Linux user trying BSD for the first time reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- StoleMahShiz · 2015-10-13 02:32 hey r/BSD Been using linux for a few years and ive decided to give BSD a try. My only experience is with freeNAS so basically, l I don't have any. I dont need a GUI installer but I'd like to know which bsd to try? My friend is saying dragonfly since its radeon support is ahead of the others now. Id probably just install mate or gnome and use it for basic web browsing. Im open to thoughts of suggestions. Laptop is an amd a-8 with 8gbs ram. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- wormholer · 2015-10-13 02:51 Also new to BSD, in process of converting. Read the handbooks and then try in a VM. Live in it for a few days exclusively, then try another. Pick whichever suits your needs best. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- StoleMahShiz · 2015-10-13 03:17 Solid advice, appreciate it ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pentag0 · 2015-10-13 03:18 Iz you don't want to hassle with setting up graphic environment try PCBSD. If you want to learn stuff during process and set up stuff to your liking try FreeBSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gtcom · 2015-10-13 03:20 OpenBSD has the best laptop support. It seems a little slower than Linux, but I like it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- farhaven · 2015-10-13 08:13 I just gave the big three a spin, first with NetBSD, then FreeBSD and then OpenBSD when 4.9 came out. I've stuck with OpenBSD since then, but your mileage may vary. FWIW, my main hardware is a Core2Duo Thinkpad T400 with Intel graphics. Everything except Firewire and Bluetooth works just fine and suspend/resume work more reliably than on Linux and Free/NetBSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rhabarba · 2015-10-13 08:35 > I'd like to know which bsd to try? I advise you to try at least NetBSD, DragonFly BSD, OpenBSD and FreeBSD (in that order because it's *too* easy to get stuck with FreeBSD as a novice; also, it's a decreasing learning curve). Everyone here will recommend the BSD he uses and that's not always the best choice. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- johnklos · 2015-10-13 10:27 Best laptop support compared with what? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- NerdVsGeek · 2015-10-13 11:58 The other BSDs. Although I would argue that DragonFly BSD has the same level of laptop support as OpenBSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dlangille · 2015-10-13 16:40 Try PC-BSD, it's FreeBSD with nice window managers on top. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- cacatl · 2015-10-13 20:21 Can we sticky a single thread for these kinds of posts? I'm seeing one about every few days. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- get-your-shinebox · 2015-10-13 22:17 OpenBSD actually sleeps and resumes properly when I close the lid on my lpatop, Dragonfly I don't think has any support for that. Dragonfly is awesome for other reasons though (hammer, performance, graphics drivers). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RealModeX86 · 2015-10-14 00:01 You'll want to make sure you have plenty of ram for PCBSD though, as it defaults to ZFS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- janizary · 2015-10-14 00:05 > Nice You use that word. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- janizary · 2015-10-14 00:09 Honestly there should be a, "so you're new to BSD," link to a discussion page where everyone has voiced opinions on the subject in the subreddit navigation area. For me it has long been: anything wireless, laptops, routers, and security - OpenBSD servers that are not directly exposed to the Internet, desktops that are not directly exposed to the Internet - FreeBSD embedded systems - NetBSD hypothetical future servers - DragonFly BSD when HAMMER2 is ready ---------------------------------------------------------------------- William-Bonney · 2015-10-14 03:11 I recommend grabbing Absolute OpenBSD 2nd Edition by Michael W. Lucas (No Starch Press) and giving OpenBSD a try. I use it on a Thinkpad T420 and it's fuckin' great. I've also previously used FreeBSD on a desktop, and it was great. I switched to OpenBSD because of the laptop support. Also, if you can't find an answer to a problem in that book, pull up the command line and >man -k whatever where 'whatever' is related to what you're doing. Does a keyword search of the man pages, which are extremely well written in OpenBSD. Example: How do I defuxulate the new doas replacement for sudo in openbsd-base? >man doas >man doas.conf ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pentag0 · 2015-10-14 15:55 ..which is clearly the better choice, right? :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RealModeX86 · 2015-10-14 16:14 Well, when you don't have enough RAM to use ZFS.... Then you add more ram and use ZFS! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dlangille · 2015-10-14 16:38 Yes. Yes, I do.