What I've learned so far. reddit / freebsd ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2022-07-12 20:24 First thing first. There is two things you must understand. 1: Music matters. I prefer post rock and classical during install/configuration. Your taste may differ. 2: Never stress it, take your time, mistakes happen and if you do them, you learn from them. Keep an open mind and notebook and pen ready. Next up, free is good. Free is ability to learn without spending cash. Old hardware may not run chrome and Youtube, but it can still be used to learn about file servers, a small website, firewalls, etc. The limit is imagination. Laptop support are VERY good nowadays, and if you can, buy a ThinkPad. Your mileage may vary. If it's a complex program without a fulfilling man page, don't. Just... wait with that one. Raspberry pi's are FUN, but don't ever think they are fast in install and/or upgrade. It's a job, they do it, but they are not monsters of speed. Multiple screens and lots of outputs? As long as it's supported, it's working. Xorg is the first way, learn that BEFORE wayland, because you can default back to it. rc.conf is one of the things you will mess in, but be sure to make a backup. Please. Don't. Ever. Change. Root. Shell. (unless you know how to do that, and have the right pointers). Speaking of shell's. You may change your shell to whatever you prefer. Don't use sudo, use doas instead. And let me repeat. It's okay to make mistakes. Picture of my setup for my laptop as of now. [https://imgur.com/a/6S65VsC](https://imgur.com/a/6S65VsC) Happy installs to you and may your coffee always be warm. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -kilix- · 2022-07-12 21:37 Nice post, thanks for sharing. Btw: why do you need that many gpu-firmware packages? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chesheersmile · 2022-07-13 05:39 I'd add: it's okay to google things like "how do I do ", but before you paste commands in your terminal, read the corresponding man pages and find out what these flags really do. Chances are, these flags aren't present on BSD or do something different. But you'll learn a lot in process. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2022-07-13 14:07 Huh? If you mean screens? I find it comforting to have dualscreen setups as I like to view PFDs, code or config in long rows. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- allegedrc4 · 2022-07-13 15:30 Also, [don't paste stuff directly into your terminal.](http://thejh.net/misc/website-terminal-copy-paste) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chesheersmile · 2022-07-13 16:20 That is so cool! In a way it is mitigated in some terminals like xfce4-terminlal. It alerts when you paste commands and shows what do you actually paste. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- -kilix- · 2022-07-14 16:12 No, I mean those packages I see on your monitor (on that imgur photo you posted). There are a dozen gpu-firmware-radeon-kmod-\*, gpu- firmware-intel-\*, gpu-firmware-amd-\* being installed as far as I can see. I was curious why would anyone want/need all of those. Btw, I also like dual screens and my home setup is exactly like yours, but mirrored -- the vertical monitor is on the right. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2022-07-14 16:38 To be quite clear, I don't know, but I did a vanilla install. Ah, okay :) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grahamperrin · 2022-07-15 00:29 > a vanilla install. Vanilla graphics stuff after installing FreeBSD 12.3-RELEASE, yes? /u/-kilix- x [graphics/drm- kmod](https://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm-kmod/) would bring [graphics/drm-fbsd12.0-kmod](https://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm- fbsd12.0-kmod/), which would bring [graphics/gpu-firmware- kmod](https://www.freshports.org/graphics/gpu-firmware-kmod/) with its many dependencies. https://www.freshports.org/graphics/drm-fbsd12.0-kmod/#requiredrun ---------------------------------------------------------------------- grahamperrin · 2022-07-15 00:41 > … `rc.conf` is one of the things you will mess in, but be sure to make a backup. … +1 Integral to the OS, [bectl\(8\)](https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?q uery=bectl&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD) and [sysrc\(8\)](https://www.fre ebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi?query=sysrc&sektion=8&manpath=FreeBSD) are our friends. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- patmaddox · 2022-08-11 07:34 > buy a ThinkPad Which model, with what configuration (particularly network and graphics)? I would really like to have a FreeBSD laptop, but so far I’ve yet to find any info on one that just works. All the info I’ve seen is “buy one and hope for the best.” ---------------------------------------------------------------------- RemoteBroccoli · 2022-08-11 07:37 Good question, as far as I know, these have worked flawless for me: X220 X60 R50