OSs (not poll)

[Kezil]

I'd like to gain some info on the main OSs I've heard about: Linux, BSD, and BeOS.

Mainly, I would like to know:

1. Main type of user/use

2. Advantages/Disadvantages

3. Any more useful info (or not particularly useful, either one)

Info on other OSs also appreciated, and please, no flaming on any OS, present arguments thoughtfully.

Thanks for all input.

[psi0nic]

Okay, I want to answer this post, and have resigned to the fact that the answer is going to be longer than I usually like to give.

<snip!>
OSs (not poll) << good I am sick of those !!!!! >>
I'd like to gain some info on the main OSs I've heard about : Linux, BSD, and BeOS.

Mainly, I would like to know:

1. Main type of user/use
Linux - ex Windows users, University Students, Programmers, hackers (good and bad), Open Source hobbyists, Server and Networking folks etc.. etc..

FreeBSD - ex Linux users, Programmers, Open Source hobbyists, hackers (black, white, grey, uber, nice guy), Server and Networking folks etc.. etc.. (same can be said about NetBSD and OpenBSD, some small differences but this post is going to be long already)

BeOS - no idea, never even met anyone who uses it, hear it's cool.

VMS - Programmers, some old school and some very elite hackers, large companies that have not upgraded to another OS.
(DOS users would love VMS, a large portion of DOS commands were yanked straight from it. )

2. Advantages/Disadvantages << loaded question >>
Linux vs. Windows = Linux has just about everything over Windows, game support and office tools are a bit behind and it is not as easy to use, but it blows every version of windows away in any other respect.

Linux vs. Free/Open/NetBSD = is quite a bit trickier. The ELF is faster than UFS (ELF = extended linux file system a.k.a. ext2fs adn UFS = Unix file system). The Linux kernel is evolving very rapidly ( a new version about every other week). Linux game support is improving as we speak. Linux will probably replace Unix on 90% of servers currently running Unix in the next 5 - 10 years. On the other hand FreeBSD has higher uptimes than Linux, the devlopment cycle is broken up into `current', `release', and `stable'; in other words if you are running `stable' all the known bugs have been fixed in the OS and the packages. Buggy apps have plagued Linux since it began. The HURD (Open Source Unix kernel) is a bit more stable than the Linux kernel. In my view the positive and negative things of each end in a tie.

Linux vs. VMS = VMS is nifty, but it is closed source and quite a dinosaur of an OS, it is a cool thing to know for `geek points' but it will fade out of common existence before too long so I wouldn't waste too much time on it.

Linux vs. BeOS = no idea, my guess is Linux.

3. Any more useful info (or not particularly useful, either one)
I recommend going to your local Library or bookstore and browsing the section about OS's. There is a tom of stuff out there, and it would be better for you to make your own decision about which OS is best.

Info on other OSs also appreciated, and please, no flaming on any OS, present arguments thoughtfully.
<< oh, come now why would anybody do that ? >>

Thanks for all input.

<< you are welcome >>

[hehbris]

it is pointless to learn anything.
you are headed for a career in dick sucking

[petemcevoy]

You know hehbris, not everybody is on the same slippery slope as you. I find your posts amusing, sometimes. This is banal.

[RiOtEr]

why?? hehbris he is asking a genine question unlike those " how do i hack hotmail i promise its only to save my girlfriend from a life of prostitution" and u flame him i think all your negative points are given in good reason thank you to all those that gave them with out me having to thank u

[chsh]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by psi0nic

BeOS - no idea, never even met anyone who uses it, hear it's cool.




Think MacOS for the PC and you're close. It's pretty nifty. I played around with it for a bit but lost interest. I switched to linux because I wanted more functionality and control than windows offered, and BeOS is about the opposite of that.

[Focmaester]

Originally posted by psi0nic

game support and office tools are a bit behind and it is not as easy to use, but it blows every version of windows away in any other respect.

<< you are welcome >>

Well you probably have never heard of Staroffice?
I have it running on both my wintel and linux systems, and where I work they are testing it to see if they can use it instead of upgrading to Office XP.

[Ennis]

Originally posted by hehbris
it is pointless to learn anything.
you are headed for a career in dick sucking

Another amazing contribution from hebris.

[psi0nic]

Well you probably have never heard of Staroffice?

Yes I have used Star Office quite a bit actually. I am currently running the 6.x Beta. Star Office is at best `Ok'. Previous versions are bloatware in the extreme depsite SO taking up about 1/3 of disk space as MS Office.

I really think this is where *nix desktop apps need the most work. There really needs to be a set of Office tools much closer to MS Office in ease of use and functionality. There are things that very advanced MS Office users can do in it that SO just does not offer. Applixware is yet again just Ok.

Someday we will have a suite if Office tools that rival MS Office in all aspects (except the bugs :D).

The only people at my company that don't run Solaris 7, AIX 5.x, or Red Hat 7.x are the administrative people that need the features of MS Office 2000. Trust me, if there were a good replacement that met their needs we would have done it. We really don't like MS, and I look forward to the day that all of our servers and workstations are running a Linux or BSD flavor.

[psi0nic]

On the other hand FreeBSD has higher uptimes than Linux, the devlopment cycle is broken up into `current', `release', and `stable'; in other words if you are running `stable' all the known bugs have been fixed in the OS and the packages. Buggy apps have plagued Linux since it began.

Sorry, just a quick clarification that I should have mentioned in the original post.

Almost all apps people associate with Linux have an xBSD port. So whether it is Eterm, GNOME, Mozilla etc.. there is either a xBSD port for the app, or you can use the Linux port. (there are a few apps that have degraded functionality on xBSD like portsentry and tripwire, but not many). The comment about `buggy apps' has to do with there not really being a widely followed testing phase of the assorted Linux flavors. So, when Red Hat comes out with say 7.2, some of those apps are going to be a bit buggy, there will be bug fixes to those apps, but when 7.3 comes out we are back to new and perhaps buggy versions of some software or maybe even the kernel that will require patches and updates. FreeBSD has the 3 releases. Current is a snap shot of all the packages and the kernel that the developers want to have in the next full version, it is often very buggy, and you don't want to run it unless you like hunting down bugs. Release is what is initially sold/available for download to the public after all the bug have been found and fixed. Stable is yet another snapshot of the particular FreeBSD version with even more bug fixes and patches etc., to be called stable the sanpshot must have all known issues resolved.

[freeOn]

hmnnn..............The thread says not a poll

Well You all know where I stand on this issue, Do I really have to repeat myself.

Some advice Don't get to carried away or there will be flamage.

[cF_nM]

I believe that the main reason that Linux is so far behind in the field of hardware compatibility and video games is that (this may be obvious to many like myself, but I think that most don't) no serious gaming or hardware compony wants to or does develop things for linux. In fact it goes the other way around-the Linux community develops things for Linux, and it takes a while after a new piece of hardware comes out that someone who wants it compatible for Linux scrounges up the cash to go out and buy the product.....my 2 cents..........

[Zair the Wise]

On BeOS:
Its main features:
* POSIX compliant
* processor agnostic and portable - you could plug a 2-button mouse into a Mac and hide the box, and could practically fool users into thinking that they're running on an x86, and vice-versa
* preemtive multitasking (like any other modern OS)
* pervasive multithreading - multithreading with smaller instructions than most other OSes. This doesn't make the processor crunch the numbers faster, but it reduces the time processes have to wait for a single instruction to be executed, making them work more fluently
* symmetric multiprocessing (for machines with more than one processor - BeOS oficially supports up to 8 processors, but can actually handle any number of them)
* a 64-bit, multithreaded, fully journaled, database-like filesystem - 64 bit to allow filesizes larger than 4GB (up to 18,000 petabytes), journaling to ensure data integrity, multithreaded to increase speed when running multiple disk-intensive tasks simultaneously. Database-like means that, even though the hierarchy of folders and files takes a more traditional form, every file can have a number of attributes, which can be searched through like with a database.
* Protected Memory
* well- integrated GUI and CLI - as a matter of fact, neither of them can work without the other in BeOS. You can't boot into the terminal (Be's adaptation of the UNIX bash), and the primary interface is graphical. But the OS performs several bash scripts on bootup, making the shell essential as well. And even though the main user interface is graphical, using the terminal is as comfotable under BeOS as on *NIX. What's more, once you learn to use the terminal in conjunction with the GUI, you'll appreciate the GUI way more.
* Since it operates diffenet than Windows and *NIX, it is immune to their virii and troyans

Downsides:
* Because the networking part is done at user level instead of kernel level, there's a lower network performance than otehr OSes
* There is no full, system-wide implementation of file permissions (there IS one technically, bu it's not full-fetched as on *NIX). There is no default login authentication, but one is available for download
* Hadrware support is several steps behind Windows and *NIX. But most harware built before January 2001 should be compatible (ther are some exceptions... my network card is one)
* Now that Palm owns the intellectual property of Be, there is no certainty as of what is going to happen to Be. the biggest hopes for a BeOS revival are here http://open-beos.sourceforge.net/ and here http://www.beunited.org/

BeOS is good for almost any person. If you come from a Windows environment, you'll be comfortable with the GUI. If you come from a *NIC environment, you'll like the terminal (yes, it comes with vi). Peope that do audio and video design will love this OS - check the news from Nov. 15, 2001, on the BeUnited page.
I would not recommend BeOS for a networking environment though... it is great for the desktop and small office environment, but its networking and security sections haven't been worked on as much as on, say, *NIX.

[Zair the Wise]

Originally posted by cF_nM
I believe that the main reason that Linux is so far behind in the field of hardware compatibility and video games is that (this may be obvious to many like myself, but I think that most don't) no serious gaming or hardware compony wants to or does develop things for linux. In fact it goes the other way around-the Linux community develops things for Linux, and it takes a while after a new piece of hardware comes out that someone who wants it compatible for Linux scrounges up the cash to go out and buy the product.....my 2 cents..........

That may be true. But another reason is that Linux itself (until recently) was not aimed directly at gamers and the average user. Now there are several projects, such as Transgaming and WineX and the new Mandrake Linux version for gamers, that are trying to bring Linux to the games. That much for the games part.
As for the hardware, what I've seen lately is M$ changing the software standards of their OS and hardware producers adapting to them because they know that the bulk of PC users use Windows.

PS: the new Mandrake for gamers is supposed to come out in December

[psi0nic]

Linux support is improving though, currently folks like NVIDIA and Creative Labs have some pretty good drivers for their devices. Of course they are not open source, but that is to be expected. I am confident that things will get even better with time.

[thor]

Originally posted by hehbris
it is pointless to learn anything.
you are headed for a career in dick sucking

After your time in jail you should know all
about that...BLAME CANADA...

[gore]

i know this is an old thread but i wanted to give my opinion on BeOS, i bought the pro edition and it came with like 4 books plus the 900 or so page BeOS Bible, to me, i ran it a few times, and the install, was simple as hell, not only could you have it installed on Windows, , like you could have a BeOS icon on the desktop, and all you would have to do is double click that, Windows would shut down and BeOS would boot up, if you wanna think about it, think that Windows, Linux and MAC OS all got together and made an OS, (BeOS runs on MACS to) some of the core people in BeOS came from apple computer, and i think it was a nice OS and it has a sence of humor, instead of regular error messages, you get funny ones, the OS and the people who built it had an awesome humor side to them, BeOS would also have abilities to allow you to take a P3 700 or so MHz Pc and make it run better than a (4, i duno but anyway i think its a good system, and even if you hate itr, youd enjoy reading the instruction manuals, and on installs, or if something crashed, everything ran on its own part of the PC, so if one thing crashed, you just refreshed that one thing and boom system back to how it was, also i think it was a great system for people that wanted to have posibilities to have a celron 556 MHz processor do well in mesin with Video, ahhh almost forgot, average boot time in Beos, 20 seconds:)

[blackmask]

FreeBSD rocks...

[Genocide]

Well theres always 1

Well theres always 1

Well theres always 1 trouble sum