4 ms·

That's kind of the killer for laptop usage. Even if there was support for just the most popular broadcom chip or something that would be workable; but, as it is

That's kind of the killer for laptop usage. Even if there was support for just the most popular broadcom chip or something that would be workable; but, as it is it's unusable on a modern laptop. Linux had had this part sorted for about 10 years which is one of the main reasons why FreeBSD will continue to be forgotten as a desktop OS.

the_only_law 5y ago
I love many BSDs, but yeah sadly they’re hardly usable desktop OS’s for me. FreeBSD tends to be the best still, but the lack of 802.11ac support and the occasional odd problem with “supported hardware” makes it hard for me to go with, when I can just use Linux and everything works. NetBSD is amazing, especially as a retrocomputing enthusiast (there’s an active VAX port, not even OpenVMS has a VAX port anymore), but dear god the hardware problems I’ve had with it. Last time I tried to use NetBSD, it was on a lower end laptop I wanted to try to squeeze as much usability out of and for some reason, the installer refused to work with the eMMC attached. In that last I’ve also had all sorts of issues with supported network hardware causing kernel panics. DragonflyBSD seem cool too, and probably has the nicest kernel maintainer I’ve ever seen. Sadly I’m not sure if it’s whole schtick still applies today, and the lack of any video drivers except Intel made it unusable for me. Yes there’s generic framebuffer drivers, but dear good they are barely usable. Don’t have too much experience with OpenBSD, but I wouldn’t use it as a desktop either way. The lack of LKMs is a turn off for myself, who’s always swapping in and out random weird hardware. If I had the time, energy and patience to learn these kernel, and figure out how to inject myself into projects that are probably long ongoing and with people much more experienced than myself, I’d love to help, but sadly I do not have those things.

the_only_law 5y ago

I love many BSDs, but yeah sadly they’re hardly usable desktop OS’s for me. FreeBSD tends to be the best still, but the lack of 802.11ac support and the occasional odd problem with “supported hardware” makes it hard for me to go with, when I can just use Linux and everything works. NetBSD is amazing, especially as a retrocomputing enthusiast (there’s an active VAX port, not even OpenVMS has a VAX port anymore), but dear god the hardware problems I’ve had with it. Last time I tried to use NetBSD, it was on a lower end laptop I wanted to try to squeeze as much usability out of and for some reason, the installer refused to work with the eMMC attached. In that last I’ve also had all sorts of issues with supported network hardware causing kernel panics. DragonflyBSD seem cool too, and probably has the nicest kernel maintainer I’ve ever seen. Sadly I’m not sure if it’s whole schtick still applies today, and the lack of any video drivers except Intel made it unusable for me. Yes there’s generic framebuffer drivers, but dear good they are barely usable. Don’t have too much experience with OpenBSD, but I wouldn’t use it as a desktop either way. The lack of LKMs is a turn off for myself, who’s always swapping in and out random weird hardware. If I had the time, energy and patience to learn these kernel, and figure out how to inject myself into projects that are probably long ongoing and with people much more experienced than myself, I’d love to help, but sadly I do not have those things.