FreeBSD hacker 101

[Mark Linimon]

On Fri, Jan 25, 2008 at 01:58:51PM +0800, william wong wrote:
> That brings me to another ponder: why juniper and cisco are using
> FreeBSD and not Linux even Linux performs better in an UP environment?

Other posters have mentioned that there is a mix of Linux and BSD at
Cisco.  I don't work there, so I can't comment.

However, if you're shipping a product where you don't necessarily wish
to publish whatever code enhancements you've created, the BSD license
is most likely a better choice.

What was discussed at the last BSDCan was the fact that the companies
that use BSD-licensed components are evolving towards contributing back
improvements that they make to the system that they do not feel are
their differentiators, and keeping to themselves the intellectual
property that they feel puts them at a competitive advantage in their
market.

So it comes down to a legal and philosophical difference -- one that has
been argued incessantly in the BSD vs. GPL camps.  It can quickly become
a "religious argument" and one that can only be resolved by "agreeing to
disagree" -- if that.

mcl