Linux/Unix - FreeBSD or Slackware

Author

FreeBSD or Slackware

onoski

2002-10-04, 11:44 am

I am quite familiar with Linux now but would really want to get into database and Unix as that's where there's loads of IT jobs. My question is which of these two would give me the most Unix base as an OS FreeBSD or Slackware. Please, any useful insight on this issue would be greatly appreciated. Vote now Freebsd or Slackware, cheerio.

ccieToBe

2002-10-04, 6:41 pm

Well, Slackware is a Linux variant. If you're already very familiar with Linux and want to learn something new give FreeBSD a try.

Mr. Linux Guy

2002-10-05, 6:56 am

Slackware is a Linux distro. It does not "hold your hand" as much as the other Linux distros, but once installed, it is about like any other flavour of Linux. I would recommend trying out BSD for a while. BSD is like Linux on steroids . . . what is good about Linux is great in BSD, what is bad in Linux is horrible in BSD. They are similar enough for you to make the transition relatively painlessly, but different enough for you to get a "feel" for what another UNIX flavour is like. Also remember that for all Linux's gains in recent years, it is still mostly limited to small to medium scale servers. Usually some non-Linux variant of UNIX is used on the big machines. Right now where I work, our databases (Oracle) run on OpenBSD and HP-UX (transitioning from the latter to the former at the moment). If you can get used to using BSD and get a taste of Solaris or some other flavour of UNIX as well, I think you would have little difficulty in finding someone willing to take advantage of your skills.

As for databases, the "big boys" are Oracle, Sybase and DB2, but for learning purposes, MySQL, mSQL, and PostgreSQL are the way to go . . . open source, and mostly free, the strongest product there is PostgreSQL, the easiest to learn and fastest being MySQL (currently usually used mostly for web databases).

I work with this stuff everyday, so ask if you have any more questions.

onoski

2002-10-05, 8:41 am

Thank you both for the input on this issue as am very greatful. It is good to know there are still nice people out there willing to share an expensive knowledge and experience with others. Thanks once more again as I have decided to go for Freebsd as it's more Unix like and Oracle for database. Cheers guys

and if am stuck somewhere I'd come back here for help without hesitation.

ccieToBe

2002-10-05, 11:42 am

Yeah, the BSDs are like Linux on steroids.

How's the OpenBSD migration going? That sounds like a fun project. Why did you choose OpenBSD?

Until recently I'd been using FreeBSD a lot and neglecting the other two. Now I'm starting to work on an embedded project, and am seeing just how nice they are. This differences aren't that major. Enough to slow me down, but I'm definately more comfortable with OpenBSD and NetBSD then Linux even though I've used Linux a lot more.

Mr. Linux Guy

2002-10-05, 1:11 pm

Am about halfway there. Have successfully cloned my HP-UX environment and have Oracle successfully running on OpenBSD right now. We decided on OpenBSD for security purposes. Most other things seem to be about the same, but OBSD excels the others in its security record, and since our databases contain some highly sensitive data, we are trying to maintain as tight security as possible. Right now, we will be running the cloned setup for a few more months to see what other issues come up before production deployment. Although I think we will successfully migrate away from HP-UX, which will save us a ton of money, to date there is no open source database which comes close to Oracle's functionality, so we will be sticking with that. MySQL is good for small databases like are in common use for web apps (I use it on my web servers), but it doesn't allow for foreign keys or enforce referential integrity riules, or allow the use of transactions, which we need at the moment.

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