| 1 | [[!table data=""" |
| 2 | **Feature** | **DragonFly** | **Linux** |
| 3 | Distribution formats | ISO image, pkgsrc, tarballs | ISO image, rpm, dpkg, tarballs |
| 4 | Distribution Depots | Central repository with mirrors for base, NetBSD mirrors for source packages, several binary package repositories | Debian: many mirrors; Redhat: central; Ubuntu: central; SUSE: ? |
| 5 | Number of Distributions | one (3 sibs: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD; most popular: FreeBSD) | hundreds (most popular: RedHat, Debian (sub-distro: Ubuntu)) |
| 6 | Update methods | git, cvsup, rsync, pkg_add | up2date, apt-get, pacman, emerge, etc. |
| 7 | Xen | not yet | yes |
| 8 | Compiler | gcc 3.4,4.1.2 | gcc 3,4, gcc 3.4, gcc 4.1, gcc 4.2 |
| 9 | Firewall | default: pf; other: ipfw2, ipf | default: iptables; other: pf |
| 10 | Livecd | yes (DVD) | yes, many sizes, versions |
| 11 | Kernel SCM | git | git |
| 12 | Default GUI | none (or bare X) | none, kde, gnome, xfce, etc. |
| 13 | File systems | UFS1, MFS, EXT2, FAT (16/32), NTFS (write experimental), HAMMER | EXT2, EXT3, FAT (16/32), NTFS (read-write experimental?), XFS, REISERFS, REISER4, JFS, ZFS, UFS2 |
| 14 | Kernel compilable from supplied source? | Yes | Yes (depend on distro) |
| 15 | Predominant Licenses | 3-clause DragonFly, 3-clause BSD, 4-clause BSD, MIT, GPL | GPL, Lesser GPL, MIT, 3-clause BSD? |
| 16 | Commercial Support | Not yet | many; leaders: RedHat, Novell? |
| 17 | Processor Architectures | x86 | x86, AMD64, Sparc, PowerPC, etc |
| 18 | SMP | yes | yes |
| 19 | NUMA | under development | yes (depending on kernel?) |
| 20 | Boot loader | default: bsd boot block; lilo, grub work | default: lilo, grub |
| 21 | Disk partitioning | BSD-style: slices on fdisk'ed partitions | fdisk partitions |
| 22 | Logical volume management | vinum | LVM1, LVM2, |
| 23 | Release schedule | about twice a year (developer-driven) | Redhat: 18 month; Debian: feature-driven; Ubuntu: 6 month; Fedora Core: 6 months; | |
| 24 | |
| 25 | """]]DD:Distribution dependant |
| 26 | |
| 27 | |
| 28 | |
| 29 | ### Advantages over Linux |
| 30 | |
| 31 | |
| 32 | * BSD licensed |
| 33 | * All you have to do is give credit. |
| 34 | * Except where the 4-clause BSD License is used, of course: BSD License (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD_License) |
| 35 | * More control |
| 36 | * You can easily build your own base system / release / live cd. |
| 37 | * The rpm based distros lack that. |
| 38 | * Everything is developed in CVS. And the CVSROOT is available, so that you can download it and commit to your own repository. |
| 39 | * Guaranteed to build from source |
| 40 | * [jail(2)](http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/cgi/web-man?section#2&commandjail) support |
| 41 | * A jail is a [chroot(2)](http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/cgi/web-man?section#2&commandchroot) on steroids with low overhead. |
| 42 | * Since jails have their own IP, you can easily setup up Virtual Hosting enviroments on shared servers. |
| 43 | * VKERNELs |
| 44 | * VKERNELs can be compared with UML. |
| 45 | * Many packet filter packages: |
| 46 | * ipf - by Darren Reed |
| 47 | * ipfw2 - the successor to ipfw |
| 48 | * pf - by Daniel Hartmeier and the OpenBSD project, the most flexible, can e.g. match Operating Systems |
| 49 | * SIGINFO signal |
| 50 | * You can send a SIGINFO to a process (e.g. via CTRL-T) and it prints useful information e.g. fsck reports how many percent are done |
| 51 | * Kernel debugger |
| 52 | * CTRL-ALT-ESC in a console gives you a debugger prompt. |
| 53 | * There are non-standard patches for something like that for Linux. |
| 54 | * Debugging via a firewire console is also available, see dconschat(8) |
| 55 | * Linux compatibility |
| 56 | * Since the kernel exposes a Linux ABI, many Linux binaries run natively. |
| 57 | * Integration of gcc 3.x and gcc 4.x |
| 58 | * Easily switch your default compiler by setting the environment variable CCVER to gcc34 or gcc40. |
| 59 | |
| 60 | $ CCVER=gcc34 cc -v |
| 61 | Using built-in specs. |
| 62 | Configured with: ./configure --prefix#/usr --hosti386-just-dragonflybsd |
| 63 | Thread model: posix |
| 64 | gcc version 3.4.3 [DragonFly] (propolice, visibility) |
| 65 | |
| 66 | |
| 67 | |
| 68 | ### Disadvantages compared to Linux |
| 69 | |
| 70 | Most of these disadvantages are curable, not inherent. |
| 71 | |
| 72 | * Less popular :-) which means fewer developers, testers |
| 73 | * Linux ABI support not complete (actively developed) |
| 74 | * Not all Linux binaries run. . e.g. we can't do the new nptl threading, but maybe possible in future. |
| 75 | * No binary driver support from some graphics card companies |
| 76 | |