From: ajt@swan.doc.ic.ac.uk (Tony Travis) Subject: Linux or 386BSD: neither or both ?? Date: 21 Sep 1992 23:02:47 GMT
Like many people reading this newsgroup I also read comp.unix.bsd and I
am finding it difficult to decide between Linux or 386BSD ...
There is no doubt that Linux performs better than 386bsd on my 20 MHz
386SX with 4Mb RAM and it is a real pleasure to use in comparison with
the lumbering giant of 386bsd (even with a small 386bsd kernel
containing only the devices actually present on my PC).
It is almost impossible to use 386bsd when running a compilaton in the
background but Linux performs the same task without any problem at all.
On the face of it, Linux is the obvious choice but the organisation of
the 386bsd distribution is in a different league to the fragmented and
disorganised anarchy of Linux. The manifests used in 386bsd contain
crc's and it is simple to verify a distribution.
I find it exasperating that there seem to be many different versions of
the same Linux distribution at different archive sites and it is quite
difficult to know where you are and what version is current. The progress
of Minix was helped by regular publication of crc lists that 'defined' a
release. This made it possible to check an installation and verify that
all the necessary files were present.
Were it not for the slow response and long compilation times on my system
when it is running 386bsd I would probably choose 386bsd because it is so
well organised and the major (gnu + X11R5) software is the same as Linux.
However, the performance of Linux on the same hardware is so much better!!
Is anyone else dithering like this, or am I alone in my indecision?
Tony.