DaemonNews.org: Why I Switched to FreeBSD

“…At first, I did not feel quite at ease with FreeBSD. In the
workplace, I had always used a System V type of UNIX, and on a
hobby basis I was used to using Linux. To make my transition to BSD
easier, I invested in the excellent book “The Complete FreeBSD: 3rd
Edition” by Greg Lehey. By the time I finished writing the
“Advanced UNIX Programming” book, I was very impressed with
FreeBSD.”

“While I was impressed with FreeBSD, I was not yet sold on
it as my platform of choice. Two events had to occur first: the
install of Linux Red Hat 7, and the other was putting my old 486 to
work as a firewall.“

“It seemed to me that every release of Linux was getting fatter
and fatter (at least for Red Hat). Red Hat 7 especially, seemed to
bring this point home to me. When I tried to trim down a minimal
Red Hat 7 install on my 486 for use as a firewall, I was aghast
with the number of executables and little files for questionable
purposes. I really don’t care to list my directories in color, and
I certainly didn’t need six different ways to do it. Red Hat 7 was
also very sluggish on the 486DX4.”

Complete
Story