this post was submitted on 17 Jun 2024
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Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).

Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.

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Let's Try BSD, Part 1 of 7: Introduction (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD, DragonFlyBSD) (lowendbox.com)
submitted 4 months ago by jaypatelani@lemmy.ml to c/linux@lemmy.ml
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[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 18 points 4 months ago (2 children)

BSD will always be faster. That's a given. It is not flexible, however. It has a very specific purpose. This is why Apple chose this as the origin for OS X, which has now been bastardized to an unrecognizable variation, but if you check the main kernel, will still read as DragonFlyBSD.

[–] IllNess@infosec.pub 30 points 4 months ago (1 children)

BSD might be faster but companies choose BSD because the BSD License is much more flexible than the Linux General Public License. Apple was even able to create their own license, the APSL. They would not be able to do that using Linux.

[–] wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works 15 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

While that is true, the question is whether that's a good thing, or not, and for whom.

[–] biribiri11@lemmy.ml 10 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

It’s a good thing for the owners of the codebase, but often, a bad thing for the community (even if the community contributes to said codebase).

For example, FOSS maintainers sometimes will (want to) relicense to protect their income stream:

https://github.com/CaffeineMC/sodium-fabric/issues/2400

https://github.com/LizardByte/Sunshine/pull/150

While corporations might literally have maintainers sign away their rights so they can take the work from their own community:

https://lwn.net/Articles/937369/ (canonical requires a CLA, though this + the subsequent re-license might have happened anyway)

https://lwn.net/Articles/935592/ (RPM spec files are MIT licensed at the Fedora level. There are likely chnages to RPM files contributed by the community that are now source-restricted in RHEL)

https://networkbuilders.intel.com/docs/networkbuilders/accelerate-snort-performance-with-hyperscan-and-intel-xeon-processors-on-public-clouds-1680176363.pdf (See section 2.2. Previously, this work was BSD)

Mixed bag, really.

[–] ducking_donuts@lemm.ee 6 points 4 months ago (4 children)

Faster in what sense? Would you kindly point me to the benchmarks used? It’s easy to find the opposite results so I’m curious.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 7 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (2 children)

Smaller footprint in general, compiled as one (not multimodal kernel+extensions), simpler security models, and simpler init system. All of these will make it snappier out of the box than Linux, just not in the ways you'd want, say, a desktop to be faster.

This just dropped as well. You can see where the differences are: https://www.phoronix.com/review/bsd-linux-threadripper-7980x

[–] ducking_donuts@lemm.ee 1 points 4 months ago

That makes some sense I suppose. What was it about DragonFlyBSD and macOS kernel?

[–] biribiri11@lemmy.ml 0 points 4 months ago (1 children)

I’m not sure how much I’d buy into phoronix benchmarks in this case. CentOS Strea, 9 was performing as good, if not better than, the recently released Ubuntu 24.04 and 2 week old FreeBSD 14.1 despite having a 3 year old kernel and being compiled with an equally old version of GCC. Linux is currently suffering from a pstate bug with AMD, too.

There’s a reason the BSDs are hardly used in HPC.

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (1 children)

JFC. The end all be all of Linux benchmarks, and you're standing up to discredit their results? Phoronix practically wrote the modern book on Linux benchmarks, but please tell us how they are wrong or mistaken.

3 other commentors have deleted theirs already for their inane fanboyisms. You want want to make 4, or do you have some new energy to bring to the conversation?

[–] biribiri11@lemmy.ml 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

Why are you being inflammatory for no reason? I’m just saying I don’t think it’d be correct for an OS 3 years in the past to be neck and neck with modern stuff. Log off the computer and go outside lmao

[–] just_another_person@lemmy.world 0 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Why are you? Touch grass.

[–] IllNess@infosec.pub 1 points 4 months ago (1 children)

FreeBSD doesn't have desktop environment built in. So maybe running from command line or installation is a lot faster.

[–] rostselmasch@lemmygrad.ml 1 points 4 months ago

Desktop environments are optional if using a Linux distribution. Also as long as a desktop environment doesnt take all resources, there shoudlnt be much difference in benchmarks.