Feature |
Linux |
|
Distribution formats |
ISO image, pkgsrc, tarballs |
ISO image, rpm, dpkg, tarballs |
Distribution Depots |
Central repository with mirrors for base, NetBSD mirrors for source packages, several binary package repositories |
Debian: many mirrors; Redhat: central; Ubuntu: central; SUSE: ? |
Number of Distributions |
one (3 sibs: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD; most popular: FreeBSD) |
hundreds (most popular: RedHat, Debian (sub-distro: Ubuntu)) |
Update methods |
git, cvsup, rsync, pkg_add |
up2date, apt-get, pacman, emerge, etc. |
Xen |
not yet |
yes |
Compiler |
gcc 3.4,4.1.2 |
gcc 3,4, gcc 3.4, gcc 4.1, gcc 4.2 |
Firewall |
default: pf; other: ipfw2, ipf |
default: iptables; other: pf |
Livecd |
yes (DVD) |
yes, many sizes, versions |
Kernel SCM |
git |
git |
Default GUI |
none (or bare X) |
none, kde, gnome, xfce, etc. |
File systems |
UFS1, MFS, EXT2, FAT (16/32), NTFS (write experimental), HAMMER |
EXT2, EXT3, FAT (16/32), NTFS (read-write experimental?), XFS, REISERFS, REISER4, JFS, ZFS, UFS2 |
Kernel compilable from supplied source? |
Yes |
Yes (depend on distro) |
Predominant Licenses |
3-clause DragonFly, 3-clause BSD, 4-clause BSD, MIT, GPL |
GPL, Lesser GPL, MIT, 3-clause BSD? |
Commercial Support |
Not yet |
many; leaders: RedHat, Novell? |
Processor Architectures |
x86 |
x86, AMD64, Sparc, PowerPC, etc |
SMP |
yes |
yes |
NUMA |
under development |
yes (depending on kernel?) |
Boot loader |
default: bsd boot block; lilo, grub work |
default: lilo, grub |
Disk partitioning |
BSD-style: slices on fdisk'ed partitions |
fdisk partitions |
Logical volume management |
vinum |
LVM1, LVM2, |
Release schedule |
about twice a year (developer-driven) |
Redhat: 18 month; Debian: feature-driven; Ubuntu: 6 month; Fedora Core: 6 months; |
DD:Distribution dependant
Advantages over Linux
- BSD licensed
- All you have to do is give credit.
Except where the 4-clause BSD License is used, of course: BSD License (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD_License)
- More control
- You can easily build your own base system / release / live cd.
- The rpm based distros lack that.
- Everything is developed in CVS. And the CVSROOT is available, so that you can download it and commit to your own repository.
- Guaranteed to build from source
jail(2) support
A jail is a chroot(2) on steroids with low overhead.
- Since jails have their own IP, you can easily setup up Virtual Hosting enviroments on shared servers.
- VKERNELs
- VKERNELs can be compared with UML.
- Many packet filter packages:
- ipf - by Darren Reed
- ipfw2 - the successor to ipfw
- pf - by Daniel Hartmeier and the OpenBSD project, the most flexible, can e.g. match Operating Systems
- SIGINFO signal
- You can send a SIGINFO to a process (e.g. via CTRL-T) and it prints useful information e.g. fsck reports how many percent are done
- Kernel debugger
- CTRL-ALT-ESC in a console gives you a debugger prompt.
- There are non-standard patches for something like that for Linux.
- Debugging via a firewire console is also available, see dconschat(8)
- Linux compatibility
- Since the kernel exposes a Linux ABI, many Linux binaries run natively.
- Integration of gcc 3.x and gcc 4.x
- Easily switch your default compiler by setting the environment variable CCVER to gcc34 or gcc40.
$ CCVER=gcc34 cc -v Using built-in specs. Configured with: ./configure --prefix=/usr --host=i386-just-dragonflybsd Thread model: posix gcc version 3.4.3 [DragonFly] (propolice, visibility)
Disadvantages compared to Linux
Most of these disadvantages are curable, not inherent.
Less popular
which means fewer developers, testers - Linux ABI support not complete (actively developed)
- Not all Linux binaries run.
- e.g. we can't do the new nptl threading, but maybe possible in future.
- Not all Linux binaries run.
- No binary driver support from some graphics card companies