NewsForge has a review of FreeBSD 5.4 up today. While it’s better than the previous three releases, it still doesn’t work as well as it should. Many bugs have been fixed, but some big ones still remain, especially on multi-processor and AMD64 machines.
FreeBSD 5.4 review
About The Author
Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
Follow me on Twitter @EugeniaLoli
The athor wrote “I was disappointed to find that Linux binary compatibility was still 64-bit only for 64-bit FreeBSD. That means no 32-bit Linux binaries.” What a load of garbage. The amd64 version of FreeBSD runs 32-bit linux and FreeBSD binaries just fine.
Picking linux acroread at random I get
troutmask:kargl[250] file Reader/intellinux/bin/acroread
Reader/intellinux/bin/acroread: ELF 32-bit LSB executable, Intel 80386, version 1 (SYSV), for GNU/Linux 2.0.0, dynamically linked (uses shared libs), not stripped
My system is a dual-opteron box.
Yeah I’ve been consistently dissapointed with 5.3 and it doesn’t seem to improve all that much with 5.4 according to the review so hopefully 5.5 will be better.
When will prominent news sites stop linking to this guy’s articles? He hasn’t done a decent review in two years. I remember him being ridiculed here on osnews for his suse “review” – which seemed more like something written after googling for half an hour about suse than a decent review.
Just like most of his recent articles:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=150418&threshold=1&commentsort=…
Just like the guy in the above thread, I must ask: Where is the information?
First part of the article (roughly 1/4 of it) – he writes about himself.
Second part (another 1/4) – copy and paste job (or worst, since it barely scrapts the surface) from the changelog.
Third part – which has the lofty title “Putting it through the gauntled” – is partly about the installation procedure, the rest is about nvidia driver, his usb keyboard, and actually one sentence about ULE working again.
Fourth part – now this is actually taken from his 5.3 review
…. and flies in the face of the fact that most hosting providers already switched to 5.3, and with 5.4 there is little incentive to stay with the 4.x branch because 5.4 is actually more stable.
This is the same guy who wrote a review on dragonfly btw … posting crap like this (notice his style) on slashdot: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=128776&cid=10744823
Yes, you read that right: he won’t install the damn OS because he thinks that its developers are assholes! Come on! How old is he? So back to my question: when does osnews stop linking to “reviews” published by someone whose journalistic standards are even below that of an average ./ anonymous coward?
This is by far a more decent review:
http://www.ofb.biz/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=358
Or here is another one about PC-BSD – and I think it is about the recent, 5.4 based release:
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/wlg/6948
It’s good to see FreeBSD chugging along nicely. The last time I personally used FreeBSD was on a desktop workstation, and I was using BSD 5.2, that workstation then became a low end server, and I’ve since switched my desktop system to SlackWare linux. I do miss the speed and responsiveness of FreeBSD. It IMHO is one of the fastest OS’s out there.
–Jed
*/Offtopic/
Eugenia is great, awesome person, and pretty good looking.
Besides what’s the apperarence of the site’s owner have to
do with OS-Related news? {Anonymous == Fool}
//*
Well, I think the author is trying to create a name for himself. Perhaps he wants to be another:
1) Dido
2) Dvorak
3) O’Gara
Sensatilism will only get you so far in the world. Hey, someone needed to replace O’Gara.
The *BSD create their own:
1) Kernel
2) Userland tools
They also have their own package management utilities. Software is managed in two ways.
1) Binary (packages)
2) Source (ports)
Basically you have the best of both worlds in regards to software. However, source is updated on a regualar basis. I don’t believe that the packages get updated until a new release (someone correct me if I am wrong on packages).
As for a listing of Apps/Libs, checkout:
http://www.freebsd.org/ports
There are 2 brances in FreeBSD.
1) Current
2) Stable
Current contains bleeding edge features and Stable, well, its Stable. 😉
Now when a CD/ISO gets released, its a snap shot of either current or stable. On a side note, ports and source for the kernel/userland gets updated via CVS.
FYI: if your curious about the documentation, check out:
http://www.freebsd.org/handbook
With respect to FreeBSD, there is a regular release schedual. Typically 4 times a year and that is split between 2 for stable and 2 for current. This is based on history, not that I have read anything formal.
PS: There aren’t a ton of fancy graphical configuration utilities. Building a config file shouldn’t be a detourant, there are example files for a reference. You can copy an example file, make a few edits and poof, that service is now working.
Run Levels are different: BSD vs Sys V
One config file (rc.conf). This is with respect to the 4.x branch. There have been some changes in the 5.x series. Run Levels have been imported from NetBSD, as far as I can remember.
Another thing, 99% of apps get installed in 1 director, 99% of the config files are stored in 1 directory.
Secure by default. Something simple like X running, default setting is set to “no-listen”. But I digress.
Sorry if I am blabing here, still at work.
was running 4-STABLE until 5.4 came out, I went through the upgrade and everything is still chugging along just great! No problems what so ever and theres a definate speed increase on my dual processor machine too.
His article is not that bad. It should be stated in his article that it chronicles his own experiences with FreeBSD.
Just by reading the article a casual observer may think FreeBSD is a hastily put together and unstable operating system, which it is not.
I wonder if he submitted bug reports to FreeBSD. I wonder how good his mileage is when compared with Debian or another Linux distribution.
Just a reminder that the STABLE branch is only API stable, it is by no means “user-level” stable. STABLE is were the changes occur for the next release. The release branches are the ones that are actually stable from a end user point of view. Once a release is made the RELEASE branch only gets really important changes like ones which are security related. The STABLE branch is not as bleeding edge as CURRENT, but still not “stable” from a user’s standpoint. If you pull STABLE at the wrong time, you can have a bad kernel et al. after rebuilding. The naming is a bit confusing, but once you understand it is from the developers point of view, you understand.
I run FreeBSD 5.4 On 4 workstations and 1 server. Relatively new hardware. I have not noticed any glitches what so ever!
It installs perfectly. It detects all my hardware perfectly. And yes I can use my USB keyboard just find without any problems.
IMO this review is not a review at all. It’s a complain letter that got thru newsforge.
And “Anonymous (IP: —.nc.res.rr.com)” Wow, tons of info deserve a big thank you.
Thanks, very helpful group of guys you are.
Just got of work . Your welcome, sorry about the bad grammer on the post. I should have proofed it before posting it to the board.
All the *BSD’s have something great to offer. However, it is just my preference (FreeBSD). Just to re-iterate, the FreeBSD handbook is your one stop shop. If the answer isn’t there, the mailing list is only an email away.
Thanks Anonymous (IP: —.nc.res.rr.com) for going into deeper into the subject matter. I completed omitted:
” Once a release is made the RELEASE branch only gets really important changes like ones which are security related. ”
” (IP: —.nc.res.rr.com)
Once installed, set your CVS to a particular security branch. The CVS tags can be found in, (drum roll) the FreeBSD handbook:
http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/cvs-tags….
Regards,
(IP: —.savvis.net)
PS: Tags listed in the above link apply to the source for FreeBSD (ports don’t get tag like that). The default listed in the ports-supfile is perfect.
Regards,
(IP: —.savvis.net)
(IP: —.chcgilgm.dynamic.covad.net)
I also cannot get my USB keyboard to work with FreeBSD. It doesn’t work with OpenBSD or NetBSD either, but works with Linux. I mentioned this before in a previous comment, and many kind people gave me suggestions. Unfortunately, none of them worked. But some people are getting their USB keyboards to work with FreeBSD, so I sort of conclude that it must be a BIOS issue. Whatever is causing it, this is a real problem, not the author trolling.
The author didn’t mention that FreeBSD is still plagued with the notorious geometry bug. You only see this bug if you try to install FreeBSD on a hard disk shared with another OS (Windows, Linux, or another BSD). While not a fatal error, it can cause you to lose data. What happens is that the installer cannot accurately read our hard disk’s size. I have never seen this error on OpenBSD or NetBSD.
Solution to the “notorious geometry bug”: Ignore it and keep on installing, everything will work just fine. It’s when people try to fix what is essentially an erroneous error message that problems occur.
For the guy who said that his USB keyboard works with Linux read this.
Four years ago, I was installing SuSe 7.1 it didnt detect my USB keyboard and the entire boot process failed to continue trying to probe the device of course. Same thing for Redhat 7. I was not aware of any other distros at that time. So, I decided to try FreeBSD and yes the keyboard worked just fine without even that last choice in the boot menu
Given his history, I would doubt that he installed it at all! And half of it is a simple recirculation of his 5.3 review (down to babbling about the name ULE!). Problems with USB keyboards were reported on the mailing lists for some users during the release cycle, so it is not that difficult to write about “running into problems with my usb keyboard” to make it sound real.
For someone who is as shameless as he is:
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=150418&cid=12614097
I wouldn’t be surprised…
What is it with these 4.x trolls? I see them on Slashdot sometimes too, maybe it is all from the same person. Is it disgruntled DragonflyBSD users or what?
“Solution to the “notorious geometry bug”: Ignore it and keep on installing, everything will work just fine.”
It wouldn’t let me finish the install until I put in some other numbers for the Geometry, but that’s the least of my problems…
While it’s better than the previous three releases, it still doesn’t work as well as it should. … does that refere to the NewsForge reviews or FreeBSD 5.4?
On my Ultra 2, FreeBSD 5.4 does not work at all – when I boot from the installation CD, the whole thing freezes when the kernel is about to start. From what I read, it is a bug in the serial console driver and affects quite some Sparc64 systems.
That’s not really what I would expect from a “Tier 1” platform.
” From what I read, it is a bug in the serial console driver and affects quite some Sparc64 systems.”
Does this by chance affect AMD64 systems as well.
I’d like to join those who already pointed out the usual colourful bunch of factual mistakes – I can almost hear the crowd shouting: “A Jem Matzan review with factual mistakes?? No.. It can’t be!.. No way!!” – but I think that would result in a boring deja vu.
So, just to be original, I’ll make a big effort and say:
“Rarely is the FreeBSD status so well argued as it is in this NewsForge review.”
Ok?
http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=150418&cid=12614097&pid=1261409…
We already know that Jem is a lousy reviewer. He spend most of his time flattering about how good he is with stuff.
Thanks to him, I’m not using newsforge anymore. His “reviews” or “articles” are just plain bad. I just hope that osnews can stop linking to his articles soon.
FreeBSD is perfect. There’s nothing wrong with it. Not possible. Any negative comment is an obvious lie. FUD spread by Linux users, who are too ashamed to admit their operating system is garbage. Any negative comments against FreeBSD should be illegal. I think I’ll go find every comment section on the Interent that talks about this review and type the same thing.
FreeBSD advocates should be more ready to receive some criticism and admit that the 5.x release branch has had a fair amount of problems (which now happily seem to become solved at last). I liked FreeBSD 4.7 and 4.8 very much but I was disappointed when 5.0, 5.1. and 5.2 simply refused to run on my laptop. According to Scott Long http://www.osnews.com/story.php?news_id=10669 the 6.x release branch will overcome most of the problems that have plagued the 5.x release branch. I’m looking forward to try FreeBSD 6.0 when it is released. Also, PC-BSD seems like a good addition to the BSD family add it will address the needs of a new kind of BSD audience.
> FreeBSD advocates should be more ready to receive some criticism…
Yes, show me some.
> I’m looking forward to try FreeBSD 6.0 when it is released.
BSD community is small, there will always be issues. Do you realize that? There’s no need to wait, you just need to adapt your strategy.
> Also, PC-BSD seems like a good addition to the BSD family…
No doubt about that.
> add it will address the needs of a new kind of BSD audience.
You mean inexperienced users like you and Jem who want a free windows clone? Sure, kindof.
FreeBSD is perfect. There’s nothing wrong with it. Not possible. Any negative comment is an obvious lie. FUD spread by Linux users, who are too ashamed to admit their operating system is garbage. Any negative comments against FreeBSD should be illegal. I think I’ll go find every comment section on the Interent that talks about this review and type the same thing.
Not so at all. There are certainly issues with 5.4 (and 5-STABLE) HOWEVER there were a lot of issues with 4-STABLE too.
Ex:
1) Geometry “bug”, though not a problem unless you try to “fix it”, when installing, is annoying and should be adressed.
2) Hardware support is ALWAYS an issue (on free OSes). Notably some ATA and WiFi issues on 5.4.
Then there are some gripes.
SCHED_ULE not 100% bugfree (it is working for MOST people but it craps out for a few).
I’ve also run into the bug with the console trying to boot SPARC64.
So, no FreeBSD is NOT perfect but it is an excellent OS, both from a performance perspective and from an administrative perspective (and the consistency beats any Linux distro hands down).
FreeBSD, while there are issues (and as far as hardware is considered always will be), is for me the best opensource Unix OS. YMMV and use whatever works for you!
The examples I gave was from 5.x. Not intended as examples of issues in 4.x
Hmm..I don’t know if it’s the same author but the last (negative) review I saw linked here on OSNews about FreeBSD 5.3 ended up being a complete troll. I suggest people try it by themselves..come on a couple of burned ISOs aren’t that expensive :-P.
> I’m looking forward to try FreeBSD 6.0 when it is released.
BSD community is small, there will always be issues. Do you realize that? There’s no need to wait, you just need to adapt your strategy.
Well, I hadn’t really thought of that but thanks for pointing it out. I think I’ll adapt my strategy and stay with Debian that has a bigger community. Cheers.
“I think I’ll adapt my strategy and stay with Debian that has a bigger community. Cheers.”
There’s quite a bunch of users who don’t seem to be scared away by the alleged “smallness” of the FreeBSD community:
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2004/06/07/nearly_25_million_acti…
Debian’s active sites are less than 800.000 (March 2005):
http://news.netcraft.com/archives/2005/03/14/fedora_makes_rapid_pro…
Anyway, bye bye.