UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

linux is based off of system V unix, *bsd is based off of bsd. in general operation they work similarly. an easy to understand difference is the boot procedure. also, systemV unix's have what are called runlevels, *bsd's dont quite have runlevels, though they do have single user mode.. try a search on google for system V and BSD. if you find any good comparisons maybe you could post the links here for others to see.

Many and few.

Ok enough of the cryptic answers.
There are appreciable differences between the two operating systems. One, Linux is a kernel, RedHat, SuSE, etc all package usable applications around the kernel and "sell" it as a distro. FreeBSD on the other-hand comes as a complete Operating system with no added extra's that haven't yet been tested against the kernel.

From a users point of view it will depend on what your going to do. If your a desktop user and aren't overly interested in the backend stuff, then installing KDE and the like you'll feel right at home and only notice a few nuances to distract you.From the command line its a different story. Things are in different places compared to Linux, also some commands don't work the same.

There are BSD forums that can answer you query better than I can, so do a google search, better yet, just download it and give it a go its guaranteed to give you hours of "fun"!