So I'm planning to switch from Ubuntu to BSD as main desktop. Please let me know things to do after installation reddit / BSD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thesagarsharma1 · 2023-07-03 16:27 Hiii, I'm planning to switch from Ubuntu to BSD and being a newbie, please let me know things to do after installing steps. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- motific · 2023-07-03 16:53 The first thing is to pick a BSD like GhostBSD or helloSystem which has a desktop before you start, and double-check that the hardware you want to use is supported, both will save you a lot of time getting started. Also for getting to a GUI quickly there is the sysutils/desktop-installer package for FreeBSD, but I'd definitely run with Ghost or hello for a bit first. Also (and I can't stress this enough), if you run into a problem then google it and look at the handbook before asking. The docs in BSD systems are designed to be used. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- thesagarsharma1 · 2023-07-03 16:55 BSD handbook is one of the primary reasons why I'm about to make a switch. But I'm not used to of installing packages from source so do you have any tool in mind which can automate the installation? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- motific · 2023-07-03 18:16 In BSD, *packages* are binaries from a repository, whereas *ports* are how we compile from source. You don't need ports unless you're going to use custom compile-time options, but if you really have a burning desire to burn some CPU time then `ports-mgmt/synth` is about as simple as it gets. If you look in the docs it will tell you how to use the latest package repository - by default it's `quarterly`, but I recommend you switch to `latest` which is constantly updated. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- aughtspcnerd · 2023-07-03 18:18 I recommend the FreeBSD desktop installer in your case, especially coming from Linux (I’m assuming you have some CL experience). It’s minimal and newbie friendly but will get you a usable system. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- iAMxBSD · 2023-07-03 19:05 You can install FreeBSD, but be prepared to do a lot of reading, searching, etc.. I started with GhostBSD, but I wanted to learn more. Just be prepared to configure a lot of stuff. I had to configure sound, USB and a whole host of other things that pretty much just work out of the box in Ubuntu. I run FreeBSD on an old MacPro tower, and I used Debian on my laptop. I've run FreeBSD on my laptop, but some update along the way screwed up my wifi dangles. Be prepared for SLOW development. The CLI tools work a lot better than the Linux ones. Almost everything is solid once you get it up and running. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-03 20:42 > BSD there are many. you know which one? i'd save Open and Net for last. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-03 21:10 I'd say this choice is a classic case of "depends". When released, on my Framework 11th Gen I found Open was extremely easy to get running (it "just worked"), while Free required building intel-drm-kmod from ports to get past the tty stage. I believe the correct versions for that hardware is now in the standard package (but have not had reason to try, yet), but just want to point out that it's not necessarily as simple as "Free is easiest for a BSD newbie" etcetera. This is probably heavily dependent on the hardware the user plans to run, and it might be that Open or Net is "easier" to get running than Free. And of course, a user that is not used to tinkering with kernel modules and such might find Free more difficult than Open, where the latter will drop you out of the installer with a functional graphical environment and no work left to get them drivers set up properly. I suspect the bigger devil that might argue against Open or Net might be availability of pre-built software through the package manager. But that's only a problem if the software they want to use is actually unavailable, so... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2023-07-03 21:14 *First off.* BASH is NOT standard. You can, and should install that or KSH, ZSH or BASH for your non root account.***DO. NOT. CHANGE. THE. ROOT. ACCOUNT.*** *Second thing*, compilers that you are used to in Ubuntu have other flags. Check your flags, and you $PAHT. *Third thing.* Start small. Dualboot if you can, to have a reasonable understanding and the ability to google (or duckduckgo). *Forth thing.* New things learns new ways. Do not be afraid. We mean you no harm. Come. Feel the warmth.FreeBSD and OpenBSD have a huge and welcoming circle. We are, if I do say so myself, quite friendly, kickass, and relaxed, and everyone here has been a newbie. So ask away. *Lastly.* **Thinkpad's**, **Dell's** and **Apple's** are the most supported laptops, of all the BSD's. But! There are, and WILL be hiccups. ***Good luck!*** ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-03 21:28 i look at it more from "find solutions of your OS problems on your own" and amount of information available online. Open is worst in this regard - it's always "read the docs, read the man page, everything is there"... well not always. there are some things that are not obvious, or tricky, or so-Open-specific that you can't relate your knowledge from other BSDs (i'm not even mentioning Linsux, since the gap is so wide...). Net's userbase also seems small compared to Free, or the flavours that come with GUI preconfigured (these most of the time have some sort of support community/forums where you can ask when desperate :D), so yeah, there is that. of course you can stumble upon problems that will make you pull your hair out. but this is true for all operating systems (IMO). OS is a complicated thing, lot of subsystems have to cooperate and work well on their own, in order for the damn thing to work at all. i look with awe and admiration at today's OSes, remembering the simplicity of the olden days. 2 or 3 floppies, and that's it. today? recently been monkeying around with Xubuntu (because why not? i like to sift through repositories of various OSes, to see what software they offer) and this damned thing is HALF A MILLION files installed! it just blows my mind. this is also why i really like BSDs - they at least *try* to KISS, as opposed to others (Torvalds and Gates alike). i get it - hardware is more complicated, the tasks are more demanding, security has to be high up because people do lot more *real-life* stuff on their computers today. but when i right click on the root directory and see 500.000 files listed i'm just scared ;D ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Wooden-Tart · 2023-07-03 21:46 Bsd.pw ---------------------------------------------------------------------- asquieu · 2023-07-03 22:07 Vermaden has a fantastic series of articles dedicated to desktop FreeBSD which should be required reading... https://vermaden.wordpress.com/freebsd-desktop/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mofomeat · 2023-07-04 04:45 In the old days if one installed FBSD they'd head over to cooltrainer.org for the "Freebsd Desktop Guide". Looks like maybe she's been busy with other things since 11. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Suitedbadge401 · 2023-07-04 07:13 Vermaden seems to have taken the mantle. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-04 08:07 All true and agreed. Though I do have to say that OpenBSD surprised me in it's "googleability". But not in the way we normally think of the term. A while ago I had an issue on my Linux gaming computer, and the internet was full of advice that is no longer applicable (in spite of said advice being only 2 years old...). Then I ran into a problem on my OpenBSD laptop, and google gave me a 15 years old mailing list excerpt that... fixed everything AND explained what it was I didn't understand. I do greatly enjoy Linux (Arch btw etc etc) for my gaming computer, but the combination of meh documentation and such a wild level of obsoleting things left-right-and-center to guarantee "google is wrong" can get annoying. So for me, the OpenBSD\* that "just works", has proper documentation, and is ACTUALLY employing KISS (as opposed to Arch which... yeah... compared to Ubuntu maybe?), is a nice piece of zen to help me keep my sanity. :D \*Edit: and for sure, could probably have been any other of the BSD's. Open just happened to be the one that first had ootb support for my laptop's hardware and I found I liked it, so didn't bother trying Free again. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chesheersmile · 2023-07-04 08:28 Vermaden is great. Also I would advice Robonuggie's videos: https://www.youtube.com/@RoboNuggie ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Loud_Blueberry2491 · 2023-07-04 09:37 Welcome to the BSD party! Just remember, we have cookies...but they're served in the command line! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- jmcunx · 2023-07-04 13:06 You did not specify which BSD, but in OpenBSD and NetBSD you can do "man afterboot" to see things to do on booting after an install. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-04 19:08 this is old data (2005) -> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/comm ons/6/66/Bsd_distributions_usage.svg but it shows what i meant. i don't think it changed much over the years. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- player1dk · 2023-07-04 20:43 I’ve read some of the headlines a few times, and think they sound interesting. It would be awesome if they were transcribed to text / pdfs somewhere, for us who can’t concentrate for all the video stuff :-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-04 20:46 Extremely old data. I work at a Fortune 500 website used by "most people" for "normal things" (both holiday and business travel, in this case), and I have access to the traffic stats since I am a Test Engineer working in "landing" - the "top of the funnel". Among the BSDs, it's actually an almost exactly even split between FreeBSD, OpenBSD, and NetBSD among our users. (We had roughly 200 unique daily users on each of them when I checked last, which was a year or two ago.) At some point I should re-check and add DragonFly, Nomad, Ghost etcetera to the comparison, but those google analytics screens are annoying to work with so I only go there when I have to. :P And for sure, while our service is "big", it's not necessarily a perfect representation of "all BSD users". But we're big enough, and unrelated enough to computing, that I'm pretty sure we get a reasonably quality sample with no particular bias in any particular direction amongst the BSDs. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-04 20:52 i stand corrected then. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-04 21:01 FreeBSD can have one big laurel though: it was the one and only seriously proposed contender by "engineers in the internal chat" for "what to do now that CentOS got killed". :D But yes, when I saw those numbers, I was surprised. I expected something more like that old graphic, too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-04 21:08 maybe more? the fact that it's (semi-widely) adopted by others, for "serious" stuff ;) i mean: - Netflix infra - Sony's PS OSes - various storage solutions (because of excellent, and frankly until recently, only viable ZFS integration. not that long ago NetBSD joined ZFS gang with full integration). - Apple's inclusion in OSX - possibly more that i'm not aware of? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-04 21:16 Yeah, anecdotally, my suspicion is that FreeBSD is a silent winner in server/appliance, but is "losing ground" in desktop use. For example, I've never had anyone in an OpenBSD context telling me (or someone else) they're stupid or silly for wanting to use Open as a desktop OS. But I have seen it many times in FreeBSD contexts (mainly reddit, so probably "that special loud minority", but you know...). I do wonder to what extent FreeBSD might have been uniquely "positioned" to lose users to Apple on the desktop. (Though the PS and OSX are funny cases, since they seem to have completely disagreed with each other about which parts of the OS were worth using. :D ) Sadly, no real way to know for sure. Open does get used too ofc (I've seen it in "unexpected places"), but seems to have more specialized uses than the many appliances FreeBSD and its derivatives dominate. The big wildcard for me is NetBSD. My brain has always thought of it as "that one for weird hardware" so why use it on x86? But I should give it an honest try sometime, I'm led to believe their efforts to make portability easy might, as a side effect, lead to a "simplicity" that I might enjoy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-04 21:35 > so why use it on x86? it's good. not bloated, snappy, if you're coming from "weird hw" you'll feel right at home with it. i appreciate that it can be put on such lowly machine (i.e. Pentium 1 with some 64MB of RAM, or similar) and the damned thing will run. only recently, support for ISA graphics adapters was dropped. none of other mainline OSes even come close (excluding dedicated solutions). > lead to a "simplicity" that I might enjoy. you probably will. some of my shots at it [1](https://redd.it/thussq) [2](https://redd.it/14bw1y1) [3](https://redd.it/13wtdpg) > FreeBSD is a silent winner in server/appliance, but is "losing ground" in desktop use the biggest grief (from what i've seen online) is that after install you're dropped to shell, and have to type some daemonic incantations in order to get GUI going. i know it's all in The Handbook or on YouTube, but most people are alergic to searching for solutions on their own, reading the docs etc. :D you know what i mean. and this is IMO the biggest roadblock for wider adoption. just modify the installer to include "Install GUI" submenu and be done with it. could even require internet connection working, if packaging GUIs on install media is a problem/obstacle/undesirable. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- EtherealN · 2023-07-05 08:49 > just modify the installer to include "Install GUI" submenu and be done with it. Hahah, yeah, that one time over on the FreeBSD subreddit I actually suggested that an option to set up a GUI could be included in the installer, as a quality-of-life thing. I was told that I'm mentally deficient for suggesting such a thing, since the GUI is not a proper part of the OS, and if I "can't install things" I should go back to Windows. Etc. :P Suggesting that work to speed up the boot process (as they were doing, around the same time) is actually useful was met with the same type: the CORRECT way to use a computer is to use sleep/hibernate, therefore boot time is irrelevant and I should learn how to computer. :D Might be a thing that's more on specifically on reddit, haven't used their forum much, but... For sure I ended up feeling much more welcomed in the OpenBSD camp than the FreeBSD one, so if that's a wider issue it might have caused a bit of a shift in userbase over the decades. Edit: also, daemonic incantations is such a perfect term. :D ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-05 10:07 > I was told that I'm mentally deficient for suggesting such a thing, since the GUI is not a proper part of the OS, and if I "can't install things" I should go back to Windows. Etc. :P > > Suggesting that work to speed up the boot process (as they were doing, around the same time) is actually useful was met with the same type: the CORRECT way to use a computer is to use sleep/hibernate, therefore boot time is irrelevant and I should learn how to computer. :D i find it weird. i always thought that Free's community was more welcoming than that of Open. i guess the shame's on them. it's nobody's frickin business how i use my computer. if like to boot it fresh every time, that's my perogative. but OTOH - you got your answers why Free does not see wider adoption on desktop :D > Edit: also, daemonic incantations is such a perfect term. :D isn't it? XD > GUI is not a proper part of the OS if there were will, the way would be found - they don't need to package it with base system. require an internet connection, slap an disclaimer onto it (it's not part of base, blah blah) and give the CHOICE. nobody would be forced to install it if they didn't want to. simple as that. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-05 10:11 > would be awesome if they were transcribed to text one can always download subtitles off of YouTube. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-05 10:12 > First off. > > BASH is NOT standard. i'd go further - bash is EVIL. for good reasons the term *bashism/gnuism* was coined. sitck to the goddamn POSIX! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- CHRIST_BOT_9001 · 2023-07-05 10:13 My brother/sister in Christ paprok, Language can slip at times, and I understand that. Just a friendly reminder, let's try to be mindful of the language we use, especially when it involves the Lord's name. It can go a long way in fostering a culture of respect and understanding among all members of our diverse community. Instead of "God D***", find alternative phrases such as "Goodness gracious" or "Golly gee". My purpose is to share the love and teachings of Jesus Christ. I want to assure you that I'm here to spread positivity, not to offend anyone. I respect all faiths, even if we don't agree, and I'm open to respectful discussions and mutual understanding. Let's walk this journey together with kindness and love! *Ephesians 4:32 (NIV): "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."* --- ^This ^message ^was ^sent ^automatically. ^Did ^I ^make ^a ^mistake? ^Let ^me ^know ^by ^sending ^me ^a ^direct ^message. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2023-07-05 11:09 I agree that Bash is no good, I prefer zsh or ksh. But, people are as different as they come, and you start with what is comfy for you, and slowly go outside your comfortzone. If that means having bash first and then moving to "better" shells, so be it. Also, when did we get a bot preaching faith and not understaning of *THE TRUE MEANING OF DEAMONS AND OUR HATRED AGAINST NON CONFORMING SYSTEMS*! ALL HAIL THE DEAMONS IN OUR SHELLS! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- paprok · 2023-07-05 11:26 AMEN :D OTOH - you learn bash, then get dropped in sh/ksh/csh and are lost like a little girl in the woods :D i remember my first steps in Solaris CLI (sh iirc) and having *some* bash knowledge, i couldn't do anything. as if the shell was actively fighting against me doing anything meanigful :D [edit] about changing root's shell - most people do not understand, that it's *statically linked* and therefore is a standalone executable, and will *still* work without any libraries (i.e. damaged /usr). you change your admin's shell, get a disaster, and on top of that, get non-functional shell as a cherry on top XD ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nmariusp · 2023-07-05 12:23 Start by installing and using FreeBSD a few times in a virtual machine. E.g. in Linux virt-manager https://www.youtube.com/@nmariusp/search?query=freebsd ---------------------------------------------------------------------- kyleW_ne · 2023-07-05 22:08 If you installed OpenBSD read afterboot and check your mail! Also read the FAQ and man pages. For FreeBSD or NetBSD they both have an extensive handbook that you can peruse on a different system in the browser or install on the local system! Good luck and welcome to the club! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Happy_Ad991 · 2023-07-09 00:18 Gnu and bash are all but evil, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- PRT1139 · 2023-07-16 14:49 is there something similar for OpenBSD? thanks ---------------------------------------------------------------------- hitch242x · 2023-08-01 10:33 If your moving and have little experience with FreeBSD, I would recommend the holy trinity be your guide: vermaden, robonuggie, and garyhtech - their links are here: vermaden - [https://vermaden.wordpress.com/](https://vermaden.wordpress.com/) robonuggie - [https://www.youtube.com/c/robonuggie](https://www.youtub e.com/c/robonuggie) garyhtech - [https://www.youtube.com/@GaryHTech](https://www.youtube.c om/@GaryHTech) By reading vermaden's site and listening to robonuggie and garyhtech, you'll get everything from installation, configuration, comparisons of desktops, after install tweaking, etc. If they can't help you, you're hopelessly lost ;-) If all your experience has been primarily with Ubuntu and/or a like distro, you will find it challenging at first, because many of the things you probably took for granted are not done for you. However, don't give up. Keep trying, keep learning, keep asking questions, and before you know it, you'll be smoking. Hope this helps.