Subj : test
To   : Clemens Buschmann
From : Lawrence Garvin
Date : Fri Jun 13 2003 07:55 pm


Clemens wrote to Lawrence at 23:56 07 Jun:

 CB> Hello Lawrence !

LG> While I certainly don't mean to malign any Linux code or
LG> programmers, it is new, relatively speaking, and sometimes
LG> it takes several years before some of the more obscure issues
LG> with a product come around to see the light of day.

 CB> Interesting what Ken Thompson, grandfather of *nix has to say about
 CB> Linux' code quality: some of it he likes and some not so much. 

Perhaps a very fair assessment. :-)

LG> Where they differ is in areas such as:

LG>   a. Installation methods
LG>   b. Customer support
LG>   c. Price, packaging, sales channels, and delivery methods.

 CB> For the newbie, I think, FreeBSD's port/package -system is a huge
 CB> advantage. Much nicer than .rpm or .deb! I haven't played with
 CB> Gentoo yet though.

I agree, Clemens. 

LG> The fundamental different between NetBSD and the others, is that
LG> NetBSD's "headquarters" is in Canada, and thus was able to avoid
LG> ALL of the U.S. imposed export restrictions on cryptography.

 CB> Wasn't that OpenBSD?

Uh... I stand corrected. :-)

Yes. NetBSD was the original group, founded to take over development of 386/BSD 
from Bill Jolitz, and expanded the project to include multiple platforms. 
FreeBSD formed shortly thereafter, to focus on development for the PC 
architecture. OpenBSD was founded several years later, based in Canada, and 
focused on security, easier use, and wider distribution. OpenBSD achieved this 
by (1) circumventing U.S. export requirements on cryptogrphic techniques, and 
(2) making a CD-based media set available to the general public at a nominal 
cost.

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 * Origin: lawrence@eforest.net | The Enchanted Forest (1:106/6018)

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