Hi all



Fri, 14 Jun 2024 10:53:30 +0200 - al3xu5 via Dng <dng@???>:

> Yes, I know I'm OT and that talking about other OSs here isn't exactly
> elegant... and I apologize
>
> But I have an unused laptop available, and I am curious to try a BSD OS.
>
> The idea is towards a robust, multipurpose system, preferably also
> attentive to privacy and security, with wide availability of packages, with
> a lightweight environment (gtk, lxde/xfce...) ... well I guess you
> understand what I mean... (I have Devuan+LXDE on all my computers...)
>
> But BSD is a world I don't know... However I have identified, based on the
> little research I have done, some versions:
> - FreeBSD
> - OpenBSD
> - NetBSD
>
> So, in short, I ask for a suggestion on which BSD to try.


Thank you very much to everyone for the valuable advice.

I am currently not considering switching to BSD... I am doing just fine here
with Devuan.

Simply, having a laptop to play with makes me interested in learning
something about BSD, also because you never know how things may evolve in the
future: if the systemd disease goes on any longer then Linux may, to my way
of thinking, become problematic to me, and a plan b will be needed...
(@Steve: In any case, I will never become a fanatic of those who disown the
past ;-)

So, the system use that I need is a multi-purpose desktop, with not
"exaggerated" GUI (I prefer systems with a simple and lightweight desktop,
where graphics and mouse complement the terminal).

For this, on the basis of your information and advice, I am quite oriented to
try FreeBSD (or GhostBSD) although I still remain a bit in doubt in favor of
OpenBSD.

Thanks again to everyone



> Sat, 22 Jun 2024 09:40:53 -0400 - Rich Kulawiec:

> > Here are some broad, sweeping, and thus inaccurate characterizations:
> >
> > OpenBSD works very hard on security, has an excellent installer [1], a
> > large assortment of prebuilt packages, and is a good choice if you want to
> > run Internet-facing services like DNS and SMTP.
> >
> > NetBSD runs on (pretty much) anything. If you want to learn about
> > softare portability, and the design/implementation decisions necessary
> > to make it happen, or if you want to run on hardware that only NetBSD
> > supports, it's a good choice.
> >
> > FreeBSD might be a better choice for people new to BSD. It supports
> > a very large number of packages and I think it presents a bit less of
> > a learning curve to people coming over from Linux.
> >
> > Beyond those:
> >
> > GhostBSD isn't something I've looked at extensively, but what I've seen
> > so far suggests that someone who just wants to set up a desktop
> > environment and do various tasks might find it to their taste. I need to
> > invest some time and effort in learning more about it.
> >
> > DragonflyBSD has been a disappointment over the past few years. I'm on
> > the outside looking in, so I don't know what's going on inside the
> > project, but when basic things like the main user mailing list get broken
> > and stay broken for ~2 years, I think there's a problem.


> Sat, 15 Jun 2024 18:03:10 +0300 - Lars Noodén via Dng <dng@???>:

> > It would depend what you prioritize in the laptop.
> >
> > DragonflyBSD has the HAMMER2 file system.
> >
> > FreeBSD has the OpenZFS file system. It has a good handbook but it
> > needs the handbook. So maybe GhostBSD which is derived from it.
> >
> > OpenBSD is very simple to install and maintain. It does almost nothing
> > which you have not told it to do but it is easy to configure it to do
> > those things. It'd be my recommendation to test on the laptop.
> >
> > In all of them, hardware support is hit or miss.


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 20:25:20 -0400 - Steve Litt <slitt@???>:

> > This is one anecdote from one person, so please keep this in mind. Back
> > in the 00's I tried OpenBSD, FreeBSD and NetBSD. I might have tried
> > some others.
> >
> > The only one I could get running was OpenBSD. At the time I used Xfce
> > with it. On Linux Xfce was quirky and buggy. On OpenBSD it ran
> > perfectly. On OpenBSD *everything* ran rock solid and perfectly. For
> > awhile in 2014, in the midst of the systemd civil war, I planned to
> > migrate to OpenBSD. Only one thing stopped me...
> >
> > OpenBSD didn't (and I think still doesn't) have a *hardware assisted*
> > virtual machine setup. As you know, every distro lacks a certain
> > software you need, and the solution is often a VM running a different
> > distro that has the needed software (usually Ubuntu). Once you have
> > hardware assisted VMs, no piece of Linux software is beyond your reach,
> > although you might need to accept systemd on that software piece's VM
> > appliance (and I really don't care about the internals of an
> > appliance). If OpenBSD had had a good hardware assisted VM, I wouldn't
> > be a Linux user today.
> > [...]
> >
> > If you switch, please, please, PLEASE don't become one of those BSD
> > fanatics who have nothing better to do than badmouth Linux. See this
> > 1999 article I wrote: https://www.troubleshooters.com/linux/snarf.htm


> Sat, 15 Jun 2024 08:16:50 +0100 (GMT+01:00) - Kevin Chadwick via Dng
> <dng@???>:

> > I like OpenBSD and it now has a hw vm that can run Linux with decent
> > integration support but last I heard it didn't support graphics. [...]
> >
> > Netflix chose FreeBSD for whatever reason so I guess it must have some
> > virtues but it's security is a long way from OpenBSDs


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 15:30:39 -0600 - nisp1953 via Dng <dng@???>:

> > Several people have recommended FreeBSD. If you are going to run a
> > desktop system, then I suggest GhostBSD, which is based on FreeBSD 14
> > https://www.ghostbsd.org/
> >
> > I myself use OpenBSD to run my business alongside Devuan.


> Sat, 15 Jun 2024 08:19:55 +0900 - mett via Dng <dng@???>:

> > Seconding Openbsd here.
> >
> > Using it for my DNS servers, routers and desktop.
> >
> > For desktop, I use the default install with cwmn and xenodm.
> >
> > Very stable, upgrades very easy.
> >
> > Community very knowledgable and supportive provided you do your homework
> > before.


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 22:35:46 +0700 - Alif Radhitya Wardana <alif@???>:

> > I use OpenBSD as server. I will not recommend using it as desktop because
> > the perfomance is not good (atleast, for me).
> >
> > For desktop, i prefer FreeBSD.



> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:11:26 -0400 - "Wm. Moss" <bill.m.moss@???>:

> > I have been using BSD Unix on and off since around 1980, Unix since 1976.
> > I
> >
> > When the Regents at the University of California at Berkley (Berkley
> > Software Distribution) abandoned their port of Bell Labs Unix Lab
> > Version 6 and 7 (BSD 4), it split into two camps that created
> > fundamentally different kernel formats but maintained compatibility at
> > the application programming level. To the best of my knowledge, the two
> > groups still cooperate.
> >
> > FreeBSD is a more consumer oriented system and most probably the one you
> > should choose. For Linux users it is probably the easier to transition to.
> >
> > FYI:
> > [...]
> > I run FreeBSD on a spare machine and in a VM under Devuan. If systemd
> > subsumes (?consumes) the Linux universe, I will simply switch back to
> > BSD as my primary operating system.


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:22:06 +0200 - Adrian Zaugg <devuan.org@???>:

> > Try DragonFly BSD, it has some unique concepts and seems to be carried by
> > a good community. As a surplus their Logo is nice... :-)
> > https://www.dragonflybsd.org/


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 13:26:22 +0200 - Martin Steigerwald <martin@???>:

> > [...]
> > Matt Dillon has been working I think on the DICE C compiler for the Amiga
> > before. I did not test it so far, however from reading I thought it has
> > some interesting and quite unique approaches. The have their own
> > filesystem, HAMMER 2 meanwhile.
> > https://www.dragonflybsd.org/features/
> >
> > Really interesting system, but I did not test it so far.
> >
> > I expect the amount of FreeBSD users to be much higher, so it may be
> > easier to find help with FreeBSD, but well that depends very much on the
> > community. Devuan does not have as many users as Ubuntu or Debian, but
> > still a very helpful community. IMHO even more helpful than some of the
> > Debian communities.



> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:11:04 +0200 - "dng@???" <dng@???>:

> > As always it depends of your intended use of the OS. For a pc/laptop I
> > would go for GhostBSD (based on FreeBSD) with its desktop orientation.
> >
> > For general servers the best choice imo is FreeBSD because of its better
> > hardware support. For very secure systems I would opt for OpenBSD. And
> > for a server in a mixed environment I would opt for NetBSD. And for a
> > firewall appliance I would go for pfSense or OPNsense.


> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 10:49:25 -0400 - ashigaru53--- via Dng
> <dng@???>:

> > FWIW,
> > I second the use of ghostbsd if you want to try it. Easy install and
> > packages easily installed with the package manager GUI. I used it for
> > quite a while and really like BSD's but I could never get the sound to
> > work on my hardware, either with freebsd or ghostbsd. I chalked it up to
> > operator difficulty not knowing enough to correct it. Back to linux on
> > the machine that needed sound. It seemed (maybe just me) it has a
> > different 'feel' (smoother I thought) to it than linux. I also use
> > opnsense for my firewall.



> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 11:09:30 +0200 - Darius Rosotic via Dng
> <dng@???>:

> > FreeBSD, multipurpose BSD, rock solid, large community.
> >
> > You can't go wrong with it.



> Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:14:30 +0200 - ognen <ognen@???>:

> > Seconded for FreeBSD. When systemd hoved into view I put effort to move
> > all my servers off Linux to FreeBSD, a migration which went very well.
> >
> > A couple of months ago I moved my workstation over to FreeBSD as well,
> > my first BSD Desktop.
> >
> > The desktop experience so far is good, some things work better then
> > Linux (e.g. audio is seamless) and generally things feel more
> > integrated. It actually reminds me more of OSX than Linux in that
> > regard.
> >
> > At the same time other things don't work as well as Linux. For example
> > suspend to RAM is a bit hit and miss, depends on your hardware. Reminds
> > me a bit of Linux in the 00's, you should pick your hardware to make
> > sure it has full compatibility with FreeBSD.
> >
> > Also be prepared that some software that works on Linux does not work
> > on BSD. Despite being open source a lot of software out there assumes
> > Linux/GCC and therefore uses a lot of non-portable features.
> >
> > Also the community is quite friendly and helpful, a lot of information
> > can be found on their forums ( https://forums.freebsd.org/ ) which I
> > would recommend you peruse or post to if you have FreeBSD specific
> > questions. There are a few threads there about Linux people curious
> > about FreeBSD and you may find a lot of your questions already answered
> > there.





alexus


--
The only way humans have learned to survive brings them to extinction.
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