From: paul@frcs.Alt.ZA (Paul Nash) Subject: Which to use? Linux/386bsd/NetBSD/Xenix? Date: Thu, 22 Apr 1993 05:15:20 GMT
I am in the extremely happy position of being able to rebuild my
386 *nix machine from scratch, with a new 1GB disk and a 386/40
motherboard. I currently have a machine running Xenix 2.3.3, and
am thinking of using this opportunity to change. The question is
just, what do I change to?
My hardware will be:
386dx/40, 8mb RAM, 256k cache
Adaptec 1542 (or maybe a VLB SCSI controller)
Seagate 11200n 1GB SCSI/2 drive
WD8003e ethernet adapter
Archive qic-02 tape (sc499 controller)
AST 4/port with 16550 uarts
Herc card, floppy, stiffy, etc
I currently serve a whole bunch of dial-up UUCP sites via a T2500,
a T3000 and a 2400 modem, with another T2500 coming RSN. I am also
about to get a 9600 SLIP link to the Internet (Oh, Joy!). The sorts
of things that I am looking for are:
reliable serial ports (com1 + ast 4/port w. 16550)
working TCP/IP (ether, DNS, etc)
capable of running traceroute, dig, etc
capable of running CNews/INN
capable of running smail3.1.28
an MH port (maybe -- see below)
fairly reliable
support for big disks
long filenames
symlinks and the like
I have played with both Linux and 386BSD, and both had problems (but
this was a long time back). 386BSD had flakey serial ports (com1 & 2,
no AST support), and the Archive tape driver was abbysmally slow (dump
60 MB in about 10 hours). Linux didn't have _any_ TCP/IP back then.
Rather than try all three free OSes, I'd like opinions. MH is a bitch
to port, as it scratches around with the innards of "struct FILE", but
is a very pleasant MUA. I tried to port it to the first release of
386BSD, and gave up in frustration, and I am willing to drop it if I
have to.
I have lived without long filenames and symlinks most of my Unix life,
but find them extremely useful when working on Suns and the like. The
rest is probably self-explanatory.
I watch all these groups, so those of you with opinions can reply in
any way you like. Please tell me what I should, or shouldn't, use, and
why. If there are any special patches that I need (like Linux' AFS)
please mention these.
Thanks in advance.
Paul Nash network grunt and bit-pusher extraordinaire
paul@frcs.alt.za PO Box 12475, Onderstepoort, 0110 South Africa