Why Are You Using FreeBSD?

[Erich Dollansky]

Hi,

On 30 May 2012 PM 7:20:31 David Chisnall wrote:
> 
> This is off-topic, so please feel free to disregard it, but I'm sending it to this list in the hope that it will reach a largish number of users.  
> 
> I am currently looking at updating some of our advocacy material (which advertises exciting new features like SMP support), and before I do I'd like to get a better feel for why the rest of you are using FreeBSD.  If you had to list the three things you most like about FreeBSD, which would you pick?  Are they the same as when you first started using it?  
> 

I must say that it is a long time ago when I sat at the first BSD machine. The most important feature is the configuration and the update procedure. Things rarely change in a way that users have to relearn.

It is also important that it is possible to use a machine and upgrade it only every six or twelve months without facing fundamental problems. What helps there that the user can define a branch (8.x or 9.x) and stick with it as long it is supported. The users are not forced to move to the next version which might introduces some changes the user is not used to it.

This allows users to skip one main branch. While it is possible to stick with 8 until 10 is released, it is also possible to move to 9 or even 10. Sticking with 8 reduces the risk to get caught with some problems during the upgrade by some 50%

But I have to mention one disadvantage. The ports are in no way linked to the releases. This leads to situations in which a small change in a basic library will result in a complete update of the installed ports. I expressed this already many time here. It would be of advantage if the ports tree would also have tags like the base system itself.

I use a simple trick. I update the ports tree mainly when it is frozen due to a new FreeBSD release.

I believe that it is hard to express the other reasons for using FreeBSD in a world in which users take is as god given that an operating system fails or forces them to reinstall over and over again.

Erich