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One of the biggest disadvantages Linux has over Windows is the lack of driver support from hardware manufactures. Is the situation with FreeBSD comparable, or b

by kleiba 12y ago

One of the biggest disadvantages Linux has over Windows is the lack of driver support from hardware manufactures. Is the situation with FreeBSD comparable, or better, or worse?

gh02t 12y ago
Comparable, but slightly worse. A large portion of the drivers that exist for Linux are relatively easily ported to FreeBSD, especially the big ones like Nvidia. But not all of them, so the situation is a bit worse. FreeBSD isn't as commonly used as a desktop/workstation though. People do it (I have one over in a corner), but support for every mouse and dongle under the sun isn't quite as high priority. Stuff like ethernet drivers that matter for servers have really good support in my experience.
- ferrari8608 12y ago
  The FreeBSD Nvidia driver is written specifically for FreeBSD, not really ported from Linux. I would imagine they do share a lot of code, though, both being POSIX and all.
tachion 12y ago
I honestly dont think there's any other operating system in the universe that will have the same level of hardware makes support as Windows does, especially when it comes to desktop targeted hardware. You have to be aware that neither Linux nor FreeBSD were developed with desktop usage as a primary goal, so the drivers support focuses more on hardware related to professional usage. However, you can still use FreeBSD on the desktop/laptop if you pay some attention to what you're buying, and there is great FreeBSD distro called PC-BSD[1] dedicated to desktop users as well! Answering your question in one word: comparable. [1] http://www.pcbsd.org/ http://www.pcbsd.org/
- hiphopyo 12y ago
  If you care about security, note that OpenBSD lets you run Xorg as non-root: http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20140223112426 http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20140223112426
  - adestefan 12y ago
    X.org 1.16 running with systemd and most drivers allow non-root execution in Linux now, too. This is the default on Arch Linux unless the driver dies not support it.
  - gonzo 12y ago
    If you care about security, you'll know that OpenBSD has some fairly transparent claims. If you're merely in the OpenBSD camp, you'll think that security is the "focus" of OpenBSD.
unethical_ban 12y ago
From a server standpoint? I think FBSD is top-notch, from my observations. There's a weekly podcast BSDNow that is very informative. The hosts are a bit amateur with their fluidity through topics, but they know their stuff.
diltonm 12y ago
I have zero issues with Linux drivers? If anything I've had a better experience with Linux drivers than Windows. I could go through a laundry list of devices I buy, plug in and they just work on Linux (Ubuntu). My experience wasn't that way back when I ran Windows more. I'd buy a new printer and couldn't use it until I'd ran the installation software. On Linux just plug and play. Same with my headsets, Bluetooth, phones, etc. etc.
- quacker 12y ago
  On Linux just plug and play. Really? Most common peripherals, like mice, keyboards, usb drives, etc, just plug and play (as they do in Windows). But I tried installing a (4 year old?) multi-function printer under Ubuntu 14.04 a few weeks ago and was never able to get the scanner to work, despite Brother providing Linux drivers. Some co-workers and I haven't had great experiences with webcams under Linux. Touchpad support is there, but whether gestures and multi-touch work is another matter. Overall, Linux drivers are a far cry from plug and play in my experience, and I really don't care if I have to run an installer once as long as it ends up working.
  - hga 12y ago
    They also break. I have a USB sound dongle that works fine with the Debian lenny and wheezy kernels, but not squeeze (that's versions 5 and 7, but not 6, and I tried another chipset's as well). My Wacom tablet stopped working with wheezy. I've read that driver breakage is for many the #1 problem with Linux, even for enterprise/server setups. I'm starting to view RHEL in a new light after running Debian for a long time.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      I can provide plenty of anecdote for broken Windows drivers. One example where moving from Windows Vista to Windows 7 will update Intel on board graphics card drivers, thus killing Minecraft. Fix is to upgrade graphics card; or to run old versions of Minecraft; or to install Linux and run latest version of Minecraft. https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-14051 https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-14051

by kleiba 12y ago

One of the biggest disadvantages Linux has over Windows is the lack of driver support from hardware manufactures. Is the situation with FreeBSD comparable, or better, or worse?

gh02t 12y ago

Comparable, but slightly worse. A large portion of the drivers that exist for Linux are relatively easily ported to FreeBSD, especially the big ones like Nvidia. But not all of them, so the situation is a bit worse. FreeBSD isn't as commonly used as a desktop/workstation though. People do it (I have one over in a corner), but support for every mouse and dongle under the sun isn't quite as high priority. Stuff like ethernet drivers that matter for servers have really good support in my experience.

ferrari8608 12y ago
The FreeBSD Nvidia driver is written specifically for FreeBSD, not really ported from Linux. I would imagine they do share a lot of code, though, both being POSIX and all.

tachion 12y ago

I honestly dont think there's any other operating system in the universe that will have the same level of hardware makes support as Windows does, especially when it comes to desktop targeted hardware. You have to be aware that neither Linux nor FreeBSD were developed with desktop usage as a primary goal, so the drivers support focuses more on hardware related to professional usage. However, you can still use FreeBSD on the desktop/laptop if you pay some attention to what you're buying, and there is great FreeBSD distro called PC-BSD[1] dedicated to desktop users as well! Answering your question in one word: comparable. [1] http://www.pcbsd.org/ http://www.pcbsd.org/

hiphopyo 12y ago
If you care about security, note that OpenBSD lets you run Xorg as non-root: http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20140223112426 http://undeadly.org/cgi?action=article&sid=20140223112426
- adestefan 12y ago
  X.org 1.16 running with systemd and most drivers allow non-root execution in Linux now, too. This is the default on Arch Linux unless the driver dies not support it.
- gonzo 12y ago
  If you care about security, you'll know that OpenBSD has some fairly transparent claims. If you're merely in the OpenBSD camp, you'll think that security is the "focus" of OpenBSD.

unethical_ban 12y ago

From a server standpoint? I think FBSD is top-notch, from my observations. There's a weekly podcast BSDNow that is very informative. The hosts are a bit amateur with their fluidity through topics, but they know their stuff.

diltonm 12y ago

I have zero issues with Linux drivers? If anything I've had a better experience with Linux drivers than Windows. I could go through a laundry list of devices I buy, plug in and they just work on Linux (Ubuntu). My experience wasn't that way back when I ran Windows more. I'd buy a new printer and couldn't use it until I'd ran the installation software. On Linux just plug and play. Same with my headsets, Bluetooth, phones, etc. etc.

quacker 12y ago
On Linux just plug and play. Really? Most common peripherals, like mice, keyboards, usb drives, etc, just plug and play (as they do in Windows). But I tried installing a (4 year old?) multi-function printer under Ubuntu 14.04 a few weeks ago and was never able to get the scanner to work, despite Brother providing Linux drivers. Some co-workers and I haven't had great experiences with webcams under Linux. Touchpad support is there, but whether gestures and multi-touch work is another matter. Overall, Linux drivers are a far cry from plug and play in my experience, and I really don't care if I have to run an installer once as long as it ends up working.
- hga 12y ago
  They also break. I have a USB sound dongle that works fine with the Debian lenny and wheezy kernels, but not squeeze (that's versions 5 and 7, but not 6, and I tried another chipset's as well). My Wacom tablet stopped working with wheezy. I've read that driver breakage is for many the #1 problem with Linux, even for enterprise/server setups. I'm starting to view RHEL in a new light after running Debian for a long time.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    I can provide plenty of anecdote for broken Windows drivers. One example where moving from Windows Vista to Windows 7 will update Intel on board graphics card drivers, thus killing Minecraft. Fix is to upgrade graphics card; or to run old versions of Minecraft; or to install Linux and run latest version of Minecraft. https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-14051 https://bugs.mojang.com/browse/MC-14051