I know that lots of web hosting providers are offering FreeBSD, but how good is FreeBSD as a development platform?
Specifically, is Java 1.6 available in it? Is there somthing specific that it offers with regard to tools that is not available under Linux?
Well, there's no Java 1.6 in the /usr/ports of the version I recently installed (latest version AFAIK). The port of Netbeans is only up to 5.5 bundled. At a minimum you'd have to go look around for more current versions. Doesn't look promising as a fully kept up to date development platform.
I've always found FreeBSD a wonderful secure hosting environment, but perhaps not the easiest development platform. You will have to dig a bit to get Java 1.6 up and running, though I think it will be doable. I hope you are familiar with emacs or vi. The ports system will afford you access to many pieces of software, but they will have to be compiled from source code. If you are familiar with standard Unix command line tools and the the command line itself, you should have no problems with FreeBSD.
Alan
Simply put FreeBSD is secure, well performing and stable and for that reason I'd use it in a live environment. I however wouldn't use it on a development platform purely for the fact it's a pain in the arse and Linux is a ton easier to manage.
FreeBSD is an awesome hosting platform for live environments, however Java has been a thorn in its side for quite some time. However it appears this is no longer the case although installation is not trivial.
You have to get the JDK source from Sun, then apply the FreeBSD patch set from http://www.eyesbeyond.com/freebsddom/java/jdk16.html, and then compile.
More information: http://www.freebsd.org/java/
Once you have the JDK, running Eclipse and other Java applications should be a lot easier, but I don't know about SWT for FreeBSD... anyone?
You can either run the native Java 1.6 port or the Linux JDK from Sun in Linux emulation mode, both are available in the ports tree. I used to run the Linux JDK (with Emacs JDEE) way back without any problems, your mileage may vary however.
As for IDEs, both Netbeans and Eclipse are available in the ports tree.
I recommend at least trying it out, if for no other reason than to see what the fuss is about. All it'll cost you is time.
I use FreeBSD solely for development. It is quite secure and incredibly stable. The stability is huge factor for me, and FreeBSd makes up where Linux and windows leave you wanting.
If your main concern is Java I suggest staying away from FreeBSD. Getting a Java development setup up and running is much easier on Linux/OpenSolaris.
*BSD is the preferred development platform for man System-, Hardware- and Kernel-Level coders, because this parts a usually better documented than on Linux and you have a "official" target while on linux distributions vary in patches etc.
You can get binary distributions of Java from the FreeBSD Foundation, they signed an agreement with Sun for that. Art from Java, FreeBSD is awonderful development platform with every language and environement you may need/want. Disclaimer: I've been a FreeBSD developer for more than 13 years.
Putting the actual issues with Java and such aside, the real question is what are you developing for.
If you are writing rich desktop applications, then you naturally want to develop on the platform that is most popular with your users -- and I'm pretty sure that can't be FreeBSD.
If you are developing web applications, then you want your development server to be as close as possible to your production hosting environment. If you are going to deploy on FreeBSD, then it might make sense to also run it locally, at least in a virtual machine. (Browser testing, of course, is a different issue.)
Do keep in mind that, while all development tools you can run on BSD are also available on Linux, the opposite is certainly not true, especially since Linux has gained more commercial traction.
All this being said, the best way is to see for yourself: try replicating your development environment, whatever that might be, on FreeBSD. If you succeed (and you're coming from Linux, heh), once you get coding you won't even care what OS you're on.
FreeBSD is an awesome platform for development. If you look at the kernel source, for example, it's so clean and understandable in comparison with the mess at Linux. It's stable, and the community is very professional. I'm using FreeBSD since release 4.
But for Java development I would choose Linux, Windows or Solaris. The lastest Java binaries perform better on my Ubuntu than on XP (Netbeans performs better as IDE also).
A popular OS (Linux, Windows or even Mac OS X) is better. Popular OS gets better support on optimization of compilers, libraries, etc. For example, FreeBSD is tier 2 platform for GHC (that means GHC may release new versions even if it cannot run on FreeBSD). And some programing languages are only available on Windows or Linux.