Laptop user, wants a free OS and some power tools for daily usage reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- spawndon · 2017-08-06 06:54 I have been using (pirated) windows, and linux for quite a few years. Now my laptop is ancient, but it still has 8GB RAM, 320GB HDD and an intel i3. Frankly, all I will use my laptop henceforth are for : * reading e-books (pdf, epub, mobi), * listening audio and watching movies, * mail and browsing * coding, c and c++, if I find the right software on BSD. * Photoshop/ GIMP like software I am a total newbie to BSD, have never tried it, though, it wont take much time to learn if I understand its underlying file structure once. * What distro(?) do you recommend? * Can I ask for a diagram for the major file structure details of BSD? * Sony Vaio drivers will NOT be available for a BSD, so does it have generic drivers, for reducing/ controlling screen brightness, touchpad, keyboard, camera? * Can I safely work with a BSD, instead of getting it updated/ upgraded every 6 months? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mcndjxlefnd · 2017-08-06 07:22 I use a FreeBSD VM to do all my C programming on my Windows laptop. VIM works well for me, but I also use TMUX to split console windows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- yourhelpfulfriend · 2017-08-06 10:16 Hi there, I think a BSD operating system (see below for why I don't say distro) will work well for you provided your hardware is supported. Nothing you want to do is impossible (or even less possible) on a BSD. Now, here are some answers to your questions... In the world of BSD, people generally don't use the term "distro." Each BSD is a separate operating system, with its own utilities and kernel. They are not collections of a common set of tools at different version numbers. At any rate, I would recommend OpenBSD. I think it has a focus on simplicity that makes it easy to use (though perhaps less feature-rich than other BSDs). No, if you refuse security updates, you can't safely work with _any_ software. As for the file structure, look at OpenBSD's [hier manual page](http://man.openbsd.org/hier). This provides a "sketch of the filesystem hierarchy." It's not visual, but it does a good job of explaining what's in each directory. The other BSDs have their hier manual pages. Hope this helps! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dr-chernobyl · 2017-08-06 11:25 yeah I would go with OpenBSD, Ive used windows my whole life then macOS, then I did some research which free OS would be best to switch to, it turned out that openBSD was the simplest solution and most secure you need to research if your hardware supports it though, openBSD devs hate proprietary stuff so closed source drivers are no go ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jaypatelani · 2017-08-06 13:27 Welcome to BrotherHood 🖖😁 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- losthalo7 · 2017-08-06 13:34 Which of the BSDs is best if you do need a proprietary device driver? (If there's a simple answer, that is) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dr-chernobyl · 2017-08-06 13:46 FreeBSD is one that is most supported in that regard I think, for example nvidia supplies drivers for freeBSD but on openBSD you will have problems because they arent open source therefore it is a no go if you need to go freeBSD route and you want a secure system check out HardenedBSD, basically it is freeBSD with security patches implemented ---------------------------------------------------------------------- daemonpenguin · 2017-08-06 14:16 As a newbie, I recommend you try GhostBSD. It's FreeBSD at its core, but with the desktop and networking tools already set up for you. Not sure what you mean by diagram of the file structure. But if you've used other open platforms like Linux or other Unix-like systems, the BSDs have the same general layout. Driver support will depend on your specific hardware and which BSD flavour you select. I'm not sure what you mean by your last question. You can't work with any software safely on-line if you don't update it. If you're asking about release cycles, FreeBSD/GhostBSD are supported for about five years. OpenBSD I think supports their releases for about a year. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- icantthinkofone · 2017-08-06 17:29 Everything on your list can be done without issue. I'm a web developer and use Gimp on a daily basis as well as programming in C and other languages. And, yes, don't call them "distros". Updating BSD is easy and simple. It's not a problem as with other OSes where you're afraid to do it cause you know something will break. FreeBSD's core goal is you should never have to worry about that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2017-08-06 22:13 Every one of them will work. In fact there could not be a better use- case for a BSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VampyrBit · 2017-08-07 07:26 I also like OpenBSD a lot. I think I do less things to configure my system than other BSD's and I like their vision of an OS. Plus the new IntelDRM drivers from -current supports newer Intel from the boot really great, while on other BSD's I had to configure X. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pulaya · 2017-08-08 09:46 I installed the latest snapshot of 6.1 on a skylake machine with Gnome. It was laggy, seemed to be on VESA. The system would hang whenever I launched any application, such as Mozilla. However, it worked fine on Fvwm. Dmesg shows error about missing Skl (or Sk1) firmware. I looked at http://firmware.openbsd.org/firmware/ But there didn't seem to be anything for Skylake there. Any ideas on what's wrong? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VampyrBit · 2017-08-08 14:34 I can't say on the Skylake part, I have a Celeron n3060 and it only worked with latest snapshots, but from https://www.tedunangst.com/flak/post/openbsd-changes-of-note-624 it says: > Update inteldrm to code based on Linux 4.4.70. This brings us support for Skylake and Cherryview and better support for Broadwell and Valleyview. Also adds MST support. Fun times for people with newish laptops. Try the mailing lists or someone on IRC from OpenBSD maybe you can get better help. Best of luck! EDIT: Did you try -current right ? These changes are from the -current snapshots. It worked for me out of the box. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pulaya · 2017-08-09 03:07 It asked me to give the repo folder and I gave this "pub/OpenBSD/snapshots/amd64/" and installed from there. I didn't give -current option. Do I have to do that? I though all snapshots are current by default? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VampyrBit · 2017-08-09 03:36 Yeah that's correct. They are, just to check really. I don't know why it's not working because it should have support. Well, if you find why, maybe you are the one that discovers a bug that helps other people too :) Sorry I can't help more. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pulaya · 2017-08-09 06:09 I'll wait for some more days before trying again I guess. I am pretty sure it's because I'm on VESA. I am not very good at debugging, especially given my workschedule. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pulaya · 2017-08-10 10:34 just wanted to update. I reinstalled the whole thing. This time, before installing gnome, I checked glxgears score, and it's 5,200 fps. It looks like the issue was not with graphics support, but something related to gnome. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tankortan · 2017-08-12 20:34 man 7 hier (just as /u/yourhelpfulfriend said)