My curiosity remains about FreeBSD

[wendy-lebaron]

Where do FreeBSD community get people to test the operating system? On which computers? Must be older than mine. I have an HP laptop which is 12 years old, came with Windows8 originally, Intel Sandy Bridge 2-core CPU which doesn't look like it's Celeron. Some Linux OS report it has "MESA" graphics.

This is the first time that I have ever attempted to take a look at FreeBSD. Downloaded the fresh v14.0 RELEASE, in plain IMG file. Put it onto a 16GB USB disk with Linux dd command, then booted from that. Boot with UEFI, look at the installer menu for a moment and then it gets stuck, as if kernel panic. I try again, choosing "Single user" option from that menu, it doesn't react any differently. Next try I go change some boot options such as enabling verbose and "safe mode". I only get more messages than the previous two failures.

Next time I totally give up trying to boot via UEFI, try to boot via ordinary "32-bit" method. I break through to a screen which asks me if I want to install the operating system, or just "try Live CD" or go into a shell. But the keyboard and mouse do not work! I was forced to plug in a wireless keyboard. I choose "Live CD" then get asked for login. How am I supposed to know credentials of another user? Maybe this is obvious but I couldn't proceed beyond that. Choose "shell" and it's what it says. I know FreeBSD and Linux have different commands to do stuff, although "cp" and "rm" and a few others are almost universal for Unix. I don't know what would happen if I choose "Install". Why do I want to install something I'm not allowed to check out? Why do I want to install an operating system that doesn't let me use the laptop computer keyboard? In fact no Linux ever did this to me, leaving me without a keyboard and forcing me to plug it in.

NomadBSD forces me to plug in a mouse because it doesn't recognize touchpad but I don't think it was really derrived from FreeBSD. It's like two totally different worlds, like Jupiter and Mars. I really didn't know how convenient NomadBSD could be for people like me who really don't give an arse about FreeBSD and its relations unless it works properly. Now I'm afraid of NetBSD and OpenBSD. There is one other dressed up in MATE which might be an incoming disaster. That one has to be better than my attempt to replace Openbox with MATE on Slackel. :/

I was hopeful with this new release of FreeBSD. Maybe this is not for "enthusiasts" but I wanted to know how it was like. I expected to get something more or less like Arch Linux freshly installed -- a terminal but no D.E. nor even a minimal graphical environment. If I were able to get that far I would have been more willing to learn the way of another Unix descendant. But not anymore.

 

[wizardfromoz]

Wendy just an FYI.

If you are looking for feedback/help on the BSD range - this might be better in General Linux Questions or General Computing.

I can move it to one or the other if you let me know.

We do have a small number of Members who use a couple of the BSDs, but we don't actively support it as it is not Linux, albeit open source.

Off Topic does not feature in our front page, so this Thread here may not get any attention you might wish for.

Let me know

Cheers

Chris

 

[camtaf]

FreeBSD has always, to my mind, been a pig to install, that's why I chose OpenBSD myself, but have also liked NetBSD, but couldn't get wifi working, until 9.3, so now I will use both Open & Net, as secondary systems. For FreeBSD, I use Nomad, (there is also Ghost).

Something else you might like to try, FugIta, it's a 'live' OpenBSD - https://fuguita.org/

Edit: For help with the BSDs, try Daemon Forums - https://daemonforums.org/

If you are adventurous, also take a look at Haiku, a fast desktop system, originally based on BeOS.

Haiku Project

Haiku is an open-source operating system that specifically targets personal computing. Inspired by BeOS, Haiku is fast and easy to learn but very powerful.

www.haiku-os.org

It's always a good idea to keep an eye on what else is available....

 

[KGIII]

GhostBSD is beautiful in its default state. It's one of the best looking default experiences out there.

That said, they don't have nearly the user count we have with Linux. They don't really have much industry backing, for things like drivers and paid contributions to the source code.

But, on the plus side, you can probably find a BSD that runs on your toaster.

 

[wendy-lebaron]

Thank you for the offer Wizard. But I was just talking about what I experienced. I couldn't get too serious about it because I ran into another issue but I'd rather not go on rambling.

 

[wizardfromoz]

You're welcome and fair enough

 

[atanere]

Like @camtaf... I am partial to OpenBSD (and thanks for the link to Fugulta, I'm anxious to try that out). OpenBSD will log you into a console, like Arch, and you can then run startx for a GUI if you enable X when it asks during the installation. If you don't enable X... well, a console is all you'll get.

But if you run startx, be prepared to step back about 30 years when FVWM loads. It is quite primitive, but it may have capabilities that I've not discovered. You can install other DE's, if you want too. I use XFCE with OpenBSD on an old HP laptop, not much different from yours. It runs great, but no wireless.

Having the drivers you need can be an issue... there's nothing new about that. The BSD's do not have anywhere near the contributors that Linux has, so fewer people to create many needed drivers. You should be okay with ethernet... have it plugged in when you install. Or you could get lucky with wireless, you never know!

If you really want to try FreeBSD, give the last 13.x version a try instead. New releases often have trouble, and I've read that 14.0 is no exception. And do not upgrade 13.x to 14.0 unless you read the release notes about their problems. There are several issues with upgrading.

 

[dcbrown73]

I haven't ran any form of bsd with the exception of pfSense in the last ten years. Mainly because I ran my email servers on FreeBSD. (except for postfix mail relay servers, running a mail server is a thing of the past for me these days) For the longest time, there was always a stigma in the bsd community being anti-emerging technologies sticking with tried and true tech that was created at the beginning. Not sure if any of that has changed in the last ten years though.

For me, Linux was just a better option on the desktop because it was far more cutting edge and had better hardware support. On the server it didn't matter as much (providing the hardware was supported) as I stripped my servers down to minimum software for obvious reasons.

Though as I got older, my days of trying every flavor of Unix/Linux (install / format / install / format, etc) has waned. I just don't have time for that these days with work, family, and dealing with everything else.

Though I did try OpenSUSE again not long ago and yes. I decided it's not for me (again) lol.