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Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

unixsheikh.com

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Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The voodoo is what bothers me. As the person responsible for the server, when things go wrong I will get blamed. In that situation, I at least want it to be my fault.

What "voodoo"?

Stock docker puts entries in your iptables which usually fully bypasses your firewall. try installing docker on stock Ubuntu, run a container with an exposed port, put ifw up blocking all traffic, and the container is still going to be reachable.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#302
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use Linux as my main OS. I’d love to switch to FreeBSD but I can’t. Most software that run on Linux may or may not run on FreeBSD. And when it doesn’t, it’s typically hard or impossible to get instructions or community support. Looking at the download page, Firefox doesn’t even seem to have a FreeBSD version or instructions. I can understand for servers although you lose community support for most software and can’…

>Firefox doesn’t even seem to have a FreeBSD version or instructions. Erm, what? It's not Windows, that's what packages are for. Just "pkg install firefox".

I just checked the Firefox download page which doesn’t have any FreeBSD specific instructions (although it does for linux)

Glad to hear Firefox has up to date packages in FreeBSD though!

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#303
post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Firefox doesn’t even seem to have a FreeBSD version or instructions. Erm, what? It's not Windows, that's what packages are for. Just "pkg install firefox".

I just checked the Firefox download page which doesn’t have any FreeBSD specific instructions (although it does for linux) Glad to hear Firefox has up to date packages in FreeBSD though!

> I just checked the Firefox download page which doesn’t have any FreeBSD specific instructions (although it does for linux)

It's a Browser, you don't need "specific" instructions for the base-os.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#304
post #287

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I even say that instability of the Linux desktop was a considerable contributor to the decline of Linux powered workstations. People were getting used to the old reliable Gnome2 and the Windows-esque KDE desktop. But there's always some team of developers thinking they are Apple and completely throw years of progress out the window by breaking compatibility because of some usability "feature" their own selfish concep…

For many years I was using gnome shell. Every update meant broken extentions. The system would also crash occasionally after few days on a multi-head setup. Then I switched to a hybrid of Sway and KDE and have been never so happy.

Yeah. Used to be a very happy KDE user too. Now I use i3, it's changed the way I use computers forever.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#305
post #278

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I want to deploy container images to a cluster: Here you go: https://bastillebsd.org/

#TIL Will check this out! Thanks! - I can see the Dockerfile equivalent (Bastillefile). - Not sure about the image distribution (Docker repositories) and Cluster management parts (Mesos, K8S)

Or Pot:

https://pot.pizzamig.dev/

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#306

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yet… “On FreeBSD you'll notice right away that you're dealing with a "complete operating system", a system that has been put together very well.” It’s a complete operating system. /s This is why FreeBSD loses in my view. The arrogance of claiming to be a complete system when basic stuff like wifi doesn’t work.

> basic stuff like wifi Wi-fi is not basic. Having written a wifi driver, that’s something I’m comfortable stating unequivocally. The hardware is almost always proprietary and undocumented, and in many cases (looking at you, Broadcom), a poorly-designed shitshow of complex errata, proprietary magic numbers required for initialization, and in general, an absolute dogshit technology stack. The only reason Linux has wor…

No true Scotsman OS needs WiFi so it's not a basic requirement of a complete OS.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#307

The article hits the nail on the head about Linux' "mismatches". When distros need to be different gratuitously, you can no longer get a book on Linux that meaningfully applies across multiple distros. Heck, even an Ubuntu book would be irrelevant after a few changes (16 -> 18, 18 -> 20). The same people who respond in the community to questions about changes often respond to defend the changes, but rarely respond wi…

> distros need to be different gratuitously I, on the other hand, tend to think of distributions as operating systems in their own right, so the difference between them is something I welcome - otherwise what’s the point?

This is the way it is. In the free market of ideas not everything is the same just because you find it on the same shelf. If what you're looking for is centralized planning and freedom from the tyranny of choice, stick with your branded stores with their marble floors and genius bars or answer desks.

A Linux distro is an OS. They have in common with your Android phone the Linux kernel. That's a very, very small part of what goes into a distro.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#308

One application where FreeBSD especially shines is as a fileserver to Windows clients: Unlike on Linux, NFSv4 ACLs are supported natively! The NT ACLs used in Windows and SMB are much more expressive than Linux's POSIX draft ACLs. When a Windows client writes a file to a Linux Samba server, it cannot necessarily express the file's ACL as a POSIX ACL losslessly. To work around this, Samba's vfs_acl_xattr saves the "re…

Even more frustrating, Linux has been offered full NFSv4 ACL support a couple times but the kernel maintainers turn it down. This is honestly my #1 sticking point against Linux and in favor of FreeBSD.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#309
post #20

I have tried learning FreeBSD occasionally, mostly for nostalgia because I learned Unix on BSD 4.3 (or 4.4?) on MicroVaxes many years ago. But I get stuck on some very basic things: - My wifi card doesn't work. The installer recognizes it, but the driver doesn't work. - The console terminal defaults to 80x25, I don't know how to resize it. - I can't figure out how to start X Windows. - If I run it in a VM (e.g. Virtu…

Yet… “On FreeBSD you'll notice right away that you're dealing with a "complete operating system", a system that has been put together very well.” It’s a complete operating system. /s This is why FreeBSD loses in my view. The arrogance of claiming to be a complete system when basic stuff like wifi doesn’t work.

The arrogance of claiming that "wifi doesn't work", implying for everyone, when it's really just _your_ hardware that it doesn't work on.

For me, FreeBSD wifi works straight of the box on the laptop I have.

Re: Technical reasons to choose FreeBSD over GNU/Linux (2020)

#310
post #62

I am using freebsd since version 8 for all my server needs (was using linux, but got repelled by its chaos which I dont care about on my laptop, but it pisses me off on server). Some more points: - bhyve, developed by netapp, they ditched all old technologies support and it works faster on my i5 server than kvm on my i7 laptop. Snapshoting using ZFS is not a feature to discard either. - FIBs, absolute miracle routing…

You can do FIBs with Linux network namespaces, can't you? `setfib` would be `ip netns exec`

Aside: the thing that annoys me the most about FreeBSD is how bitter its proponents are that Linux "won". The tone of your comment a great example. It seriously turns me off. Some humility in finding out the shortcomings of BSD and ironing them out would be more beneficial in creating more competition in the OS space than complaining that all Linux users are idiots that haven't seen the light.

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