FreeBSD vs Linux 3473

Khaled I am a long time FreeBSD user, and I still use it for a lot of things, but I use linux for a lot of other things. They are similar in a lot of ways, but the biggest differences are things that most PC users will never notice. FreeBSD is not just a kernel as linux is, and the FreeBSD folks have done a lot in the way of making sure the whole system is tightly integrated. FreeBSD can be a very fast and stable OS for servers and firewalls. I have found linux to be faster than FreeBSD in most ways except booting. Arch linux probably boots as fast as FreeBSD but RedHat, Debian, et al are much longer to boot.

On the desktop, FreeBSD is ok, but linux is noticeably faster in my experience. I have heard of other people saying otherwise, but there is something strange about the responsiveness of the GUI on every box I have installed on. If you have a very fast PC, you may want to try FreeBSD. Also if you want to build a nice NAT box, web server, file server or any combination of the above, FreeBSD might be right for you. I have found that I can get FreeBSD up and running very quickly, but the learning curve is different for everyone. Keep in mind that FreeBSD is meant to be lean and streamlined, and things are often implemented differently than in linux. If you want a nice GUI and good sound support, I'd say stick with linux if you are happy with it. I have made the switch from FreeBSD to linux on the desktop, but for my web server and my NAT-firewall machine I use FreeBSD.