FreeBSD vs Linux

[Anthony Atkielski]

Bart Silverstrim writes:

> I'm afraid after playing with both FreeBSD and some different distros
> of Linux, that "easy way" isn't necessarily Linux either.

Some of them are apparently much closer to the plug-and-play environment
of Windows than are any versions of UNIX.  Logically anyone who wants
Windows will install Windows, instead of Linux, of course, but logic
isn't always the deciding factor.

> The only "easy way" to go with installing things on a computer would
> have to be Windows (in the Intel world), since it is most often just a
> matter of clickclickclickclick done.

Yes. And if an Intel platform is not mandatory, the Mac is even easier
to install and use--but it is more expensive, and it restricts the user
to a single vendor for both OS software and hardware, and the range of
available applications is much smaller.

> Windows will usually run for several weeks ...

Current versions of Windows will run for years without a reboot.

> It has to be easy to set up because you end up having to reinstall when
> it "starts acting weird" :-)

It doesn't start acting weird unless you contaminate it with spyware and
viruses, which are easy enough to avoid.

> Really though; with Windows, it's a matter of "I want a web
> server...down load "web server"...click click license yeah yeah 
> click... oooh! Web server!

I wouldn't use Windows for a Web server, personally, but a server
version of the OS with IIS will get the job done.  The point-and-click
interface hides a lot of complexity, though, and while this isn't such a
bad thing on the desktop, it can be dangerous on a server.  On servers
it's really important to know exactly what's running on the machine,
what it's doing, and how the machine is interacting with the Net.

> With a Unix system it's "I want a web
> server...<google>....hmm...Apache 
> looks like it should work...<search through ports>....make 
> install....edit config file...what's this 
> do?...oh...<google>....<google>...neat!...edit config...what's this 
> directive?...<google>....okay...edit...save...apachectl start...web 
> server with X, Y, Z enabled, ,listening on port X, logging to Y, with 
> virtual host Z.  WEB SERVER!"

Far too complex for many newbies, but for those who stay the course,
FreeBSD and Apache are the best possible combination for Web servers
today.

-- 
Anthony