Switching to FreeBSD for personal use reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 10:04 Hi, I am a devops engineer / unix cloud admin and I would like to use some basic software on my BSD machine. ​ Which are common use software which are available on gnu linux repos but are not on freebsd? ​ I have used BSDs in the past but for server use. This time is personal use. So think about client software that are available for gnu linux but not for \*bsd. Please note that I already know that gnu linux binaries can run on bsd systems but not viceversa. If you are suggesting me to use macos/os X for personal use (which is bsd inside) I cannot, for $$$ reasons. I would have nothing against using a macbook or an imac. ​ Thanks ​ sc ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Chapo_Rouge · 2019-03-07 10:11 I have to use some proprietary software under Linux as part of my gig and I guess running those on BSD might be difficult or impossible. ​ Teamviewer Slack Skype Proprietary VPN client ​ As for the FOSS software, you should be covered. ​ A workaround is to have a Linux box with X11 & VNC for the software you can't run on \*BSD. ​ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xerxero · 2019-03-07 10:12 Slack comes to mind, sublime can run with some work so can VScode. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 10:14 I despise blame and pity slack, sublime and vscode users, to edit files I do use nvi or Vim, GNU Emacs and that's it. The GNU Emacs packages via melpa have all that I need. I do not use Skype and slack is barely useful to anyone, really. TV could be useful to novices, but I have alternatives (standard and free) to enter on other people's machines. Unfortunately the only thing that I am unsure about is dropbox. I hate cloud storage, but *for now* I have to use it to store something like 400 small text temp files and jpeg images (until I share them to other machines). I guess I could use telegram cloud (saved messages) for that (browser based). Thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PitifulView · 2019-03-07 10:18 Slack web works fine (on firefox, even). I didn't try calls though, I expect those might be slightly problematic. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PitifulView · 2019-03-07 10:28 You can do it! I did it too, I rented a small server to keep testing my changes on linux too so I won't make changes that'll break on our more important platform. a VM is also a possibility. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- d333d · 2019-03-07 11:56 web.skype.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- icantthinkofone · 2019-03-07 12:38 I installed Sublime from ports and ran it without any issues at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- icantthinkofone · 2019-03-07 12:40 I can't think of any and I probably use computers like you do. If there is any software on Linux that isn't available on FreeBSD, there's probably an equivalent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xerxero · 2019-03-07 13:23 Good to hear that this is a lot smoother now ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Helg1121 · 2019-03-07 13:55 A lot of us who use BSD use a Mac and run it in VMware as of a daily driver ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 14:35 why would you use bsd in a non-server environment if you already use macos which is bsd inside? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- beowuff · 2019-03-07 14:53 I don’t know if this counts, but the one thing that keeps me from using BSD as a daily driver is Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu. If I could watch them on a FreeBSD box, I’d immediately wipe my laptop and put FreeBSD on there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 15:13 got it, thing is, Apple makes very good devices hardware and light thin laptops with excellent battery life. Any other company sucks from this POV. The touchpad is simply excellent. I do not like the keyboard anymore (The MBP 2015 was perfect) but... the rest is 100% on point. But their MacOS is bloated and huge compared to what I need in a BSD os. Sigh ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VENTDEV · 2019-03-07 16:01 Proprietary software that can't run in WINE or Linuxator. In my case that would be VMWare Workstation, VirtualBox addons, and Widevine (Netflix, Amazon Prime etc.) Most of the chat systems others mentioned are web based these days. For example the Skype program is just CEF to their web page. You can still use the web page version but you will need to spoof your user agent. Any foss software is likely to work fine on FBSD. I've used FBSD for personal use for about 7 years. However, because of increasing core counts (thanks AMD) my work machine is now my personal machine, and my work is now on 6 virtual machines... thus allowing me to reduce the number of computers on my desk. I use tier 2 vm's, and need 3d support, so I use Mageia. (Used to use Slackware, but too long of a wait for 15.) Only other personal computer is the TV computer, however, FBSD's lack of Widevine removes it's useably for most consumers general use. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 16:01 what about dropbox? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VENTDEV · 2019-03-07 16:02 They were captivated by Apple marketing. I think a better question would be, why would you touch a Mac unless you got it for free or were being paid to use it? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 16:03 because a mac provides a thin, light, convenient laptop package with a great battery life and an astounding screen (unparalleled for the price). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- VENTDEV · 2019-03-07 16:22 Not sure, internally I use a FreeBSD fileserver. Externally I use a FreeBSD web server. So I have zero use for dropbox. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- beowuff · 2019-03-07 16:26 I’m... not sure what Apple has to do with this? Also, I’ve been running KDE Neon on a Dell XPS 13” and it’s great. I don’t miss the apple hardware at all. I just wish I could run FreeBSD on it but, I need my streaming media. :/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 16:26 xps are trash compared to a macbook pro, tried both and tried a 2018 x1 carbon as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 16:27 I should switch to this also. But dropbox free storage is very convenient. Bah ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pavetheway91 · 2019-03-07 19:08 > xps are trash compared to a macbook pro Their keyboard doesn't fall apart if you happen to look it wrong way. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vvelox · 2019-03-07 22:30 > I don’t know if this counts, but the one thing that keeps me from using BSD as a daily driver is Netflix, Amazon Video, and Hulu. And the proper answer here is torrents. If they are going to use DRM, fuck everything about them. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vvelox · 2019-03-07 22:33 Not used slack, but I've used it in riot and it works perfectly fine in firefox. As long as slack is not doing anything that firefox does not play nice with, it should be good. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vvelox · 2019-03-07 22:35 > Which are common use software which are available on gnu linux repos but are not on freebsd? I've yet to find one actually. Been using it for 18 years here as my primary desktop OS. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-07 23:12 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E39M5S62 · 2019-03-07 23:27 wee-slack is a great weechat plugin. I use it daily on my FreeBSD workstation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 01:57 [deleted] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 08:41 mbp new keyboards are trash, xps keyboard are even worse, sadly. Also the defect you are referring about was not about the 3d generation of keyboards which is available now. I do not want to defend Apple, by the way. I do not care at all. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 08:41 Thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xerxero · 2019-03-08 11:58 Then just buy a macbook already. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 11:59 I wanted to. But I need 1 TB at least of storage for my mp3 files. Thing is, in my country, 1.5 TB SSD for the new MBA cost, (alone) 999 EUR. This is outrageous, since I own a good x220 which can run GNU Linux or BSD for 100 EUR of 1 TB SSD (860 EVO 2.5) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xerxero · 2019-03-08 12:38 You don't buy the laptop you want because you can't afford the storage for MP3? Are you serious? Put in the cloud or buy an external harddisk and keep your current selection on the laptop. Sounds like a non issue to me ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 13:57 well, you do not seem to understand -- It is a matter of principle; I won't give my money to a company that lets you buy a SSD drive for 999 EUR (1.5 TB in 2019 for that price?). It is not that I do not have the money. I have such money. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Xerxero · 2019-03-08 14:00 well this point I can understand. Upgrades are rediciulus expensive if you know what these part normally cost. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-08 14:06 Yes, exactly. I mean, I know that hardware is not just ram cpu and an IPS screen, but the overall weight, thinness, battery life, excellent keyboard (although I hate it) and outstanding trackpad. But I mean come on. How can you make people pay 999 EUR a 1.5 TB SSD in 2019??? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PitifulView · 2019-03-08 22:47 not too far-fetched for NVMe ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nburgin · 2019-03-10 02:08 Linux user here, I once tried FreeBSD for a desktop OS. This isn't exactly a problem with unavailable software, but what put me off was that suspend/resume (ACPI S3 suspend-to-RAM) didn't work correctly. https://wiki.freebsd.org/SuspendResume It looks like on about half of systems, trying to resume from suspend (especially with X11 running) crashes the system. A few work, but it seems like a total crapshoot. I don't know if the implementation in FreeBSD is actually buggy in itself or if it's just not as good as linux about working around buggy motherboard firmware, but I know it wasn't usable when I tested it, and this seems to be a common problem that's had little progress in a long time. However, if lack of standby mode isn't a dealbreaker (or it turns out to work OK on your system, good luck) then it's my understanding that pretty much everything else is working, including graphics drivers. But for me, that wasn't something I was willing to tolerate, especially when combined with the slow boot sequence. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-10 04:09 FreeBSD is not buggy at all, at least compared to GNU Linux. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nburgin · 2019-03-10 04:23 Not really here to argue about that question in general, specifically talking about suspend/resume. Which for me, was a deal-breaker even if nothing else seemed to be wrong. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CuBeRJAN3 · 2019-03-10 11:31 Preview.web.skype.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------- OTPguy · 2019-03-13 22:16 Hmmm lots of folks have covered lots of points already. I do have a couple machines that run Ubuntu for the family, but the rest of our machines are FreeBSD; desktops and home servers. Could not be happier. We use Sony playstations (which ironically their OS came from FreeBSD) to stream NetFlix, and we run emby media server too. ​ Give it a worthy try, stick with it, hang out in the offical FreeBSD forum, lots of great folks there, and you just might end up loving it like so many have. If not, then find the right balance; Linux desktop, and FreeBSD server. :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2019-03-14 13:29 As it should be by now, 2019. Anyways I've used a number of *BSD in the past, included MacOS. I feel comfortable with it and the OS is very stable. I miss some of the functionalities of GNU coreutils, though. But I like that classic Unix feel (I used to manage AIX and SunOS servers) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- prec3r · 2019-03-31 07:47 Only proprietary apps are not available. Otherwise sky is the limit. Stable base like Debian, rolling ports like arch on userspace. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- prec3r · 2019-03-31 07:49 Defaq.. 1TB mp3 song? I mean what the .... ?