NetBSD 3.1 and 3.0.2 Released

hubertf writes, "The NetBSD release engineering team has announced that the NetBSD 3.1 and 3.0.2 releases are now available. NetBSD 3.1 contains many bugfixes, security updates, new drivers, and new features like support for Xen3 DomU. NetBSD 3.0.2 is the second security/critical update of the NetBSD 3.0 release branch which includes a selected subset of fixes deemed critical in nature for stability or security reasons. See the NetBSD 3.1 Release Announcement and the NetBSD 3.0.2 Release Announcement for more information."

I don't get it

[BeeBeard]

I've read the press release. What do I get by installing this that I can't get in a 2 year-old Gentoo Linux installation? The BSD's have always been a bit of an enigma to me. Could someone enlighten me?

Re:I don't get it

[debilo]

I've read the press release. What do I get by installing this that I can't get in a 2 year-old Gentoo Linux installation? The BSD's have always been a bit of an enigma to me. Could someone enlighten me?

I'm not sure if this is flamebait or if you really want to be enlightened, but if the BSDs "have always been a bit of an enigma" to you, why not install one of them in a spare partition or fire up a VMware session, and play around with them for awhile? You really don't gain much by reading release information only, you know?

The BSDs provide everything you've come to love in Linux: stability, security, and probably a little more consistency especially regarding system administration and configuration. Linux and the BSDs are both fine systems, but maybe you'll prefer how BSD handles things. I honestly find it easier and more comfortable to do system administration via the CLI on BSD than via the various GUI administration tools in Linux, but that's just a matter of taste.

So, don't just dismiss NetBSD just because a release information page doesn't provide a detailed list of reasons why NetBSD is better than a 2 year old Gentoo installation. Try it out. Get your hands dirty and be "enlightened".

Re:I don't get it

[Preacher X]

Let me first state two things. First, I am a gentoo user. Second I have only vaguely played with the BSDs.

That said, allow me to elaborate on the things I have seen. The most drastic difference between the BSD's and ANY other OS I have seen is stability. They are rock freaking solid. This however comes are a great cost to thier tech currency. Lets face it, new software although bright and shiny, is not stable. The BSD release trees have always been sluggish but only because they insist that packages be as stable as reasonably possible.

This is a very stark contrast to Gentoo's "bleeding edge" approach. Even the "stable" tree of gentoo is considered bleeding edge by most standards in a network OS.

Both standards have thier place and I am not really for or against the BSD architecture. I prefer gentoo only because it is what i started with and rpm is horribly flawed in it's base incarnation. YUM has worked to improve this alot and the newest Suse distros are not bad.