trying to pick just one *BSD to use is super hard! reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-05 11:46 Trying to decide which of the main 3 Berkeley Software Distribution unixen is HARD! I like Open for it's security, man pages, and simplicity. BUT, I like Free because of the Linux emulator, jails, and stability. Finally I hear great things about Net! Choosing a *BSD is so much harder than choosing a Linux distro! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tofazzz · 2022-04-05 12:32 If you think about it, it's actually a great thing since you can deploy the BSD of your taste depending of the use case and keep the BSD culture and have strong similarities between each other! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gumnos · 2022-04-05 12:36 While my daily-driver is FreeBSD, I have a stack of laptops on my desk and several VPS instances running a mix of FreeBSD & OpenBSD because I like each of them for different things. Between reusing old/cast-off hardware and virtualization, you don't have to choose just one. :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vermaden · 2022-04-05 13:53 Just start using any of them - or try all of them as your system. FreeBSD is most practical choice - has the most features. While I like the fact that OpenBSD may be more secure its lack of features keeps me away from it. No ZFS. No WINE. Limited virtualization. No Jails. No Linux Compat. Nothing. I like NetBSD and I tried it in the past. I like its minimalistic approach. Its somewhere between OpenBSD and FreeBSD but as FreeBSD exists its pointless for me to use NetBSD. Maybe when I will have some exotic hardware that will be well supported by NetBSD and not that much by FreeBSD - then I would use NetBSD there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jggimi · 2022-04-05 14:14 > No virtualization. You've missed vmm(4), vmd(8), vmctl(8), virtio(8), vio(4), vioblk(4), viocon(4), viomb(4), viornd(4), vioscsi(4), vmmci(4), xbf(4), xen(4), xnf(4), xspd(4), acpihve(4), hvn(4), hvs(4), hyperv(4), .... and more, which I can't recall at the moment. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vermaden · 2022-04-05 14:31 Can you virtualize Windows or FreeBSD or Solaris or Illumos under **vmm(8)**/**vmd(8)** on OpenBSD? From what I know You can not. Its possible to run for example Windows under QEMU on OpenBSD ... but QEMU is deadly slow ... and its not virtualization. Its emulation. If your needs are limited to text based OpenBSD or text based Linux then **vmm(8)**/**vmd(8)** will probably do. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jggimi · 2022-04-05 14:41 While it is true that vmm(4) provides only serial consoles for its guest VMs, one can certainly run graphical applications in those guests. And the various hypervisor-specific and more general VIO drivers provide operational flexibility when run as a guest. It doesn't meet YOUR needs. That's OK. But to paint the OS with a "No vrtualization...nothing" brush is to make a clear misrepresentation. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nsp0323 · 2022-04-05 14:57 >I like NetBSD and I tried it in the past. I like its minimalistic approach. Its somewhere between OpenBSD and FreeBSD but as FreeBSD exists its pointless for me to use NetBSD. With all due respect but, this is one of the many reasons I use NetBSD. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rdcldrmr · 2022-04-05 15:16 > FreeBSD is most practical choice - has the most features What if I don't want the massive codebase of ZFS running in my kernel (like Netflix apparently doesn't), don't need to run Windows .exe files or proprietary Linux-only binaries, don't need to run Windows itself (or Illumos...? wtf) and would prefer to take a more proactive approach to containing "risky" software than just tossing it in a glorified chroot where it continues to run after being compromised? I don't think that's a far cry from normal BSD usage. Take a step back and realize not every feature is always a good thing. I'm all for trying different systems and using the best tool for the job, but your reply is not even remotely in the spirit of encouraging that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vermaden · 2022-04-05 16:23 Changed to **Limited virtualization** if that helps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gnemmi · 2022-04-05 18:27 >What if I don't want the massive codebase of ZFS running in my kernel (like Netflix apparently doesn't), don't need to run Windows .exe files or proprietary Linux-only binaries, don't need to run Windows itself (or Illumos...? wtf) and would prefer to take a more proactive approach to containing "risky" software than just tossing it in a glorified chroot where it continues to run after being compromised? Welcome to DragonFly BSD bro!!!! Have fun with NVMM while at it! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gabeguz · 2022-04-05 18:28 I've tried them all, but I always end up back with OpenBSD. I love the simple installer, the fact that it's one of the only OSes I've ever used that feels like it gets faster and better on the hardware you already have (up to a point of course). I run it on everything (personal laptop, home server, home router, cloud servers (www, smtp, vpn)) and it's always my first choice for a new use-case. I also like the ease of upgrade and the overall consistency of the system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-05 18:29 Thank you kind sir! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- rdcldrmr · 2022-04-05 18:32 Which part of Dragonfly does the last part apply to? I'm not aware of anything like pledge/unveil on it but would be glad to be shown otherwise. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-05 18:33 Thanks /u/gumnos I always value your insight. You are a very helpful person so thanks a ton! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-05 18:36 Thank you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vext01 · 2022-04-05 19:48 You don't have to choose just one. Horses for courses. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- gabeguz · 2022-04-05 19:56 You're welcome! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Midar3 · 2022-04-05 21:13 NetBSD seems like the most versatile / flexible of the bunch where you get the farthest if you want just one of the BSDs. On the other hand it has the lease man power so you might need to work on a few things yourself. But it also got the most welcoming developer community. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- qci · 2022-04-05 22:30 >What if I don't want the massive codebase of ZFS running in my kernel Don't load the modules? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2022-04-06 00:13 use all 3 :D ---------------------------------------------------------------------- masta · 2022-04-06 01:08 I like netbsd for working on research. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-06 11:55 The number of excited NetBSD users I have met is super encouraging. I for sure plan on trying it out soon. I know SDF which is a big shared server in the USA runs NetBSD and I've used that before. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- leothetechguy · 2022-04-24 08:46 Try dragonfly bsd, its the only bsd that uses a hybrid kernel (a microkernel running some stuff in userspace and other things in kernel mode), which makes it more secure and stable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2022-04-24 11:21 Thank you! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Camtaf · 2022-05-05 08:40 I tend towards OpenBSD, because every time I try NetBSD, I can never get wifi working....... if it did, it would be a hard choice between the two for me. :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nsp0323 · 2022-05-05 10:02 I have no issues with WiFi but, that of course depends on your hardware.