FreeBSD? OpenBSD? NetBSD? Darwin? - The definitive answer

Questions regarding the differences of the *BSDs come up again and again. Let´s start our "BSD Family FAQ".

I´ll update this first post here every now and then with other information contributed here or found on the ´net.

Part #1: *BSD history

The BSD family tree, by James Howard

Quote:

Indeed, there are a wide range of BSD versions. As we have seen, each implementation focuses on a specific market but still borrows concepts and idea from their brethren. The results have lead to a family of operating systems designed for every need imaginable.

Part #2: What is BSD? Is it Unix? How does it compare to Linux?

Explaining BSD

Quote:

In 2001, the world's busiest ftp server was ftp.cdrom.com. It used BSD to transfer 1.4 TB of data a day. Even Microsoft's flagship Hotmail service used BSD for much longer than they were prepared to admit, and they may still do so. Clearly this is not a niche market: BSD is a well-kept secret. So what's the secret? Why isn't BSD better known? This white paper addresses these and other questions: - What is BSD? - Is BSD really UNIX? - Why isn't BSD better known? - How do BSD and Linux compare? - How does the BSD development model compare to the Linux development model? - How does the BSD license differ from the GNU Public license? - What else should I know? - Which should I use, BSD or Linux?

Part #3: Evolution of various *NIXES

http://www.levenez.com/unix/
thanks to "Scorpions4Ever", originally posted down there vvv

Quote:

Originally posted by Scorpions4Ever: Note that there is a link to a large chart here --- so be prepared to wait a while, if you have low bandwidth

Part #4: FreeBSD or OpenBSD for a web server?

http://forums.devshed.com/t82683/s.html
thanks to "Prime Mover" and "Scorpions4Ever"

Quote:

You won't go wrong with either, but if I were making that decision, I'd pick FreeBSD. I've always been of the mind that OpenBSD is more geared towards routers and firewalls, where security of the underlying system and programs is of utmost importance. Thing with OpenBSD is tho, that Theo (the guy who 'owns' it) is very ... tight-fisted in the way that the project is run. Every single package, driver, etc. has to go through his scrutiny before getting added to the tree as part of the system. This sometimes led to delays in adopting the most recent software packages, driver editions, and outright refusal to let some things in. [...] On the other side, FreeBSD has very good security out of the box as it is, and is extremely stable and robust where it counts - disk subsystems and the networking stack, which is pretty much the superior one out there. Scorpions4Ever: Just wanted to point out that on OpenBSD (since 3.3), apache has been chrooted by default. You can turn the chroot off however. Also, OpenBSD doesn't support SMP currently, so if you have a multi-processor box, OpenBSD will only use one processor.

Part #5: How much "FreeBSD" is there in Darwin? (And some more info about Linux vs. *BSD)

http://forums.devshed.com/t82647/s.html
http://forums.devshed.com/t82345/s.html
thanks to "Prime Mover"

Quote:

First thread: OS X 10.1.x was based on the FreeBSD 3.x core. OS X 10.2.x is based upon the FreeBSD 4.x core. OS X 10.3 will be based upon the FreeBSD 5.x core. Basically, Apple succeeded in doing exactly what no one else has been able to do so far - mate a Unix core OS, with all of it's functionality, to a viable GUI windowing system (called 'Aqua'), which is suitable for the (point-and-click) masses.

Quote:

Second thread: If you telnet, SSH, ftp, etc. etc. into a FreeBSD box, it will look and feel just about the same as your Mac does on the commandline. Things will be in similar places in FreeBSD as they are on your Mac. Things will run similarly in FreeBSD, obviously with little differences here and there. Not much tho to make your head spin...

Part #6: What are the different CDs good for?

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.IS...cle.html#AEN378
FreeBSD:
CD 1 - boot + installation, bootdisk images + tools
CD 2 - "live filesystem" for starting from sysinstall, CVS repository, commercial software demos
CD 3+4 - prebuilt packages


If you have further links or infos about this issue, please post them here.


Changelog:
2004-10-28:
- Added #6 (needs to be updated for the other BSDs soon)
2004-03-07:
- corrected some links
2003-09-14:
- small update on #4
2003-09-11:
- joined posts from this thread
- added some other interesting infos from other threads
- added Changelog and Message
- updated format

Excellent stuff, Manuel - that has really cleared up some stuff for me.

thanks

christo

Evolution of various *NIXES
http://www.levenez.com/unix/
Note that there is a link to a large chart here --- so be prepared to wait a while, if you have low bandwidth

this is great guys. thanks for the links.

I'm very glad to have found this info on the BSDs, because I'm wanting to go this direction.
Plus, alot of folks ask me what the differences are, now I will point them here.

thanks