>> Don't you think there will be a lot more users of Mac OS X (BSD), after a
>> year or two, than of Linux?
>
> That's probably true, especially for general purpose desktop computers, but
> it's hard to predict so far into the future. Did you know that the Tivo
> personal digital video recorder is a Linux computer?
Yes, and there's a wonderful hack FAQ page here:
<http://www.tivofaq.com/hack/>
TiVo used to have a web page listing their Linux mods. But it's apparently
moved or disappeared.
You do realize that the TiVo is actually running on a circa 66 Mhz PowerPC
chip? With an MPEG encoder/decoder and a TV tuner card, there's no reason
that a G3 Macintosh couldn't replace it...and a G4 Macintosh could get by
without the MPEG encoder/decoder.
But it'll probably be another six months or so before Apple starts selling
TiVo service (or TiVo-like service).
And you think the MPAA is screaming about the DVD-R drives now... ;-)
#####
Returning to the previous segue...
> At the CES there was a $180 pda that runs the full Linux 2.4 kernel and syncs
> with desktop Windows pims. So, I wonder why does Linux get so much more
> publicity than BSD?
Do you have any idea how many nifty networking devices, or major websites,
are running variants of BSD?
Of course not, it's a secret. ;-)
BSD has been brought up on on everything from PDP 11/750s to handheld PCs to
Dreamcasts to just about every embedded system currently being used to build
networking devices.
NetBSD, in particular, is considered a competitive advantage by more
companies than you would dream.
#####
Linux's internals reflect its history as a hobbyist's toy attempting to grow
up into a useable operating system.
BSD's internals reflect teams of dedicated, talented, and *educated* people
who actually knew what they were doing sinking hundreds of man years into
building the fastest, smallest, lightest weight kernel possible. It was
first designed in the days when the process scheduler *had* to fit in a 64k
address space. It currently scales from those same requirements to
multiprocessor supercomputers.
Don't get me wrong, Linux is a great introduction to UNIX and there will
undoubtedly be many, many "garage products" that come into existence because
someone had Linux, had access to the (usually) supportive Linux development
community, and was able to implement an idea that he might not have
otherwise been able to bring to fruition.
Not only that, most of the BSD community looks fondly on Linux. Many
members of the BSD community have thrown countless hours into helping make
Linux better. Someday, eventually, the BSDs and Linux will probably merge.
mikel
PS: Linux got the press because the press is clueless about all things
technical. And Linus' story was far more "interesting" than talking about
25+ years of people working together to "change the world". The David and
Goliath story of Linus versus Microsoft is ever so much more compelling.
Once Linux was getting the press, everybody jumped on the bandwagon.
PPS: Oh, okay, the one thing that Linux did that jumpstarted hobbyist
interest was spending substantial effort on building idiot proof installers.
That allowed clueless people an opportunity to slowly gain clues. BSD
required you to have a clue upfront. ;-)
PPPS: If you really, really care about any of this, this
<http://www.colug.net/bsd/bsdpaper.html> is about the best summary. And it
barely counts as a summary.
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