What's the diff between FreeBSD and Linux?

[CastilleV]

OK, so I have done some studying on FreeBSD, not much.
But BSD doesn't use a linux kernel does it? I know it can use KDE and Gnome, but I was wondering if there was any major differences.
Aside from that, all I really know is that DragonflyBSD uses a custom filesystem known as HAMMER.

[cardinals_fan]

BSD is a bit different and is definitely worth a shot. DesktopBSD is good for those who want a GUI out-of-the-box. Otherwise, I recommend NetBSD (my personal favorite), FreeBSD, or DragonFlyBSD. I wanted to like OpenBSD, but didn't.

[CastilleV]

BSD is a bit different and is definitely worth a shot. DesktopBSD is good for those who want a GUI out-of-the-box. Otherwise, I recommend NetBSD (my personal favorite), FreeBSD, or DragonFlyBSD. I wanted to like OpenBSD, but didn't.

DesktopBSD it is! But is it also able to use more things than a standard linux? I mean, seing as how Mac is based off of it.

[cardinals_fan]

DesktopBSD it is! But is it also able to use more things than a standard linux? I mean, seing as how Mac is based off of it.

OS X is loosely based off FreeBSD and nextstep, using the Mach kernel. So, *BSD will not run OS X software.

BSD hardware support tends to lag behind Linux, but is sometimes better.

[CastilleV]

OS X is loosely based off FreeBSD and nextstep, using the Mach kernel. So, *BSD will not run OS X software.

BSD hardware support tends to lag behind Linux, but is sometimes better.

Oh ok. And also, is there a *nix or *BSD with it's own custom GUI? Not one like Gnome or KDE.

[cardinals_fan]

Oh ok. And also, is there a *nix or *BSD with it's own custom GUI? Not one like Gnome or KDE.

No, but there are many more window managers to check out. I personally use dwm, but it's not for everyone. Check out Xfce, Fluxbox, and much more on any OS for some fun (and maybe discover something great).

EDIT: To be fair, Solaris had/has CDE and the Java Desktop System (based off GNOME), but both are a dying breed. OpenSolaris uses GNOME, and future versions probably will too.

[Sorivenul]

DesktopBSD is great for beginners. It is based on FreeBSD (my personal favorite). Note: don't get discouraged by the "package management" system; "pkg_add" is nice, and when you feel comfortable, the ports system will become your friend. The default KDE is fine, but I agree that one should check out the many other desktop environments and window managers available. My current favorite is ion2, though others like awesome, aewm, fvwm, and wmii are also worth looking at. For a nice list of window managers check out Giles Orr's website.

[Jammy4041]

Thanks, desktop BSD looks really good: it's something, I want to try out!