Difference Between BSD and Linux

BSD vs Linux
Comparing BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) and Linux is a very heated topic, that has spawned more than a few hundred fights in communities all over the internet. You can’t really say that one is better than the other, without the other group crying for blood. And rightfully so, as both may vary in certain aspects, but they are more or less equal as a whole. The most basic difference between the two, is the manner in which they were developed. The general accepted concept is that BSD was developed as more of a port for the UNIX system, while Linux was grown based on UNIX.

The way that current-day deployments are developed differs for both. The base of BSD is developed, as a whole, by a single group of people, and the ‘add-ons’ added to the distribution went through a lot of testing to ensure that the whole package works. Since Linux did not really start as an operating system but as a kernel, Linux does not have a centralized development team that handles everything in the base OS. The Linux kernel is developed by one group, while other parts are developed by other teams.

When reading item number three mentioned in the summary list below, some of you might already be thinking of ways to express your disapproval. The margin between the two in terms of hardware is quite marginal, and is not even true for all. The difference lies in the support for official video card drivers, like those provided by ATI and NVidia. BSD can probably work with all video cards that Linux can work with, but the availability of the official drivers might give Linux the extra edge in terms of hardware.

Lastly, Linux has the upper hand when it comes to the number of users who prefer to use it, rather than BSD. Though both operating systems are very mature for servers, Linux has been much better at making inroads towards the consumer desktop market. Distributions like Ubuntu are so user-friendly that even newbies can have a good experience with the OS, with minimal assistance from other people or from the community.

Summary:

1. BSD is more Unix-like compared to Linux distributions.

2. The BSD base system is developed as a whole by a single group, while parts of the Linux system are developed by other groups.

3. Linux has better support for hardware compared to BSD.

4. Linux is more popular as a desktop operating system, than BSD.

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