From a technical standpoint, Linux is a System V-style Unix and BSD is (unsurprisingly) a Berkeley-style Unix. One of the most striking differences (which he didn't mention) is the init system - SysV uses /etc/init.d/, while BSD uses /etc/rc.conf and the like. Also, see the "hier" (filesystem layout) man pages for FreeBSD (http://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=hier) and OpenBSD (http://www.openbsd.org/cgi-bin/man.cgi?query=hier).
He responds directly to the "Chaos VS Order" bit on his response page, BTW:
"Chaos means that you're moving every which way at once. Linux (and its various distributions) are moving in all sorts of different directions, with very little real coordination. That means they're going to end up in a lot of places the BSDs, with their more careful and orderly progression, will only get to more slowly (if at all). A lot of those places are going to be icky and horrible, and places you don't want to be. But some of them are going to be absolute jewels, that you could never reach any other way.
Thus, Linux may hit lower lows, and they may even be more numerous. But the sheer number of people and projects pushing in so many different directions practically assures you of striking gold. You can't get that sort of serendipitous perfection, without accepting a whole lot of chaos and a lot of wrong turns." (http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd/rants/bsd4linux/11)
He's being pretty diplomatic about it - I've read far less flattering descriptions of the Linux development model (http://www.jwz.org/doc/cadt.html), though things have gotten better since 2003.
As a matter of fact, some Linux distros use /etc/rc.conf as well (Arch linux). The way Linux is designed and works is that everything is configurable and rather easily done. This is almost definitely true for *BSD as well, but probably not as easy.
In the case of BSD VS Linux I prefer the model of "Shooting at all directions until you hit" kind of philosophy.
BSD is a "Like it or not" kind of OS. While Linux is more of a "Everyone can find a flavor he likes" kind.
He responds directly to the "Chaos VS Order" bit on his response page, BTW:
"Chaos means that you're moving every which way at once. Linux (and its various distributions) are moving in all sorts of different directions, with very little real coordination. That means they're going to end up in a lot of places the BSDs, with their more careful and orderly progression, will only get to more slowly (if at all). A lot of those places are going to be icky and horrible, and places you don't want to be. But some of them are going to be absolute jewels, that you could never reach any other way.
Thus, Linux may hit lower lows, and they may even be more numerous. But the sheer number of people and projects pushing in so many different directions practically assures you of striking gold. You can't get that sort of serendipitous perfection, without accepting a whole lot of chaos and a lot of wrong turns." (http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd/rants/bsd4linux/11)
He's being pretty diplomatic about it - I've read far less flattering descriptions of the Linux development model (http://www.jwz.org/doc/cadt.html), though things have gotten better since 2003.