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I definitely think people should give FreeBSD a try. I also think they should give different flavors or linux a try (e.g. Arch Linux). What I don't agree with i

I definitely think people should give FreeBSD a try. I also think they should give different flavors or linux a try (e.g. Arch Linux). What I don't agree with is using FreeBSD or a non-mainstream OS in production unless you really know what you're doing. There are many reasons for this, but the most important one is what the article alluded to; there is a plethora of resources for troubleshooting an issue. If you can't install a package like `gfortran` on something like ubuntu, then you can head over to askubuntu and will likely get the solution to your problem. What I think FreeBSD (or any less widely used OS for that matter) should do is create the right kind of easily searchable support structure that people coming from Ubuntu and CentOS take for granted. If you read the article closely, it does not point to a canonical support structure. This does not mean there isn't one or for that matter, many. But, what I can decipher is that there isn't a de-facto site that you can get help from.

corv 11y ago
There is canonical support such as the excellent handbook: https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/ https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/ The forums and mailing lists are also full of very knowledgeable users and developers. Besides, FreeBSD's Jails eat Docker for lunch as long as you don't need a point and click App store for your containers.
eatonphil 11y ago
I'm sure many people will tell you that the FreeBSD man pages [0] are an incredible resource and some of the best written man pages out there. From experience, the official handbook [1] was incredibly helpful as well. That said, the forums are not the most helpful place because there are /so/ many configurations out there and so many "right" ways to do things that it makes finding a working solution incredibly difficult. [0] https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi [1] https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/ https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/

corv 11y ago

There is canonical support such as the excellent handbook: https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/ https://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/handbook/ The forums and mailing lists are also full of very knowledgeable users and developers. Besides, FreeBSD's Jails eat Docker for lunch as long as you don't need a point and click App store for your containers.

eatonphil 11y ago

I'm sure many people will tell you that the FreeBSD man pages [0] are an incredible resource and some of the best written man pages out there. From experience, the official handbook [1] was incredibly helpful as well. That said, the forums are not the most helpful place because there are /so/ many configurations out there and so many "right" ways to do things that it makes finding a working solution incredibly difficult. [0] https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi https://www.freebsd.org/cgi/man.cgi [1] https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/ https://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/