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OpenBSD includes a large number of precompiled packages. In fact you are encouraged to use these rather than compiling from ports unless you have a specific nee

OpenBSD includes a large number of precompiled packages. In fact you are encouraged to use these rather than compiling from ports unless you have a specific need that isn't met by the standard package. It's my understanding that most of the other BSDs are similar in this regard, though I don't have first-hand experience. if you want to stay with Linux, I have heard that Arch is one of the more BSD-like distributions.

laumars 8y ago
Arch used to be more BSD-like but since it’s adopted systemd it’s felt very much more mainstream Linux than it used to when it had a BSD-inspired rc.conf. That said, it’s still my preferred desktop OS. FreeBSD definitely supports binary packages as well. It’s a great system to use too. In fact if there wasn’t a few Linux-specific tools I needed and FreeBSDs hardware support was on a par with Linux, then I would use FreeBSD as my primary system - without a doubt. But as it is I still run FreeBSD for all of my personal servers.
- 2trill2spill 8y ago
  Have you tried the FreeBSD Linux emulator? It can be annoying grabbing the required libraries off a Centos box but once you do it's been pretty reliable for me.
  - laumars 8y ago
    Not recently. About 10 or 15 years ago I used to use the Linux binary compatibility layer but when I last looked - 5ish years ago? - it seemed support for that had languished. To be honest the tool I’d most want would be Docker and I couldn’t see that working even with binary compatibility. On the FreeBSD servers I run, I just fire up a VM for the rare occasions I do require Linux (and it is extremely rare that happens), but Arch is a better compromise for me on my laptop.
- sureaboutthis 8y ago
  While Linux may support 10,000 devices, FreeBSD support 9734 of them. And you only need one. FreeBSD probably supports every piece of hardware you use. Source: me. A FreeBSD workstation user for 16 years who has built his own machine with off the shelf parts since the beginning with a current machine running the latest and greatest.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
sigjuice 8y ago
OpenBSD precompiled packages have a limitation. http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html Binary packages for -release and -stable are not updated. I also ran into some strangeness with FreeBSD packages. I was on a STABLE release that was not the latest version. It was no longer possible for me to update and install binary packages.
- snazz 8y ago
  If you're okay trusting another party, M:Tier builds updated versions of stable OpenBSD packages. See https://stable.mtier.org https://stable.mtier.org This is generally the accepted solution if you don't want to follow Current.

laumars 8y ago

Arch used to be more BSD-like but since it’s adopted systemd it’s felt very much more mainstream Linux than it used to when it had a BSD-inspired rc.conf. That said, it’s still my preferred desktop OS. FreeBSD definitely supports binary packages as well. It’s a great system to use too. In fact if there wasn’t a few Linux-specific tools I needed and FreeBSDs hardware support was on a par with Linux, then I would use FreeBSD as my primary system - without a doubt. But as it is I still run FreeBSD for all of my personal servers.

2trill2spill 8y ago
Have you tried the FreeBSD Linux emulator? It can be annoying grabbing the required libraries off a Centos box but once you do it's been pretty reliable for me.
- laumars 8y ago
  Not recently. About 10 or 15 years ago I used to use the Linux binary compatibility layer but when I last looked - 5ish years ago? - it seemed support for that had languished. To be honest the tool I’d most want would be Docker and I couldn’t see that working even with binary compatibility. On the FreeBSD servers I run, I just fire up a VM for the rare occasions I do require Linux (and it is extremely rare that happens), but Arch is a better compromise for me on my laptop.
sureaboutthis 8y ago
While Linux may support 10,000 devices, FreeBSD support 9734 of them. And you only need one. FreeBSD probably supports every piece of hardware you use. Source: me. A FreeBSD workstation user for 16 years who has built his own machine with off the shelf parts since the beginning with a current machine running the latest and greatest.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

sigjuice 8y ago

OpenBSD precompiled packages have a limitation. http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html http://www.openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html Binary packages for -release and -stable are not updated. I also ran into some strangeness with FreeBSD packages. I was on a STABLE release that was not the latest version. It was no longer possible for me to update and install binary packages.

snazz 8y ago
If you're okay trusting another party, M:Tier builds updated versions of stable OpenBSD packages. See https://stable.mtier.org https://stable.mtier.org This is generally the accepted solution if you don't want to follow Current.