Click to expand...
Spoken by someone who doesn't use linux, it would seem.

I realize this post is likely a troll, or worse, he/she actually think they know what they are talking about. Regardless, I am responding.
FreeBSD is as *unix* of an operating system you can get now days.
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Well, technically, I think SCO would be as unix as you can get now a days. Maybe HP-Unix. Maybe even SUN. BSD is an offshoot of the unix branch, granted, but there are many other variations that still carry the brandname "Unix".
FreeBSD is hardcore unix. And YES it is more secure.
Click to expand...
"Linux is more secure than Windows!". If you do not see the problem with either your statement or mine, have someone explain it to you. Have them use small words. Maybe some flash cards would help.

*bsds are great at what they do. Open being secure, Net being portable and Free being general purpose. They are generally very stable, and less prone to the bugs you get with the bleeding edge stuff, ala linux 2.6.x kernel.

That said, there are a few things that the bsd kernel doesn't have that the linux kernel does. Although it's either being fixed or has been comitted, smp was lacking for the longest time under the bsds.

In the end, it all comes down to this: Play with it, see what you like.
 
There's lots of rumors about how BSD is more secure than linux, faster blah blah. None of it has been true forever, if anything BSD is playing catch up these days to linux. Let's look at 2.6, just the SELinux patches alone that made it into 2.6 blow away anything offered in FreeBSD. Around the days of 2.2 even I had to admit FreeBSD was where it was at in terms of performance, those days are over and with the support of IBM, SGI, Sun and lots of big players, linux is superior. I'd like to see anyone give me any way BSD is superior to linux.
 
As Master XOR said (and he would know), there is no inherent "more secure" aspect of either. However, BSD does typically have many more networking components either defaulted off or not installed by default. Additionally, BSD is more like UNIX than Linux is, but is more like Linux than it is like UNIX.

Overall, the OS is only gonna be as secure as the setup.
 
I've used Redhat, FreeBSD, Debian, Gentoo, and Slackware. I must say that FreeBSD is the best out of all of them. Linux is a little easier to use but FreeBSD has some nice security and porting features that are absent in most distros of linux. If you load the linux.ko module; you can run anything that'll run under linux.
 
I wrote an unbiased, fair and balanced (haha) page about why I run FreeBSD instead of Linux. It may be worth a read if you're bored.
 
The TrustedBSD project is also working on SEBSD, which does the EXACT same things as SELinux. But that does not mean either is more secure because of that particular branch.

I see linux as a chaotic under-grad project and FreeBSD as more of a product I would use in the work environment.
 
Security is 95% administration. If you're lax in your duties as an admin, you're going to get burned. SELinux and such help, but they aren't a replacement for a good admin that knows the OS' ins and outs.
 
Originally posted by mcarlson
The TrustedBSD project is also working on SEBSD, which does the EXACT same things as SELinux. But that does not mean either is more secure because of that particular branch.

I see linux as a chaotic under-grad project and FreeBSD as more of a product I would use in the work environment.
Click to expand...

the SELinux patches are now in the mainline kernel. Red Hat is even throwing in support and some default settings in Federa Core 2 which to be fair isn't out of it's test phase yet. Any distro with 2.6 though is already running SELinux.
 
Originally posted by [H]EMI_426
Security is 95% administration. If you're lax in your duties as an admin, you're going to get burned. SELinux and such help, but they aren't a replacement for a good admin that knows the OS' ins and outs.
Click to expand...
Give tham man a cookie.

Oh, and I liked your link, but I'd seriously suggest updating it. "I don't feel like writing more tonight" works in a post, but not on a static page. Besides, I may want to link it at a later date. ;)
 
Thanks. :) Yeah, I need to update the page. I've been thinking about updating it for several months now. :) I'll do that one of these days...I was really tired when I banged out the first draft of the FreeBSD page. Where would you be linking from?

Of course, I also want to update my sendmail page, fix some of the wording, etc.

I'm also going to write a page about doing self-signed OpenSSL certificates "right" without being script- or tool-dependant. I don't like needing sign.sh or other hacks of that sort, so I figured out how to do it by hand and have it documented, I just haven't converted the doc to html and fleshed it out yet.
 
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