You should try FreeBSD (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#41

Post by corv » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:32 PM UTC

therealmarv wrote: post #37

I really wanted to try FreeBSD because of ZFS. Then I've seen benchmarks of ZFS between FreeBSD and ZFS on Linux on Ubuntu. Ubuntu was nearly double the speed in the benchmarks. I was sold to Ubuntu. Simple.

There is a lot that can go wrong benchmarking filesystems, especially one like ZFS that relies heavily on its caches being filled.

I find the claim hard to believe and would like to see the benchmark if you can dig it out.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#42

Post by cwyers » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:32 PM UTC

> If your understanding of the server OS does only allow you to copy/paste random strings from Stackoverflow, you might not really enjoy FreeBSD (or anything besides Ubuntu) — but then, why are you operating a server in the first place?

To serve stuff.

(To expand on this -- most people don't use software, they use software to GET STUFF DONE. Very few people want to operate a server. They operate a server because it allows them to do something they want to. If your FreeBSD pitch is "you should want to operate a server," you're already not reaching most of your possible audience.)

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#43

Post by protomyth » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:34 PM UTC

alimbada wrote: post #32

> A really big difference is that FreeBSD is the kernel and userland together. Can someone explain the significance of this as the author seems to keep glossing over it. What's does he mean by saying they are "together" and what is the advantage of it?

The significance is that you have one group building the kernel and userland which allows for implementation and testing of features that cross that boundary. A non-FreeBSD example is the recent work on pledge in OpenBSD. Kernel changes were made in conjunction with changes to a significant part of the userland. That is a minor example, but gives the feel of how having the same set of eyes look to the whole system can be a benefit.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#44

Post by corv » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:35 PM UTC

myxlptlk wrote: post #17

As far as I know, FreeBSD is more secure than most of the out of the box Linux versions(not considering jails). Does anyone know an article that illustrates this?

There is HardenedBSD http://hardenedbsd.org/, which is working on filling gaps between OpenBSD and FreeBSD security.

OpenBSD is definitely more secure out of the box than Linux.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#45

Post by corv » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

unluckier wrote: post #22

How's FreeBSD doing in the exploit mitigation department? Last I checked, they didn't even have ASLR. http://networkfilter.blogspot.com/2014/12/security-openbsd-v...

HardenedBSD http://hardenedbsd.org/ has completed a fork of FreeBSD with ASLR.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#46

Post by zeroxfe » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

Not sure what the author's sources are, but Google does not use FreeBSD in production.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#47

Post by protomyth » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:38 PM UTC

Those interested in FreeBSD for their desktop might want to take a look at PC-BSD http://www.pcbsd.org which is a FreeBSD variant geared towards desktop users.

Also, BSD Now http://www.bsdnow.tv and BSDTalk http://bsdtalk.blogspot.com are excellent podcasts for BSD.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#48

Post by floatboth » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:40 PM UTC

unluckier wrote: post #22

How's FreeBSD doing in the exploit mitigation department? Last I checked, they didn't even have ASLR. http://networkfilter.blogspot.com/2014/12/security-openbsd-v...

HardenedBSD has ASLR, they're working on upstreaming it to FreeBSD.

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#49

Post by jcadam » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:41 PM UTC

I'm a programmer, not a professional sysadmin, but for my side projects I have to manage my own servers (well, small VMs, but you know what I mean) and for this I definitely prefer BSD.

In fact, I prefer BSD in general over Linux, and while I tried to run it on my main dev laptop, a never ending trickle of minor frustrations with hardware support (suspend/hibernate never worked right, weird issues with docking/undocking (I have a Dell latitude), audio, etc.) eventually forced me back to Ubuntu.

So, for the time being I think I'll stick with Linux for my workstations and BSD for my servers :)

Re: You should try FreeBSD (2014)

#50

Post by corv » Fri, Nov 20, 2015, 4:42 PM UTC

protomyth wrote: post #47

Those interested in FreeBSD for their desktop might want to take a look at PC-BSD http://www.pcbsd.org which is a FreeBSD variant geared towards desktop users. Also, BSD Now http://www.bsdnow.tv and BSDTalk http://bsdtalk.blogspot.com are excellent podcasts for BSD.

Also, worth mentioning is the excellent FreeNAS http://www.freenas.org/ storage appliance based on FreeBSD & its ZFS capabilities.