Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 12th May 2006 20:31 UTC, submitted by Joel Dahl
Linux may soon have a stronger open-source competitor on the desktop if FreeBSD's plans come to fruition. FreeBSD developer Scott Long told ZDNet UK on Thursday that the operating system, descended from the Unix derivative BSD, is "quickly approaching" feature parity with Linux. "Lots of work is going on to make FreeBSD more friendly on the desktop," Long said. "Within the year, we expect to have, or be near, parity with Linux."
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Member since:
2006-01-01
I've used FreeBSD and NetBSD as my desktops before. Both are very good operating systems, in some aspects better than Linux. Still, my desktop setup is currently a dual boot between two Linux distros because I've got the impression that BSD is happy where it is and not really interested in competing with the desktop Linux. I might be wrong.
I'd love to see equal competition on the desktop between BSD and Linux. I think it's quite possible and I'd love to dual boot between BSD and Linux on my desktop setup.
Both BSD and Linux have conquered a strong position on the server space. But desktop is a new territory for both, and Linux has so far seemed more eager to grasp a hold on that area. There are huge opportunities for growth on the desktop for Linux and BSD because they are both free (as in "free beer") while their competitors, MS Windows and Mac OS X, are expensive.
Although BSD and Linux compete with each other, the fact is that they're actually pretty similar. They both use the same applications and applications are what matters to users -- not the underlying system. And because the apps are the same, it is also a fact that what benefits Linux on the desktop, will also benefit BSD on the desktop (and vice versa).
A healthy competition on the desktop between two equal systems, BSD & Linux, would ensure that they will both try their best. IMO, the ideal situation would be where MS Windows has 25% market share, Mac OS another 25%, and both Linux and BSD have also their 25%. :*D