4 **Feature** | **DragonFly** | **Linux**
6 Distribution formats | ISO image, pkgsrc, tarballs | ISO image, rpm, dpkg, tarballs
8 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: ?
10 Number of Distributions | one (3 sibs: FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD; most popular: FreeBSD) | hundreds (most popular: RedHat, Debian (sub-distro: Ubuntu))
12 Update methods | git, cvsup, rsync, pkg_add | up2date, apt-get, pacman, emerge, etc.
16 Compiler | gcc 3.4,4.1.2 | gcc 3,4, gcc 3.4, gcc 4.1, gcc 4.2
18 Firewall | default: pf; other: ipfw2, ipf | default: iptables; other: pf
20 Livecd | yes (DVD) | yes, many sizes, versions
22 Kernel SCM | git | git
24 Default GUI | none (or bare X) | none, kde, gnome, xfce, etc.
26 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
28 Encryption Mechanisms | LUKS, TrueCrypt (tcplay) | LUKS, TrueCrypt (tcplay)
30 Kernel compilable from supplied source? | Yes | Yes (depend on distro)
32 Predominant Licenses | 3-clause DragonFly, 3-clause BSD, 4-clause BSD, MIT, GPL | GPL, Lesser GPL, MIT, 3-clause BSD?
34 Commercial Support | Not yet | many; leaders: RedHat, Novell?
36 Processor Architectures | x86, AMD64 | x86, AMD64, Sparc, PowerPC, etc
40 NUMA | under development | yes (depending on kernel?)
42 Boot loader | default: bsd boot block; lilo, grub work | default: lilo, grub
44 Disk partitioning | BSD-style: slices on fdisk'ed partitions | fdisk partitions
46 Logical volume management | vinum, LVM2 | LVM1, LVM2,
48 Release schedule | about twice a year (developer-driven) | Redhat: 18 month; Debian: feature-driven; Ubuntu: 6 month; Fedora Core: 6 months; |
50 """]]DD:Distribution dependant
55 ### Advantages over Linux
59 * All you have to do is give credit.
60 * Except where the 4-clause BSD License is used, of course: BSD License (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BSD_License)
62 * You can easily build your own base system / release / live cd.
63 * The rpm based distros lack that.
64 * Everything is developed in GIT. And the GIT repository is available, so that you can download it and commit to your own repository.
65 * Guaranteed to build from source
66 * [jail(2)](http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/cgi/web-man?section#2&commandjail) support
67 * A jail is a [chroot(2)](http://leaf.dragonflybsd.org/cgi/web-man?section#2&commandchroot) on steroids with low overhead.
68 * Since jails have their own IP, you can easily setup up Virtual Hosting enviroments on shared servers.
70 * VKERNELs can be compared with UML.
71 * Many packet filter packages:
72 * ipf - by Darren Reed
73 * ipfw2 - the successor to ipfw
74 * pf - by Daniel Hartmeier and the OpenBSD project, the most flexible, can e.g. match Operating Systems
76 * 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
78 * CTRL-ALT-ESC in a console gives you a debugger prompt.
79 * There are non-standard patches for something like that for Linux.
80 * Debugging via a firewire console is also available, see dconschat(8)
82 * Since the kernel exposes a Linux ABI, many Linux binaries run natively.
83 * Integration of gcc 3.x and gcc 4.x
84 * Easily switch your default compiler by setting the environment variable CCVER to gcc34 or gcc40.
88 Configured with: ./configure --prefix#/usr --hosti386-just-dragonflybsd
90 gcc version 3.4.3 [DragonFly] (propolice, visibility)
94 ### Disadvantages compared to Linux
96 Most of these disadvantages are curable, not inherent.
98 * Less popular :-) which means fewer developers, testers
99 * Linux ABI support not complete (actively developed)
100 * Not all Linux binaries run. . e.g. we can't do the new nptl threading, but maybe possible in future.
101 * No binary driver support from some graphics card companies
106 **Feature** | **DragonFly** | **Linux**
107 IDE disk | ad0, ad1, ... | hda, hdb, ...
108 IDE disk partition | ad0s1a, ad0s1b, ... | hda1, hda2, ...
109 Ethernet | xl0 | eth0
115 **Feature** | **DragonFly** | **Linux**
116 Manage startup scripts | rcrun | chkconfig (Red Hat)/update-rc.d (Debian)
119 *Some packages put their startup scripts in /usr/pkg/share/examples/rc.d/. You can put a symlink in /etc/rc.d or copy the script there.