Linux vs BSD

Difference Between Linux vs BSD

Linux is a group of free operating systems which are open source and built around Linux Kernel which is like UNIX operating system. Linux was developed by Linux Torvalds and a group of community members. It was written in C programming language. It was licensed under GPL (General Public License) v2 license. It was initially released in the year 1991. It belongs to UNIX like family operating systems. It was packaged as Linux distribution to distribute for both server and desktop purposes.

BSD (Berkeley Software Distribution) is derived from UNIX operating system which was developed by Computer Systems Research Group, California. It was distributed under BSD licenses. It supports different platforms such as Intel, VAX, PDP etc. It was initially released in the year 1977. It was purely written in C programming language. It belongs to UNIX Operating Systems family. The kernel type of BSD operating system is monolithic. The default user interface in BSD is the command line user interface. The earliest developments of BSD operating system were carried in AT&T Bell Labs. It was initially called Berkeley UNIX because of its association with Bell laboratory. let us study this Linux vs BSD post in detail.

Head To Head Comparison Between Linux vs BSD (Infographics)

Below is the top 8 difference between Linux vs BSD Linux vs BSD Infographics

Key differences between Linux vs BSD

Both BSD vs Linux are popular choices in the market; let us discuss some of the major Difference Between Linux vs BSD:

Linux was originally developed for the purpose of a personal computing operating systems based on the Intel x86 architecture model whereas the BSD operating system is based on Linux kernel.
Linux has different distribution variants in terms of operating systems releases whereas BSD has three kinds of distribution such as FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD where 80 % of the BSD installations were accounted to FreeBSD variant.
Linux has pre-compiled binary packages and can be installed using different package managers available whereas BSD ports containing source code need to be compiled before using the operating system.
Linux was initially developed based on Assembly language and was later rewritten based on C programming language whereas BSD was a direct derivate of UNIX based operating systems variant.
In terms of hardware support and operating systems using Linux is mostly in the front to be used by many users and organizations whereas BSD was left far behind in terms of hardware support where most of the hardware support will be given very late after the update release from the operating system updates release.
Linux was under GPL license which was under the motivation of releasing the source code for free of cost to the public mandatorily whereas BSD was not developed under that aim as it can restrict the source to be hidden from the public to protect it.
Linux has less reliability compared to BSD in terms of embedded server machines whereas BSD is more popular for reliability and supporting different server systems and embedded machines.
Linux is a group of smaller systems that together come as a larger single system whereas BSD is based on Linux Kernel which is the interface between hardware and operating system programs.
Linux has better vendor support such as graphics drivers and games which is more in case of Linux whereas very less in terms of BSD to support different third-party hardware components.
Linux has less support for different architectures and security features whereas BSD has more technical advances compared to Linux which has more security features in OpenBSD variant, NetBSD has more architecture support features and has good networking stack in FreeBSD variant.
Linux was owned and developed by a single entity and can be modified and released as required by the developer whereas BSD was developed and distributed by a community of highly technical developers or contributors.
Linux does not have good documentation packages whereas BSD has a greater reputation towards its reliability and high-quality documentation standards.
Linux cannot execute BSD binaries whereas BSD can execute almost all the Linux binaries.
Linux has lesser migration capabilities whereas BSD has more migration capability features to support easier migration and adaptability.
Linux has lesser performance capability whereas BSD has higher performance capability especially FreeBSD variant of the BSD operating system.

Linux vs BSD Comparison Table

The primary Comparison between Linux vs BSD are discussed below:

The basis of comparison Between Linux vs BSD	Linux	BSD
License	It was licensed under GPL (General Public License) License	It was licensed under BSD License which is much less restrictive
Development	Developed by developer community	Developed by Computer Systems Research Group, California
Control	Mostly controlled by its creator Linus Torvalds	BSD is not controlled by any user rather develops and suggests based on the users choice
OS	Concentrates mostly on kernel development	Concentrates completely on operating systems rather than a particular area
Base System	It is a group of many smaller subsystems	It is having a base system that supports the entire operating system
Upgrade	Difficulty to upgrade in a single step and requires a package management system	Easier to upgrade
Hardware Support	Supports all types of hardware in a short time	It takes a longer time to support all types of hardware
User base	It has average user base	Users are more compared to Linux but lesser than UNIX.

Conclusion – Linux vs BSD

Linux operating systems are being used in many of the computers or server systems currently because of its features and security support. In most of the server systems and host systems being run in many cloud-based applications and large-scale software applications, Linux is most popular and is used everywhere. BSD is less used compared to Linux (UNIX like operating system). In terms of pure Linux operating system features, BSD has more users compared to Linux but which is not visible to the real world and was obtained as user generalization accuracy drawn.

The advantages of BSD are more compared to Linux as it has fewer restrictions in terms of licensing parameters and customization features. BSD is more preferable in terms of customizing and more freedom in the use of the operating system. Linux is used in terms of fewer customization options required and more generic features for the stability and performance related requirements. I hope now you must have got a fairer idea of both Linux vs BSD. Stay tuned to our blog for more articles like these.