Open Vs Free BSD

[Holger Kipp]

On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 09:47:35AM +0100, Michal wrote:
> Someone once said this too me
> 
> "Comparing FreeBSD and OpenBSD, FreeBSD is generally better at disk-related
> I/O whereas OpenBSD handles net-I/O better. No test has been carried out to
> prove this though."
>
> Every offence to the person which said this, but they are not the best admin
> ever, though they like to think they are (the worst kind I think)

Ack!

> Can anyone shed any light, the reason I ask is we where debating about a
> network and he said OpenBSD on the network (routers firewall etc) and
> FreeBSD as the app servers (mail, files etc etc), which I can see makes
> sense.but without having evidence it's pointless making a claim.

You might want to look here (although it is a bit old by now)
http://forums.devshed.com/bsd-help-31/freebsd-openbsd-netbsd-darwin--the-definitive-answer-73907.html

For the masses:

- NetBSD: Run on any hardware (including toasters)
- OpenBSD: Be as secure as possible
- FreeBSD: provide best system for x86-platforms

This might be the reason why generally speaking OpenBSD is recommended for network tasks
(where security matters), FreeBSD for server tasks (especially on x86-systems) where
the application must be available (very large ports collection), and NetBSD for every hardware 
that isn't mainstream.

But because we always see code exchange between the BSD systems where appropriate,
all systems get more secure over time, support more platforms, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_BSD_operating_systems
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_open_source_operating_systems

Afaik MP-support in OpenBSD is much less optimized than in FreeBSD, especially as FreeBSD
got rid of Giant Lock in most places since some time already.

There are also old benchmarks available (2003), so this is mostly interesting from a
historical point of view:
http://bulk.fefe.de/scalability/

You might also want to check
http://forums.2cpu.com/archive/index.php/t-17014.html
http://people.freebsd.org/~kris/scaling/dfly.html
http://people.freebsd.org/~kris/scaling/7.0%20and%20beyond.pdf
for further information.

> Thanks :-)

Regards,
Holger