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Old 4th August 2010
m3t4tr0n m3t4tr0n is offline
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Default Design & Implementation 4.4 BSD vs FreeBSD

Hello all. Having only used FreeBSD, would I be better off getting the more up to date Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System or the more out of date Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System? I'm making an assumption that knowing 4.4 BSD will also give me a more versatile understanding of the BSD OS. Would I be wrong?
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Old 4th August 2010
BSDfan666 BSDfan666 is offline
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There really isn't a "BSD OS" anymore, today's BSD derivatives are based upon the indeed 4.4BSD & 386BSD releases, but they have each diverged considerably.

They do still share code, how much is unclear, but plenty of design changes have been made that render that book obsolete.. with OpenBSD for example, the developers consider the kernel source itself the definitive source of up-to-date documentation.

Reading the books can't hurt, so I'm not going to recommend that you don't.
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Old 4th August 2010
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by m3t4tr0n View Post
Having only used FreeBSD, would I be better off getting the more up to date Design and Implementation of the 4.4 BSD Operating System or the more out of date Design and Implementation of the FreeBSD Operating System?
You have these backwards. However, the following:

http://www.amazon.com/Design-Impleme...0959756&sr=8-1

...sports a copyright date of 2010. This is misleading given that this appears to the 4.4BSD hardcover book simply being re-released in paperback. This book is not being advertised as a second edition, so I don't suspect there is any new/additional material.
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I'm making an assumption that knowing 4.4 BSD will also give me a more versatile understanding of the BSD OS.
4.4BSD is older than 386BSD, but FreeBSD is based on both. While reading any book is better than not reading at all, you will probably identify more with the FreeBSD volume than with the 4.4BSD title. Note that there is overlap between both books (I own both...). So, depending upon how much minutiae you want to explore, I would still point you towards the newer FreeBSD tome.

Those who are fans of OpenBSD and/or NetBSD would probably get more out of the older 4.4BSD book as compared to the FreeBSD-specific version. OpenBSD-types might also find the following thread useful for book recommendations:

http://marc.info/?t=109899112500001&r=1&w=2

...although the thread is six years old.
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Old 5th August 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BSDfan666 View Post
They do still share code, how much is unclear ...
I'm not sure how much code is shared between the projects, but I have seen enough NetBSD copyrights in the FreeBSD userland to learn how to smile at it .
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Old 5th August 2010
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
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I'm not sure how much code is shared between the projects, but I have seen enough NetBSD copyrights in the FreeBSD userland...
BSD-licensed drivers are either freely ported between the various members of the *BSD family, or used as the basis for a new platform-specific driver. The latter is required given that not all family members sport loadable kernel modules, or have compatible threading models.

Both wired & wireless network drivers frequently start in one project before getting ported to the others.

The developers (at least in OpenBSD...) frequently know what has been checked into family member source repositories.
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Old 5th August 2010
m3t4tr0n m3t4tr0n is offline
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Thanks everyone. And thanks for clearing that up ocicat. For some reason I was thinking it was a new edition. I'll get the FreeBSD one.
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Old 6th August 2010
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Quote:
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Both wired & wireless network drivers frequently start in one project before getting ported to the others.
the real question is how often do they get meaningful patches back from the porters, after the port.
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Old 6th August 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryP View Post
the real question...
TerryP, you are taking discussion in a different direction than the OP. If you wish to continue discussion, start a new thread in an appropriate subforum..
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Old 6th August 2010
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My apologies m3t4tr0n
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