svn commit: r51864 - head/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/explaining-bsd
Benedict Reuschling <[email protected]>
| Newsgroups | gmane.os.freebsd.devel.cvs.doc |
|---|---|
| Message-ID | <[email protected]> |
Author: bcr
Date: Sun Jun 17 16:57:57 2018
New Revision: 51864
URL: https://svnweb.freebsd.org/changeset/doc/51864
Log:
Style cleanup:
- wrap long lines
- put two spaces after a sentence stop
- put <info> and <title> on lines on their own
- in one instance, put the text right next to the <para> tag and not below it
I did not change the capitalizations in this file, so the file should not have
any visible changes.
Modified:
head/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/explaining-bsd/article.xml
Modified: head/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/explaining-bsd/article.xml
==============================================================================
--- head/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/explaining-bsd/article.xml Sun Jun 17 16:54:56 2018 (r51863)
+++ head/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/explaining-bsd/article.xml Sun Jun 17 16:57:57 2018 (r51864)
@@ -3,9 +3,11 @@
"http://www.FreeBSD.org/XML/share/xml/freebsd50.dtd">
<!-- $FreeBSD$ -->
<!-- The FreeBSD Documentation Project -->
-<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" version="5.0" xml:lang="en">
- <info><title>Explaining BSD</title>
-
+<article xmlns="http://docbook.org/ns/docbook"
+ xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" version="5.0"
+ xml:lang="en">
+ <info>
+ <title>Explaining BSD</title>
<author><personname><firstname>Greg</firstname><surname>Lehey</surname></personname><affiliation>
<address><email>[email protected]</email></address>
@@ -29,42 +31,43 @@
<releaseinfo>$FreeBSD$</releaseinfo>
<abstract>
- <para>In the open source world, the word <quote>Linux</quote> is almost
- synonymous with <quote>Operating System</quote>, but it is not the only
- open source &unix; operating system.</para>
+ <para>In the open source world, the word <quote>Linux</quote> is
+ almost synonymous with <quote>Operating System</quote>, but it
+ is not the only open source &unix; operating system.</para>
- <para>So what is the secret? Why is BSD not better known? This white
- paper addresses these and other questions.</para>
+ <para>So what is the secret? Why is BSD not better known? This
+ white paper addresses these and other questions.</para>
- <para>Throughout this paper, differences between BSD and Linux will be
- noted <emphasis>like this</emphasis>.</para>
+ <para>Throughout this paper, differences between BSD and Linux
+ will be noted <emphasis>like this</emphasis>.</para>
</abstract>
</info>
<sect1 xml:id="what-is-bsd">
<title>What is BSD?</title>
- <para>BSD stands for <quote>Berkeley Software Distribution</quote>. It is
- the name of distributions of source code from the University of
- California, Berkeley, which were originally extensions to AT&T's
- Research &unix; operating system. Several open source operating system
- projects are based on a release of this source code known as
- 4.4BSD-Lite. In addition, they comprise a number of packages from other
- Open Source projects, including notably the GNU project. The overall
+ <para>BSD stands for <quote>Berkeley Software
+ Distribution</quote>. It is the name of distributions of
+ source code from the University of California, Berkeley, which
+ were originally extensions to AT&T's Research &unix;
+ operating system. Several open source operating system projects
+ are based on a release of this source code known as 4.4BSD-Lite.
+ In addition, they comprise a number of packages from other Open
+ Source projects, including notably the GNU project. The overall
operating system comprises:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The BSD kernel, which handles process scheduling, memory
- management, symmetric multi-processing (SMP), device drivers,
- etc.</para>
+ management, symmetric multi-processing (SMP), device
+ drivers, etc.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The C library, the base API for the system.</para>
- <para><emphasis>The BSD C library is based on code from Berkeley, not
- the GNU project.</emphasis></para>
+ <para><emphasis>The BSD C library is based on code from
+ Berkeley, not the GNU project.</emphasis></para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@@ -76,16 +79,17 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>The X Window system, which handles graphical display.</para>
+ <para>The X Window system, which handles graphical
+ display.</para>
- <para>The X Window system used in most versions of BSD is maintained
- by the
- <link xlink:href="http://www.X.org/">X.Org project</link>.
- &os; allows the user to choose from a variety of desktop
- environments, such as <application>Gnome</application>,
- <application>KDE</application>, or <application>Xfce</application>;
- and lightweight window managers like
- <application>Openbox</application>,
+ <para>The X Window system used in most versions of BSD is
+ maintained by the <link xlink:href="http://www.X.org/">X.Org
+ project</link>. &os; allows the user to choose from a
+ variety of desktop environments, such as
+ <application>Gnome</application>,
+ <application>KDE</application>, or
+ <application>Xfce</application>; and lightweight window
+ managers like <application>Openbox</application>,
<application>Fluxbox</application>, or
<application>Awesome</application>.</para>
</listitem>
@@ -100,71 +104,77 @@
<title>What, a real &unix;?</title>
<para>The BSD operating systems are not clones, but open source
- derivatives of AT&T's Research &unix; operating system, which is also
- the ancestor of the modern &unix; System V. This may surprise you. How
- could that happen when AT&T has never released its code as open
- source?</para>
+ derivatives of AT&T's Research &unix; operating system,
+ which is also the ancestor of the modern &unix; System V. This
+ may surprise you. How could that happen when AT&T has never
+ released its code as open source?</para>
- <para>It is true that AT&T &unix; is not open source, and in a copyright
- sense BSD is very definitely <emphasis>not</emphasis> &unix;, but on the
- other hand, AT&T has imported sources from other projects,
- noticeably the Computer Sciences Research Group (CSRG) of the University of
- California in Berkeley, CA. Starting in 1976, the CSRG started
- releasing tapes of their software, calling them <emphasis>Berkeley
- Software Distribution</emphasis> or <emphasis>BSD</emphasis>.</para>
+ <para>It is true that AT&T &unix; is not open source, and in a
+ copyright sense BSD is very definitely <emphasis>not</emphasis>
+ &unix;, but on the other hand, AT&T has imported sources
+ from other projects, noticeably the Computer Sciences Research
+ Group (CSRG) of the University of California in Berkeley, CA.
+ Starting in 1976, the CSRG started releasing tapes of their
+ software, calling them <emphasis>Berkeley Software
+ Distribution</emphasis> or <emphasis>BSD</emphasis>.</para>
- <para>Initial BSD releases consisted mainly of user programs, but that
- changed dramatically when the CSRG landed a contract with the Defense
- Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to upgrade the communications
- protocols on their network, ARPANET. The new protocols were known as
- the <emphasis>Internet Protocols</emphasis>, later
- <emphasis>TCP/IP</emphasis> after the most important protocols. The
- first widely distributed implementation was part of 4.2BSD, in
- 1982.</para>
+ <para>Initial BSD releases consisted mainly of user programs, but
+ that changed dramatically when the CSRG landed a contract with
+ the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to upgrade
+ the communications protocols on their network, ARPANET. The new
+ protocols were known as the <emphasis>Internet
+ Protocols</emphasis>, later <emphasis>TCP/IP</emphasis> after
+ the most important protocols. The first widely distributed
+ implementation was part of 4.2BSD, in 1982.</para>
- <para>In the course of the 1980s, a number of new workstation companies
- sprang up. Many preferred to license &unix; rather than developing
- operating systems for themselves. In particular, Sun Microsystems
- licensed &unix; and implemented a version of 4.2BSD, which they called
- &sunos;. When AT&T themselves were allowed to sell &unix; commercially,
- they started with a somewhat bare-bones implementation called System
- III, to be quickly followed by System V. The System V code base did not
- include networking, so all implementations included additional software
- from the BSD, including the TCP/IP software, but also utilities such as
- the <emphasis>csh</emphasis> shell and the <emphasis>vi</emphasis>
- editor. Collectively, these enhancements were known as the
- <emphasis>Berkeley Extensions</emphasis>.</para>
+ <para>In the course of the 1980s, a number of new workstation
+ companies sprang up. Many preferred to license &unix; rather
+ than developing operating systems for themselves. In
+ particular, Sun Microsystems licensed &unix; and implemented a
+ version of 4.2BSD, which they called &sunos;. When AT&T
+ themselves were allowed to sell &unix; commercially, they
+ started with a somewhat bare-bones implementation called System
+ III, to be quickly followed by System V. The System V code base
+ did not include networking, so all implementations included
+ additional software from the BSD, including the TCP/IP software,
+ but also utilities such as the <emphasis>csh</emphasis> shell
+ and the <emphasis>vi</emphasis> editor. Collectively, these
+ enhancements were known as the <emphasis>Berkeley
+ Extensions</emphasis>.</para>
- <para>The BSD tapes contained AT&T source code and thus required a
- &unix; source license. By 1990, the CSRG's funding was running out, and
- it faced closure. Some members of the group decided to release the BSD
- code, which was Open Source, without the AT&T proprietary code.
- This finally happened with the <emphasis>Networking Tape 2</emphasis>,
- usually known as <emphasis>Net/2</emphasis>. Net/2 was not a complete
- operating system: about 20% of the kernel code was missing. One of the
- CSRG members, William F. Jolitz, wrote the remaining code and released
- it in early 1992 as <emphasis>386BSD</emphasis>. At the same time,
- another group of ex-CSRG members formed a commercial company called
- <link xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">Berkeley Software Design Inc.</link>
- and released a beta version of an operating system called
- <link xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">BSD/386</link>, which was based on
- the same sources. The name of the operating system was later changed
- to BSD/OS.</para>
+ <para>The BSD tapes contained AT&T source code and thus
+ required a &unix; source license. By 1990, the CSRG's funding
+ was running out, and it faced closure. Some members of the
+ group decided to release the BSD code, which was Open Source,
+ without the AT&T proprietary code. This finally happened
+ with the <emphasis>Networking Tape 2</emphasis>, usually known
+ as <emphasis>Net/2</emphasis>. Net/2 was not a complete
+ operating system: about 20% of the kernel code was missing. One
+ of the CSRG members, William F. Jolitz, wrote the remaining code
+ and released it in early 1992 as <emphasis>386BSD</emphasis>.
+ At the same time, another group of ex-CSRG members formed a
+ commercial company called <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">Berkeley Software Design
+ Inc.</link> and released a beta version of an operating system
+ called <link xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">BSD/386</link>,
+ which was based on the same sources. The name of the operating
+ system was later changed to BSD/OS.</para>
- <para>386BSD never became a stable operating system. Instead, two other
- projects split off from it in 1993:
- <link xlink:href="http://www.NetBSD.org/">NetBSD</link> and
- <link xlink:href="&url.base;/index.html">FreeBSD</link>. The two projects
- originally diverged due to differences in patience waiting for
- improvements to 386BSD: the NetBSD people started early in the year,
- and the first version of FreeBSD was not ready until the end of the
- year. In the meantime, the code base had diverged sufficiently to
- make it difficult to merge. In addition, the projects had different
- aims, as we will see below. In 1996,
- <link xlink:href="http://www.OpenBSD.org/">OpenBSD</link> split off from
- NetBSD, and in 2003,
- <link xlink:href="http://www.dragonflybsd.org/">DragonFlyBSD</link> split
- off from FreeBSD.</para>
+ <para>386BSD never became a stable operating system. Instead, two
+ other projects split off from it in 1993: <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.NetBSD.org/">NetBSD</link> and <link
+ xlink:href="&url.base;/index.html">FreeBSD</link>. The two
+ projects originally diverged due to differences in patience
+ waiting for improvements to 386BSD: the NetBSD people started
+ early in the year, and the first version of FreeBSD was not
+ ready until the end of the year. In the meantime, the code base
+ had diverged sufficiently to make it difficult to merge. In
+ addition, the projects had different aims, as we will see below.
+ In 1996, <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.OpenBSD.org/">OpenBSD</link> split off
+ from NetBSD, and in 2003, <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.dragonflybsd.org/">DragonFlyBSD</link>
+ split off from FreeBSD.</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 xml:id="why-is-bsd-not-better-known">
@@ -174,39 +184,41 @@
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>The BSD developers are often more interested in polishing their
- code than marketing it.</para>
+ <para>The BSD developers are often more interested in
+ polishing their code than marketing it.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>Much of Linux's popularity is due to factors external to the
- Linux projects, such as the press, and to companies formed to
- provide Linux services. Until recently, the open source BSDs had no
- such proponents.</para>
+ <para>Much of Linux's popularity is due to factors external to
+ the Linux projects, such as the press, and to companies
+ formed to provide Linux services. Until recently, the open
+ source BSDs had no such proponents.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>BSD developers tend to be more experienced than Linux
- developers, and have less interest in making the system easy to use.
- Newcomers tend to feel more comfortable with Linux.</para>
+ developers, and have less interest in making the system easy
+ to use. Newcomers tend to feel more comfortable with
+ Linux.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>In 1992, AT&T sued
- <link xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">BSDI</link>,
- the vendor of BSD/386, alleging that the product contained
- AT&T-copyrighted code. The case was settled out of court in
- 1994, but the spectre of the litigation continues to haunt people.
- In March 2000 an article published on the web claimed
- that the court case had been <quote>recently settled</quote>.</para>
+ <para>In 1992, AT&T sued <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.bsdi.com/">BSDI</link>, the vendor
+ of BSD/386, alleging that the product contained
+ AT&T-copyrighted code. The case was settled out of
+ court in 1994, but the spectre of the litigation continues
+ to haunt people. In March 2000 an article published on the
+ web claimed that the court case had been <quote>recently
+ settled</quote>.</para>
- <para>One detail that the lawsuit did clarify is the naming: in the
- 1980s, BSD was known as <quote>BSD &unix;</quote>. With the
- elimination of the last vestige of AT&T code from BSD, it
- also lost the right to the name &unix;. Thus you will see
- references in book titles to <quote>the 4.3BSD &unix; operating
- system</quote> and <quote>the 4.4BSD operating
- system</quote>.</para>
+ <para>One detail that the lawsuit did clarify is the naming:
+ in the 1980s, BSD was known as <quote>BSD &unix;</quote>.
+ With the elimination of the last vestige of AT&T code
+ from BSD, it also lost the right to the name &unix;. Thus
+ you will see references in book titles to <quote>the 4.3BSD
+ &unix; operating system</quote> and <quote>the 4.4BSD
+ operating system</quote>.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</sect1>
@@ -214,113 +226,123 @@
<sect1 xml:id="comparing-bsd-and-linux">
<title>Comparing BSD and Linux</title>
- <para>So what is really the difference between, say, Debian Linux and
- FreeBSD? For the average user, the difference is surprisingly small:
- Both are &unix; like operating systems. Both are developed by
- non-commercial projects (this does not apply to many other Linux
- distributions, of course). In the following section, we will look at BSD
- and compare it to Linux. The description applies most closely to
- FreeBSD, which accounts for an estimated 80% of the BSD installations,
- but the differences from NetBSD, OpenBSD and DragonFlyBSD are small.
- </para>
+ <para>So what is really the difference between, say, Debian Linux
+ and FreeBSD? For the average user, the difference is
+ surprisingly small: Both are &unix; like operating systems.
+ Both are developed by non-commercial projects (this does not
+ apply to many other Linux distributions, of course). In the
+ following section, we will look at BSD and compare it to Linux.
+ The description applies most closely to FreeBSD, which accounts
+ for an estimated 80% of the BSD installations, but the
+ differences from NetBSD, OpenBSD and DragonFlyBSD are
+ small.</para>
<sect2>
<title>Who owns BSD?</title>
<para>No one person or corporation owns BSD. It is created and
distributed by a community of highly technical and committed
- contributors all over the world. Some of the components of BSD are
- Open Source projects in their own right and managed by different
- project maintainers.</para>
+ contributors all over the world. Some of the components of
+ BSD are Open Source projects in their own right and managed by
+ different project maintainers.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>How is BSD developed and updated?</title>
- <para>The BSD kernels are developed and updated following the Open
- Source development model. Each project maintains a publicly
- accessible <emphasis>source tree</emphasis>
- which contains all source files for the
- project, including documentation and other incidental files.
- Users can obtain a complete copy of any version.</para>
+ <para>The BSD kernels are developed and updated following the
+ Open Source development model. Each project maintains a
+ publicly accessible <emphasis>source tree</emphasis> which
+ contains all source files for the project, including
+ documentation and other incidental files. Users can obtain a
+ complete copy of any version.</para>
- <para>A large number of developers worldwide contribute to improvements
- to BSD. They are divided into three kinds:</para>
+ <para>A large number of developers worldwide contribute to
+ improvements to BSD. They are divided into three
+ kinds:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
- <para><firstterm>Contributors</firstterm> write code or documentation.
- They are not permitted to commit (add code) directly to the source
- tree. In order for their code to be included in the system, it
- must be reviewed and checked in by a registered developer, known
- as a <emphasis>committer</emphasis>.</para>
+ <para><firstterm>Contributors</firstterm> write code or
+ documentation. They are not permitted to commit (add
+ code) directly to the source tree. In order for their
+ code to be included in the system, it must be reviewed and
+ checked in by a registered developer, known as a
+ <emphasis>committer</emphasis>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para><firstterm>Committers</firstterm> are developers with write
- access to the source tree. In order to become a committer, an
- individual must show ability in the area in which they are
- active.</para>
+ <para><firstterm>Committers</firstterm> are developers with
+ write access to the source tree. In order to become a
+ committer, an individual must show ability in the area in
+ which they are active.</para>
- <para>
- It is at the individual committer's discretion whether they should
- obtain authority before committing changes to the source tree. In
- general, an experienced committer may make changes which are
- obviously correct without obtaining consensus. For example, a
- documentation project committer may correct typographical or
- grammatical errors without review. On the other hand, developers
- making far-reaching or complicated changes are expected to submit
- their changes for review before committing them. In extreme
- cases, a core team member with a function such as Principal
- Architect may order that changes be removed from the tree, a
- process known as <firstterm>backing out</firstterm>. All committers
- receive mail describing each individual commit, so it is not
- possible to commit secretly.</para>
+ <para>It is at the individual committer's discretion whether
+ they should obtain authority before committing changes to
+ the source tree. In general, an experienced committer may
+ make changes which are obviously correct without obtaining
+ consensus. For example, a documentation project committer
+ may correct typographical or grammatical errors without
+ review. On the other hand, developers making far-reaching
+ or complicated changes are expected to submit their
+ changes for review before committing them. In extreme
+ cases, a core team member with a function such as
+ Principal Architect may order that changes be removed from
+ the tree, a process known as <firstterm>backing
+ out</firstterm>. All committers receive mail describing
+ each individual commit, so it is not possible to commit
+ secretly.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>The <firstterm>Core team</firstterm>. FreeBSD and
- NetBSD each have a core team which manages the project. The
- core teams developed in the course of the projects, and their role
- is not always well-defined. It is not necessary to be a developer
- in order to be a core team member, though it is normal. The rules
- for the core team vary from one project to the other, but in
- general they have more say in the direction of the project than
+ NetBSD each have a core team which manages the project.
+ The core teams developed in the course of the projects,
+ and their role is not always well-defined. It is not
+ necessary to be a developer in order to be a core team
+ member, though it is normal. The rules for the core team
+ vary from one project to the other, but in general they
+ have more say in the direction of the project than
non-core team members have.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
- <para>This arrangement differs from Linux in a number of ways:</para>
+ <para>This arrangement differs from Linux in a number of
+ ways:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>No one person controls the content of the system. In
- practice, this difference is overrated, since the Principal Architect
- can require that code be backed out, and even in the Linux project
- several people are permitted to make changes.</para>
+ practice, this difference is overrated, since the
+ Principal Architect can require that code be backed out,
+ and even in the Linux project several people are permitted
+ to make changes.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>On the other hand, there <emphasis>is</emphasis> a central
- repository, a single place where you can find the entire operating
- system sources, including all older versions.</para>
+ <para>On the other hand, there <emphasis>is</emphasis> a
+ central repository, a single place where you can find the
+ entire operating system sources, including all older
+ versions.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>BSD projects maintain the entire <quote>Operating
- System</quote>, not only the kernel. This distinction is only
- marginally useful: neither BSD nor Linux is useful without
- applications. The applications used under BSD are frequently the
- same as the applications used under Linux.</para>
+ System</quote>, not only the kernel. This distinction
+ is only marginally useful: neither BSD nor Linux is useful
+ without applications. The applications used under BSD are
+ frequently the same as the applications used under
+ Linux.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>As a result of the formalized maintenance of a single SVN
- source tree, BSD development is clear, and it is possible to
- access any version of the system by release number or by date.
- SVN also allows incremental updates to the system: for example,
- the FreeBSD repository is updated about 100 times a day. Most of
- these changes are small.</para>
+ <para>As a result of the formalized maintenance of a single
+ SVN source tree, BSD development is clear, and it is
+ possible to access any version of the system by release
+ number or by date. SVN also allows incremental updates to
+ the system: for example, the FreeBSD repository is updated
+ about 100 times a day. Most of these changes are
+ small.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
</sect2>
@@ -328,105 +350,115 @@
<sect2>
<title>BSD releases</title>
- <para>FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD provide the system in three different
- <quote>releases</quote>. As with Linux, releases are assigned a
- number such as 1.4.1 or 3.5. In addition, the version number has a
- suffix indicating its purpose:</para>
+ <para>FreeBSD, NetBSD and OpenBSD provide the system in three
+ different <quote>releases</quote>. As with Linux, releases
+ are assigned a number such as 1.4.1 or 3.5. In addition, the
+ version number has a suffix indicating its purpose:</para>
<orderedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The development version of the system is called
- <firstterm>CURRENT</firstterm>. FreeBSD assigns a number to
- CURRENT, for example FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT. NetBSD uses a slightly
- different naming scheme and appends a single-letter suffix which
- indicates changes in the internal interfaces, for example NetBSD
- 1.4.3G. OpenBSD does not assign a number (<quote>OpenBSD-current</quote>).
- All new development on the system goes into this branch.</para>
+ <firstterm>CURRENT</firstterm>. FreeBSD assigns a number
+ to CURRENT, for example FreeBSD 5.0-CURRENT. NetBSD uses
+ a slightly different naming scheme and appends a
+ single-letter suffix which indicates changes in the
+ internal interfaces, for example NetBSD 1.4.3G. OpenBSD
+ does not assign a number (<quote>OpenBSD-current</quote>).
+ All new development on the system goes into this
+ branch.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>At regular intervals, between two and four times a year, the
- projects bring out a <firstterm>RELEASE</firstterm> version of the
- system, which is available on CD-ROM and for free download from
- FTP sites, for example OpenBSD 2.6-RELEASE or NetBSD 1.4-RELEASE.
- The RELEASE version is intended for end users and is the normal
- version of the system. NetBSD also provides <emphasis>patch
- releases</emphasis> with a third digit, for example NetBSD
- 1.4.2.</para>
+ <para>At regular intervals, between two and four times a
+ year, the projects bring out a
+ <firstterm>RELEASE</firstterm> version of the system,
+ which is available on CD-ROM and for free download from
+ FTP sites, for example OpenBSD 2.6-RELEASE or NetBSD
+ 1.4-RELEASE. The RELEASE version is intended for end
+ users and is the normal version of the system. NetBSD
+ also provides <emphasis>patch releases</emphasis> with a
+ third digit, for example NetBSD 1.4.2.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>As bugs are found in a RELEASE version, they are fixed, and
- the fixes are added to the SVN tree. In FreeBSD, the resultant
- version is called the <firstterm>STABLE</firstterm> version, while in NetBSD and OpenBSD
- it continues to be called the RELEASE version. Smaller new
- features can also be added to this branch after a period of test
- in the CURRENT branch. Security and other important bug fixes
- are also applied to all supported RELEASE versions.</para>
+ <para>As bugs are found in a RELEASE version, they are
+ fixed, and the fixes are added to the SVN tree. In
+ FreeBSD, the resultant version is called the
+ <firstterm>STABLE</firstterm> version, while in NetBSD and
+ OpenBSD it continues to be called the RELEASE version.
+ Smaller new features can also be added to this branch
+ after a period of test in the CURRENT branch. Security
+ and other important bug fixes are also applied to all
+ supported RELEASE versions.</para>
</listitem>
</orderedlist>
- <para><emphasis>By contrast, Linux maintains two separate code trees:
- the stable version and the development version. Stable versions
- have an even minor version number, such as 2.0, 2.2 or 2.4.
- Development versions have an odd minor version number, such as 2.1,
- 2.3 or 2.5. In each case, the number is followed by a further
- number designating the exact release. In addition, each vendor adds
- their own userland programs and utilities, so the name of the
- distribution is also important. Each distribution vendor also
- assigns version numbers to the distribution, so a complete
- description might be something like <quote>TurboLinux 6.0 with kernel
- 2.2.14</quote></emphasis></para>
+ <para><emphasis>By contrast, Linux maintains two separate code
+ trees: the stable version and the development version.
+ Stable versions have an even minor version number, such as
+ 2.0, 2.2 or 2.4. Development versions have an odd minor
+ version number, such as 2.1, 2.3 or 2.5. In each case, the
+ number is followed by a further number designating the exact
+ release. In addition, each vendor adds their own userland
+ programs and utilities, so the name of the distribution is
+ also important. Each distribution vendor also assigns
+ version numbers to the distribution, so a complete
+ description might be something like <quote>TurboLinux 6.0
+ with kernel 2.2.14</quote></emphasis></para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>What versions of BSD are available?</title>
- <para>In contrast to the numerous Linux distributions, there are only
- four major open source BSDs. Each BSD project maintains its own source
- tree and its own kernel. In practice, though, there appear to be
- fewer divergences between the userland code of the projects than there
- is in Linux.</para>
+ <para>In contrast to the numerous Linux distributions, there are
+ only four major open source BSDs. Each BSD project maintains
+ its own source tree and its own kernel. In practice, though,
+ there appear to be fewer divergences between the userland code
+ of the projects than there is in Linux.</para>
- <para>It is difficult to categorize the goals of each project: the
- differences are very subjective. Basically,</para>
+ <para>It is difficult to categorize the goals of each project:
+ the differences are very subjective. Basically,</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
- <para>&os; aims for high performance and ease of use by
- end users, and is a favourite of web content providers. It runs
- on a <link xlink:href="&url.base;/platforms/">number of platforms</link>
- and has significantly more users than the other projects.</para>
+ <para>&os; aims for high performance and ease of use by end
+ users, and is a favourite of web content providers. It
+ runs on a <link xlink:href="&url.base;/platforms/">number
+ of platforms</link> and has significantly more users
+ than the other projects.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>NetBSD aims for maximum portability: <quote>of course it runs
- NetBSD</quote>. It runs on machines from palmtops to large
- servers, and has even been used on NASA space missions. It is a
- particularly good choice for running on old non-&intel;
- hardware.</para>
+ <para>NetBSD aims for maximum portability: <quote>of course
+ it runs NetBSD</quote>. It runs on machines from
+ palmtops to large servers, and has even been used on NASA
+ space missions. It is a particularly good choice for
+ running on old non-&intel; hardware.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para>OpenBSD aims for security and code purity: it uses a
- combination of the open source concept and rigorous code reviews
- to create a system which is demonstrably correct, making it the
- choice of security-conscious organizations such as banks, stock
- exchanges and US Government departments. Like NetBSD, it runs on
- a number of platforms.</para>
+ combination of the open source concept and rigorous code
+ reviews to create a system which is demonstrably correct,
+ making it the choice of security-conscious organizations
+ such as banks, stock exchanges and US Government
+ departments. Like NetBSD, it runs on a number of
+ platforms.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>DragonFlyBSD aims for high performance and scalability under
- everything from a single-node UP system to a massively clustered system.
- DragonFlyBSD has several long-range technical goals, but focus lies on
- providing a SMP-capable infrastructure that is easy to understand,
+ <para>DragonFlyBSD aims for high performance and scalability
+ under everything from a single-node UP system to a
+ massively clustered system. DragonFlyBSD has several
+ long-range technical goals, but focus lies on providing a
+ SMP-capable infrastructure that is easy to understand,
maintain and develop for.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
- <para>There are also two additional BSD &unix; operating systems which are not
- open source, BSD/OS and Apple's &macos; X:</para>
+ <para>There are also two additional BSD &unix; operating systems
+ which are not open source, BSD/OS and Apple's &macos;
+ X:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
@@ -435,23 +467,24 @@
available at relatively low cost. It resembled FreeBSD in
many ways. Two years after the acquisition of BSDi by
Wind River Systems, BSD/OS failed to survive as an
- independent product. Support and source code may still
- be available from Wind River, but all new development is
+ independent product. Support and source code may still be
+ available from Wind River, but all new development is
focused on the VxWorks embedded operating system.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para><link xlink:href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/">&macos;
- X</link> is the latest version of the operating system for
- &apple;'s
- &mac; line. The BSD core of this operating
- system, <link xlink:href="http://developer.apple.com/darwin/">Darwin</link>,
- is available as a fully functional open source operating
- system for x86 and PPC computers. The Aqua/Quartz
- graphics system and many other proprietary aspects of
- &macos; X remain closed-source, however. Several Darwin
- developers are also FreeBSD committers, and
- vice-versa.</para>
+ <para><link
+ xlink:href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/server/">&macos;
+ X</link> is the latest version of the operating system
+ for &apple;'s &mac; line. The BSD core of this operating
+ system, <link
+ xlink:href="http://developer.apple.com/darwin/">Darwin</link>,
+ is available as a fully functional open source operating
+ system for x86 and PPC computers. The Aqua/Quartz
+ graphics system and many other proprietary aspects of
+ &macos; X remain closed-source, however. Several Darwin
+ developers are also FreeBSD committers, and
+ vice-versa.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
@@ -460,58 +493,63 @@
<title>How does the BSD license differ from the GNU Public
license?</title>
- <para>Linux is available under the
- <link xlink:href="http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU General Public
- License</link> (GPL), which is designed to eliminate closed
- source software. In particular, any derivative work of a product
- released under the GPL must also be supplied with source code if
- requested. By contrast, the
- <link xlink:href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.html">BSD
- license</link> is less restrictive: binary-only distributions are
- allowed. This is particularly attractive for embedded
- applications.</para>
+ <para>Linux is available under the <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.fsf.org/copyleft/gpl.html">GNU
+ General Public License</link> (GPL), which is designed to
+ eliminate closed source software. In particular, any
+ derivative work of a product released under the GPL must also
+ be supplied with source code if requested. By contrast, the
+ <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/bsd-license.html">BSD
+ license</link> is less restrictive: binary-only
+ distributions are allowed. This is particularly attractive
+ for embedded applications.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>What else should I know?</title>
- <para>Since fewer applications are available for BSD than Linux, the BSD
- developers created a Linux compatibility package, which allows Linux
- programs to run under BSD. The package includes both kernel
- modifications, in order to correctly perform Linux system calls, and
- Linux compatibility files such as the C library. There is no
- noticeable difference in execution speed between a Linux application
- running on a Linux machine and a Linux application running on a BSD
- machine of the same speed.</para>
+ <para>Since fewer applications are available for BSD than Linux,
+ the BSD developers created a Linux compatibility package,
+ which allows Linux programs to run under BSD. The package
+ includes both kernel modifications, in order to correctly
+ perform Linux system calls, and Linux compatibility files such
+ as the C library. There is no noticeable difference in
+ execution speed between a Linux application running on a Linux
+ machine and a Linux application running on a BSD machine of
+ the same speed.</para>
- <para>The <quote>all from one supplier</quote> nature of BSD means that
- upgrades are much easier to handle than is frequently the case with
- Linux. BSD handles library version upgrades by providing
- compatibility modules for earlier library versions, so it is possible
- to run binaries which are several years old with no problems.</para>
+ <para>The <quote>all from one supplier</quote> nature of BSD
+ means that upgrades are much easier to handle than is
+ frequently the case with Linux. BSD handles library version
+ upgrades by providing compatibility modules for earlier
+ library versions, so it is possible to run binaries which are
+ several years old with no problems.</para>
</sect2>
<sect2>
<title>Which should I use, BSD or Linux?</title>
- <para>What does this all mean in practice? Who should use BSD, who
- should use Linux?</para>
+ <para>What does this all mean in practice? Who should use BSD,
+ who should use Linux?</para>
- <para>This is a very difficult question to answer. Here are some
- guidelines:</para>
+ <para>This is a very difficult question to answer. Here are
+ some guidelines:</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
- <para><quote>If it ain't broke, don't fix it</quote>: If you already
- use an open source operating system, and you are happy with it,
- there is probably no good reason to change.</para>
+ <para><quote>If it ain't broke, don't fix it</quote>: If you
+ already use an open source operating system, and you are
+ happy with it, there is probably no good reason to
+ change.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>BSD systems, in particular FreeBSD, can have notably higher
- performance than Linux. But this is not across the board. In many
- cases, there is little or no difference in performance. In some
- cases, Linux may perform better than FreeBSD.</para>
+ <para>BSD systems, in particular FreeBSD, can have notably
+ higher performance than Linux. But this is not across the
+ board. In many cases, there is little or no difference in
+ performance. In some cases, Linux may perform better than
+ FreeBSD.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
@@ -521,38 +559,43 @@
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>BSD projects have a better reputation for the quality and
- completeness of their documentation. The various documentation
- projects aim to provide actively updated documentation, in many
- languages, and covering all aspects of the system.</para>
+ <para>BSD projects have a better reputation for the quality
+ and completeness of their documentation. The various
+ documentation projects aim to provide actively updated
+ documentation, in many languages, and covering all aspects
+ of the system.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>The BSD license may be more attractive than the GPL.</para>
- </listitem>
+ <para>The BSD license may be more attractive than the
+ GPL.</para> </listitem>
<listitem>
- <para>BSD can execute most Linux binaries, while Linux can not execute BSD
- binaries. Many BSD implementations can also execute binaries
- from other &unix; like systems. As a result, BSD may present an
- easier migration route from other systems than
- Linux would.</para>
+ <para>BSD can execute most Linux binaries, while Linux can
+ not execute BSD binaries. Many BSD implementations can
+ also execute binaries from other &unix; like systems. As
+ a result, BSD may present an easier migration route from
+ other systems than Linux would.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect2>
<sect2>
- <title>Who provides support, service, and training for BSD?</title>
+ <title>Who provides support, service, and training for
+ BSD?</title>
- <para>BSDi / <link xlink:href="http://www.freebsdmall.com">FreeBSD
- Mall, Inc.</link> have been providing support contracts for
+ <para>BSDi / <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.freebsdmall.com">FreeBSD Mall,
+ Inc.</link> have been providing support contracts for
FreeBSD for nearly a decade.</para>
- <para>In addition, each of the projects has a list of consultants for
- hire:
- <link xlink:href="&url.base;/commercial/consult_bycat.html">FreeBSD</link>,
- <link xlink:href="http://www.netbsd.org/gallery/consultants.html">NetBSD</link>,
- and <link xlink:href="http://www.openbsd.org/support.html">OpenBSD</link>.</para>
+ <para>In addition, each of the projects has a list of
+ consultants for hire: <link
+ xlink:href="&url.base;/commercial/consult_bycat.html">FreeBSD</link>,
+ <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.netbsd.org/gallery/consultants.html">NetBSD</link>,
+ and <link
+ xlink:href="http://www.openbsd.org/support.html">OpenBSD</link>.</para>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</article>
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