COMPR4002@UCSVAX.SDSU.EDU writes:

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>Several freely downloadable Unix clones are available for 386 PCs.
>These include minix, linux, mach, and 386bsd.  Can anyone give a
>comparison of these systems?

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>thanx in advance.

*Flame on*

Just how ignorant can people be? Sorry, but I've seen Minix misunderstanding
a zillion times. MINIX IS NOT, IN ANY WAY, FREELY DOWNLOADABLE, DISTRIBUABLE
or whatevery you might call it. It's the property of Prentice Hall Publicing.
(..and is by the way only toy IMHO, cannot run X and never will.)

*Flame off*

Just a short description of the remains:

Linux - a Copylefted *nix clone, written totally from scratch, primarily
        by The Great Wizard Linus Torvalds :-), but with massively support
        from netters. Linux is moving fast, real fast. So fast that people
        is wineing about it several times a day.

        Linux has the reputation of being a hacker kernal. While this
        might be true, I feel it much overstated, as it's very usable
        without hacking kernels. To keep up with the lastest, you might
        have to hack, though. Several complete Linux systems (bootable
        kernel, root file sys. & programs) are available.

        Linux is Posix, and very compatible. My favorite list of what I
        like to see/think is missing is: shared memory, networking (tcp/ip),
        and Berkeley Fast File System (or something better, like Log
        Structured File System). Tcp/ip is in alfatest.

(The following is based on readings, not doings)

MACH -  MACH is a portable and advanced message passing based microkernel
        being devolped at CMU. Several BigOnes are supporting MACH, including
        FSF and OSF (?).

        MACH is useless in itself. A free BSD sever was released recently,
        but is buggy from what I hear. FSF is working on the ever awaited
        Hurd server for MACH. It requires great skill to anything usable
        from what's available as of now.

        MACH hold great potentionel, and is in a sence more interresting
        than Linux or 386bsd (the traditional *nixes).

386bsd - Based on the NET/2 release of 4.3bsd from Berkeley, W. Jolitz & wife,
        are striving to make a complete 4.3 *nix, free to everyone. The
        effort is documented in a number of articles in Dr. Dobbs. 386bsd
        is not moving as fast as Linux, but comes as one compleate release.

        386bsd is running, include networking (with hacks).

An interresting point is how these system was built:

  - Linux is written from scratch up, based on familar concepts.
  - 386bsd topdown, taking a big system and adding code to make it work.
  - MACH is (mostly) written from scratch, with many inovative ideas.

MACH is available commercial also. Some very similar to 386bsd, BSD386
is available commercial (very confusing).

For usage now the choise is between 386bsd and Linux. 386bsd's advantage
is it's release structure (you get it all in one package, source and bin.)
Linux advantage is less bagage, optimized for the [34]86, massive support,
fast evolvement, more sexy (Subjective of course :^) shared libs, bla bla..

For now, my money (;^) is on Linux, but I'm watching 386bsd and Hurd closely.

How was the S/N ratio?


        
        
        
        
-- 
/Tommy Thorn, another LPF member. Terminate software patents.
Join The League for Programming Freedom, mail league@prep.ai.mit.edu.
XT350 '88 - You either make dust, or you eat it.