Re: Linux docs (was:Re: [tlug] Re: IPv6)

["Daniel A. Ramaley" <daniel.ramaley@example.com>]

On Monday 19 November 2007 16:00, burlingk@example.com wrote:
>How different are the BSD's (especially OpenBSD) from Linux?

The only *BSD i've used is OpenBSD. I was originally drawn to it because 
of the security and have been using it since the 2.4 days (or 
thereabouts; 2.4 was about 9 years ago). These days i use OpenBSD for 
servers (unless there is some compelling reason to use Linux) and Linux 
for desktops.

As for how different it is, that depends on how you use Linux. As a user 
(not an administrator), one Unix-like system is pretty much the same as 
any other. If you administer Linux using the command line and avoid GUI 
utilities, then OpenBSD will seem quite familiar. The boot scripts are 
laid out a bit different (it doesn't have runlevels and rc?.d 
directories; it just has an /etc/rc script that runs at boot), but 
otherwise it is basically the same.

I've heard it said that Linux is for people who hate Windows while BSD 
is for people who love Unix. I'd say that is accurate. The culture 
around Linux is that it has to beat Microsoft while the culture around 
BSD is to simply create the best possible Unix and not care about 
competition with other systems.

Installation of OpenBSD is much faster and easier than most Linux 
distributions, not that ease of installation is much of a selling point 
given how little time one spends doing it compared to actually using 
the system. On a fast computer installing from CD i can usually go from 
bare hardware to being logged in on the installed system in well under 
10 minutes, probably closer to 5 minutes.

>The main Linux distros I have dealt with so far are Ubuntu, Debian,
>and a basic attempt at Gentoo.

I've never tried Gentoo, but Debian is what i use normally. If you are 
comfortable administering a Debian system then you should be able to 
learn OpenBSD. Just remember to read the man pages and the FAQ (i 
always read it off of the web site, though it might also be installed 
on the system). The overwhelming majority of the time i have a question 
on OpenBSD i find the answer in the documentation. Rarely do i have to 
ask for help.

>While documentation alone is not a reason to change distros, I may
>want to check out new OS'es just to broaden my horizons. ^_^

I'd say give it a try. Though i buy CDs of every release to help support 
the project, just to test it out you certainly don't have to. So the 
only thing it costs is time and a little bandwidth.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
+1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA