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FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

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Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#111
post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I understand it, anything a user installs with pkg that isn't included with the base system is installed into /usr/local. For me, this is a nice benefit because I can know that anything installed into /usr/local can be removed and won't break the basic system's functionality. This organizational structure I think is also just very sensible imo. Note: I'm mostly a Linux user but I play around with FreeBSD a…

Just out of my curiosity, what would be that little thing which could make you switch to FreeBSD from Linux ?

cgroups and as great as zfs is, an overlayfs is missing for a better jail experience.

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#112
post #57

Is it possible to port Linux driver code to FreeBSD, given licensing issues and all that? Seems like an 'easy' fix, given that Linux has most of the non-working FreeBSD issues solved..if not all. I'm all for code re-use.

Some Linux code is dual licensed, a lot of the DRM subsystem for example, I’m pretty sure GPU support on the BSDs are based on ports of it.

This is exactly what is happening right now: https://github.com/freebsd/drm-kmod

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#113
post #99
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In every image I've seen of a FreeBSD developer conference, the vast majority of the developers are running FreeBSD in a virtual machine on a Macbook. I guess they aren't considering real hardware support as a priority.

You aren't wrong. This is part of the reason I tend to buy ThinkPads; a large portion of the OpenBSD developers use ThinkPads and dogfood OpenBSD on them!

Same for FreeBSD folks. Most of the FreeBSD developers I know develop on ThinkPads.

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#114
post #68
post #47

I want to try BSD one day but these sorts of articles put me off. I used to enjoy trying to get things working but I just don't have that sort of time anymore. I understand that the community only has so many resources to support the various hardware around. I suspect one BSDs strengths is that the smaller community is able to follow a more cohesive vision. But for me this means I'm probably not going learn it until…

In every image I've seen of a FreeBSD developer conference, the vast majority of the developers are running FreeBSD in a virtual machine on a Macbook. I guess they aren't considering real hardware support as a priority.

They actually do. Graphics and WiFi is top priority at the moment on the technology roadmap of the FreeBSD Foundation: https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/technology-roadmap/

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#115

Man, FreeBSD really needs some driver love... * No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops) * WiFi driver and Ethernet over USB-C both highly unstable? That's an Intel chipset, those are usually the more stable ones (at least on…

> No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops)

I believe the article author calls this "Sleep" and got it to work well. It's hibernation to disk that's not working.

WiFi and Bluetooth seem indeed to be issues but I don't really need them on my desktop. On a laptop it would be a dealbreaker indeed.

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#116

Man, FreeBSD really needs some driver love... * No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops) * WiFi driver and Ethernet over USB-C both highly unstable? That's an Intel chipset, those are usually the more stable ones (at least on…

> and the wire ethernet is not a cheapo chipset either (Realtek)

Buying Realtek does not guarantee getting good hardware, the RTL8153 is infamous [0], and I remember there were reports about Realtek chips flooding the network with corrupt packets if they were powered on via the charger but not connected to a laptop.

[0] https://overengineer.dev/blog/2021/04/25/usb-c-hub-madness.h...

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#117

Serious question: what is so compelling about the FreeBSD desktop experience compared to Linux that makes it worth jumping through all these hoops?

The BSDs are much cleaner than Linux distros. Also, because they don't change gratuitously, once you learn their quirks, you can move on to other things without needing to worry about re-learning tons about the next update. Linux is a constantly moving target with lots of churn that users of computers really don't want or need.

BSD is like a partner you settle down for because of reliability and stability, Linux is that hot person that makes you love and hate them at the same time driving you ever so mad and addicted.

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#118

Man, FreeBSD really needs some driver love... * No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops) * WiFi driver and Ethernet over USB-C both highly unstable? That's an Intel chipset, those are usually the more stable ones (at least on…

> * No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops) I have an older Thinkpad that I swtiched back to Windows after getting fed up with suspend and hibernate on linux. It had like a 20% chance to suspend or hibernate, other times it did nothing. Screen went black and after 2-3s I was back at the login screen. Shutdown was reliable so when in a hurry I needed to do a full shutdown.

Re: FreeBSD on the Framework Laptop

#119

Man, FreeBSD really needs some driver love... * No Suspend/Resume? Linux has solved this for years, I have not come across a laptop in the last 10 years that had trouble with s2r or s2d (but I guess that there might be a few that don't fully support it, I mainly tested Dell laptops) * WiFi driver and Ethernet over USB-C both highly unstable? That's an Intel chipset, those are usually the more stable ones (at least on…

> and the wire ethernet is not a cheapo chipset either (Realtek) Buying Realtek does not guarantee getting good hardware, the RTL8153 is infamous [0], and I remember there were reports about Realtek chips flooding the network with corrupt packets if they were powered on via the charger but not connected to a laptop. [0] https://overengineer.dev/blog/2021/04/25/usb-c-hub-madness.h...

Interesting, I wasn't aware of that. I have used Realtek chips in various computers over the last 15 years or so and they were all quite stable, that's why I jumped to that conclusion
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