Re: [ossig] A very lengthy article on installing and securing FreeBSD

[Tze-Meng Tan <tmtan@opensos.net>]

On Wednesday, September 24, 2003, at 11:09 AM, Mukhsein Johari wrote:
> Isn't running 'unknown' binaries risky for any
> architecture though? An FreeBSD binary you did not
> compile could just as easily be a security risk, no?
correct,
However there a very few sites which have FreeBSD precompiled 
application binaries though, I generally compile everything I use and 
my guess most FreeBSD users will do the same, a simple "make install 
clean" in the appropriate ports directory is all it takes ... I even do 
this with openoffice even though it takes 9 hours... I could download 
the precompiled binary in less than 2 hours .... its a culture thing :)

If I'm not mistaken, many linux users download and install precompiled 
binaries.. common to have sites with RPMs or DEBs to download whereas 
it is very rare for sites to have FreeBSD binaries.....nvidia driver is 
one that comes to mind

For FreeBSD users, the primary reason for having Linux compat it 
because either there are no sources (half-life server, oracle for 
example - this is very common) or the sources are very linux kernel 
specific and won't compile on FreeBSD anyway (this is rare...since if 
it won't compile, it probably won't run)..... I do this because this is 
the only way to do something
> Again, FreeBSD is not bug-free but it still is damn
> good. Linux specific bugs are there all the time - you
> just patch your software/download latest build etc. I
> still just seems like religious bias against linux to
> me.
no, thats not what I mean,
yes, both FreeBSD and Linux has bugs ...all substantial software will 
have bugs :)
just that if you run pure FreeBSD you are exposed to only FreeBSD bugs 
but if you run Linux compat you now add Linux bugs to the list ! Of 
course, some linux bugs may not have any bad effects on FreeBSD and 
conversely some benign bugs on Linux may become serious in FreeBSD

> Well, you wouldn't put nonsense (like linux compat) on
> your firewall anyway! We have better tools on FreeBSD
> :-) (eh...heh, did I say religious bias?)
heheh
Operating Systems are like cars
Some people like to drive Mercs and BMW 7 series, some people prefer a 
Ferrari or Porsche...I like Volvos :)
A well know FreeBSD user on this list prefers Bikes :)
All personal preference :)


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