Any tech magazine is likely to contain abundant references to Linux. What you will not see too often are articles about other widely used open source operating systems. But alternative OSes do exist, even if they do not command . . .
Any tech magazine is likely to contain abundant references to Linux. What you will not see too often are articles about other widely used open source operating systems. But alternative OSes do exist, even if they do not command a great deal of media attention. One such system, NetBSD, is comparable to Linux in features but tends to be ignored by the tech press. In fact, one of the characteristics of NetBSD, according to the project's Web site, is "hype free."

Despite the lack of hype, the NetBSD project actually has quite a bit to brag about, though its members generally refrain from doing so. It has been active for more than a decade, but its code has much deeper roots than that. Unlike Linux, the NetBSD heritage can be traced directly back to the original Unix codebase. Specifically, NetBSD evolved from the Berkeley 4.3BSD Networking/2 release and 386BSD.

NetBSD's main claim to fame, so to speak, is its portability. Although ports of Linux are available for several platforms, NetBSD blows the penguin's doors off when it comes to platform support. Right now, the NetBSD 1.6 stable release is available for 36 platforms, and there are ports in progress for 53 architectures. The OS runs on everything from Digital VAX machines to the Sony PlayStation 2 . Even other BSDs cannot claim that kind of reach.