4 ms·

I gave up on FreeBSD on my hobby server after having have to maintain tiny differences all over for my ansible script and zshrc and whatnot. It just takes unne

I gave up on FreeBSD on my hobby server after having have to maintain tiny differences all over for my ansible script and zshrc and whatnot. It just takes unnecessary effort to keep up with what just works for Linux and I didn't see much benefit sticking to FreeBSD.

Chilinot 6y ago
This is a genuine issue. Dont understand the downvoters. I completely agree.
lmm 6y ago
FreeBSD feels more solid to me; upgrades are easier, and stuff changes less often. I don't have time to keep up with maintaining a Linux server any more.
- scaladev 6y ago
  What are you talking about? Put CentOS or Ubuntu LTS on your box and forget about it for the next ten years. The only updates you'll get are security and bug fixes, nothing fundamental will change. The next LTS release you'll install in 2030 will have substantial differences, but FreeBSD changes quite a bit too in such a large time span.
  - fullstop 6y ago
    A few things.. 1. Ubuntu LTS releases are supported for five years -- Centos is for ten years. 2. FreeBSD updates are typically easy to perform, and the new system is not that different from the previous one. Things are where they used to be and you configure it the same way as you have for years. With Centos, there was a migration from yum -> dnf. With both Ubuntu and Centos the init system has changed from sysv -> upstart -> systemd. The default network configuration on Ubuntu has been replaced with netplan. I guess what I'm getting at is that there is significantly more churn in Linux distributions and vastly less churn in FreeBSD. This could also be seen as a lack of progress, but I don't think that OP sees it that way.
  - toast0 6y ago
    The user facing surface of FreeeBSD from twenty years ago is still pretty similar to the surface today. ifconfig still configures network interfaces (including wireless) the init system is still the same you still have the same three firewalls to choose from the audio system is still the same The internals are quite a bit different (and more capable), and I don't think zfs was in FreeBSD back then, but UFS2 still works. If you want to experience twenty year old FreeBSD, to compare with modern FreeBSD, Apple has lovingly preserved it as the userland unix interface in MacOs, they've even got a circa 2000 tcp stack.
    - crest 6y ago
      Thanks for the nice rant.
y04nn 6y ago
For me this is the opposite, I use Linux on my laptop and FreeBSD on a hobby server. I find it easier to configure although I have much more experience with Linux. Things I don't link on Linux are systemd, pulseaudio, hundreds of packets managers that make it not always straight forward how to patch a package. What I like with FreeBSD is the slower pace of evolution, so there is less breaking change per unit of time, that makes me spend less time fixing things while being up to date, and when it break there is always a good documentation available. Things I like in FreebSD: pf, zfs, bhyve, rc.d, good separation between user configuration changes and system configuration.
- krelian 6y ago
  FreeBSD man pages are so good. I wonder why Linux which is so much more popular can't get to that level.

Chilinot 6y ago

This is a genuine issue. Dont understand the downvoters. I completely agree.

lmm 6y ago

FreeBSD feels more solid to me; upgrades are easier, and stuff changes less often. I don't have time to keep up with maintaining a Linux server any more.

scaladev 6y ago
What are you talking about? Put CentOS or Ubuntu LTS on your box and forget about it for the next ten years. The only updates you'll get are security and bug fixes, nothing fundamental will change. The next LTS release you'll install in 2030 will have substantial differences, but FreeBSD changes quite a bit too in such a large time span.
- fullstop 6y ago
  A few things.. 1. Ubuntu LTS releases are supported for five years -- Centos is for ten years. 2. FreeBSD updates are typically easy to perform, and the new system is not that different from the previous one. Things are where they used to be and you configure it the same way as you have for years. With Centos, there was a migration from yum -> dnf. With both Ubuntu and Centos the init system has changed from sysv -> upstart -> systemd. The default network configuration on Ubuntu has been replaced with netplan. I guess what I'm getting at is that there is significantly more churn in Linux distributions and vastly less churn in FreeBSD. This could also be seen as a lack of progress, but I don't think that OP sees it that way.
- toast0 6y ago
  The user facing surface of FreeeBSD from twenty years ago is still pretty similar to the surface today. ifconfig still configures network interfaces (including wireless) the init system is still the same you still have the same three firewalls to choose from the audio system is still the same The internals are quite a bit different (and more capable), and I don't think zfs was in FreeBSD back then, but UFS2 still works. If you want to experience twenty year old FreeBSD, to compare with modern FreeBSD, Apple has lovingly preserved it as the userland unix interface in MacOs, they've even got a circa 2000 tcp stack.
  - crest 6y ago
    Thanks for the nice rant.

y04nn 6y ago

For me this is the opposite, I use Linux on my laptop and FreeBSD on a hobby server. I find it easier to configure although I have much more experience with Linux. Things I don't link on Linux are systemd, pulseaudio, hundreds of packets managers that make it not always straight forward how to patch a package. What I like with FreeBSD is the slower pace of evolution, so there is less breaking change per unit of time, that makes me spend less time fixing things while being up to date, and when it break there is always a good documentation available. Things I like in FreebSD: pf, zfs, bhyve, rc.d, good separation between user configuration changes and system configuration.

krelian 6y ago
FreeBSD man pages are so good. I wonder why Linux which is so much more popular can't get to that level.