FreeBSD

[mrKR22]

FreeBSD, is this a UNIX os? Whats the difference between Linux and Unix, are the directory structures the same and can all Linux programs run on Unix? :confused:

[sans-hubris]

FreeBSD has closer ties to the the original UNIX than Linux since it's the result of BSDLite, the original BSD UNIX without the AT&T proprietary source code. Linux is a clone of UNIX, but has no code related to UNIX. This means that directory structures are going to be very similar. The commands are also usually the same. At the source level, most Linux programs are really just UNIX programs and so can be compiled to work for any UNIX environment. Once compiled, however, it may only work for that particular UNIX/UNIX-clone. FreeBSD and other free BSD OSes have a Linux binary compatibility layer that allows them to run Linux binaries natively (something that shouldn't be difficult to do since the compiler is usually GCC, thus the binary format will be very similar across those OSes). FreeBSD isn't the only free BSD (as you might have realized), there's also NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.

[ 31 March 2001: Message edited by: ndogg ]

[bdl]

FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD and plain ole BSD are indeed UNIX variants. Most would agree that *BSD is "true unix" in that they are direct descendants of the original UNIX created years ago. *BSD's are very stable OS's and I would highly recommend you get and try at least one of them if you use Linux at all.
As far as compatibility goes, the directory structure is almost identical to Linux, with a few exceptions. I believe there are 'ports' of most of the software you can use under Linux, and you can compile most everything from source as well, and get it to run under BSD. If you're interested, I'd recommend going straight into either FreeBSD or OpenBSD.

[mrKR22]

Thanks for the information.
One more question... would you recommend setting up FreeBSD as the OS of a computer that is only connected to the internet via dialup, not connected to any networks.