Chris's Wiki :: blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere Commentshttps://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere?atomcommentsDWiki2012-06-01T18:21:10ZRecent comments in Chris's Wiki :: blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere.From 205.194.74.164 on /blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHeretag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere:0af8fc64cd4d00983dd045845f495fd8b475adffFrom 205.194.74.164<div class="wikitext"><p>The reasons to use FreeBSD listed on that web page are all good but not good enough to choose FreeBSD over a Linux. Linux has similar features as well as its own strengths. Where FreeBSD loses is long term support. Ubuntu LTS and RHEL will receive software updates for 5 years. FreeBSD 9.0 will be supported for 1 year. The FreeBSD answer to long term support is to continuously upgrade. The Linux way is just easier for sysadmins.</p>
<p>WRT debian vs ubuntu: At home I use Debian. At work I use Ubuntu. Ubuntu's support and release schedule is predictable. Debian's isn't. (I know I am not the only one still soured by the very delayed Sarge release.)</p>
<p>Software support and predictable releases are not the only criteria for a good OS but it is a big plus. It is easy to choose Ubuntu LTS or RHEL. Both are "good enough," have long term support, and you can plan around the release cycle.</p>
</div>2012-06-01T18:21:10ZBy Chris Siebenmann on /blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHeretag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere:cc8e54899cd5c4f65f5422b1662ff8b9451693f4Chris Siebenmann<div class="wikitext"><p>The simple answer is that we install lots of packages anyways, so I
don't think we'd particularly notice any Ubuntu non-leanness.</p>
<p>(Defaulting to more instead of less as the basic pager strikes me
as a very Debian thing to do, but I also don't think it's the right
thing. Time moves on, and so should Unixes.)</p>
</div>2012-06-01T03:57:09ZFrom 108.60.106.196 on /blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHeretag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere:12516bc14ec623eeeb4119da8aae30356b439494From 108.60.106.196<div class="wikitext"><p>I realize that Debian has a pretty hard update/support timeline, but I've always bristled at Ubuntu. It just seems to be too consumer-ish, and not engineer-ish enough. For example, Debian by default installs nothing you don't actually need... my favorite example is the time I had a new Debian box where I couldn't scroll backward in man pages as I'm used to, and of course the reason was that it had defaulted to /bin/more as a pager since it just hadn't installed anything else.</p>
<p>Ubuntu seems to be more liberal with its default package installation, at least the last time I interacted with it as a server OS (at least 5-6 years ago). This is also the reason I tend to install packages with apt-get instead of aptitude, since aptitude installs suggested and recommended packages by default.</p>
<p>Do you 'put up with' or embrace Ubuntu's consumer-ish bent, or is it better and leaner than I remember? Are you vigilant about keeping your own machines lean?</p>
<p>-Brad (augmentedfourth.com)</p>
</div>2012-05-31T23:55:31ZFrom 70.26.85.161 on /blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHeretag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere:9c9439f16cd4617e75b77884e121588b1035e517From 70.26.85.161<div class="wikitext"><p>On the topic of FreeBSD, just this week there was a thread on the "stable" list which asked "Why Are You Using FreeBSD?":</p>
<ul><li><a href="http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2012-May/thread.html#67788">http://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-stable/2012-May/thread.html#67788</a></li>
<li><a href="http://marc.info/?l=freebsd-stable&m=133840226207932&w=2">http://marc.info/?l=freebsd-stable&m=133840226207932&w=2</a></li>
</ul>
<p>Some of the most popular answers were summarized at:</p>
<ul><li><a href="http://wiki.freebsd.org/WhyUseFreeBSD">http://wiki.freebsd.org/WhyUseFreeBSD</a></li>
</ul>
</div>2012-05-31T22:53:12ZFrom 87.6.85.69 on /blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHeretag:CSpace:blog/sysadmin/OSSuccessFailHere:69aae530f885c2705421ebec0d94f0c58c811cf7From 87.6.85.69<div class="wikitext"><p>I don't think there is a difference between the EPEL repository of Red Hat and the Contrib repository of Debian/Ubuntu but I agree with you about the worse package availability</p>
</div>2012-05-31T21:54:58Z