In this page, I will try to list some of the reasons I prefer FreeBSD over other OSes, and why I am such a strong advocate of it for server and workstation alike. Please note that I do used to run Linux, and it performs well for some applications, but for servers and good old fashioned UNIX workstations, FreeBSD takes the cake.
FreeBSD, unlike Linux, is centralized; both the kernel and the userland come from the same project. This is beneficial in two ways:
With the advent of Linux 2.6, performance has become comparable in the Linux world. However, the question of stability still stands. In my experience, FreeBSD is consistently more stable than Linux (including the 'New technology -- unstable' 5.x series). Also, FreeBSD's memory management/VM system seems to perform much better than Linux's, even with small amounts of RAM. Thrashing is kept to a minimum. Lastly, softupdates (new to UFS2) provide much more reliability than journaling filesystems, which in my opinion are just workarounds to the problem of inconsistent disk states.
Lastly, FreeBSD seems to hold up better under heavy loads than does Linux.
FreeBSD's package management systems are superior to those found on most Linux systems (notably RPM, however the apt utilities seem to fit the bill). The ports system especially is well-designed. Software installation is as easy as one command, and the dependencies are automatically fetched and installed as needed.
Being a direct descendant of BSD, FreeBSD's networking is superior to that found on other systems such as Linux, and especially Windows. In fact, it contains what many consider the reference implementation of TCP/IP. The networking stack handles very well under congestion, and the ipfw/ipf/pf firewall systems are very nice. As a Web, email, and other networking services server, it simply works better than other OSes. You also get the world-class BSD networking tools, and the reference implementations of many protocols we use today.
Disagree? Have more wisdom? Send it on over.
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