Skip to main content


Let's say I wanted to get into #BSD. My current daily driver is Linux Mint on three machines and I'm by no means an expert, but I'm usually able to fix most problems via search results and forums.

Would #FreeBSD a good starting point to get a comfortable desktop experience going for browsing, mails, updating Hugo sites and 3D printing stuff?

Or should I check out #GhostBSD?

Justine Smithies reshared this.

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

both should work, though the GhostBSD setup might be more beginner friendly. Not sure about 3D printing. Don't have a printer myself.
in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

FreeBSD is ok, but beware if you're using WiFi. FreeBSD WiFi support reminds me of Linux 20yrs ago.

No idea about 3d printer support.

Oh, and make sure to setup the time/NTP after install (ntpd_enable in rc.conf). If the clock is wildly out you'll think your internet is busted when trying to use the package manager.

This entry was edited (1 month ago)
in reply to JonNobleUK

@jonnobleuk The #WiFi situation improved significantly on #FreeBSD 14.3.

freebsd.org/releases/14.3R/rel…

Modern WiFi speeds have been unlocked.

in reply to 0mp at FreeBSD

@mpts I saw that earlier this week. I'm over trying to get WiFi to work (ndiswrapper headaches BITD) and have my server on ethernet anyways. If wifi doesn't work out of the box, I'm not interested anymore.

I'll leave it to others to find out how much wifi hardware is actually supported as all mine have newish broadcom chips and I didn't see "broadcom" in the release notes.

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

maybe this helps?

Which BSD is right for you?
youtu.be/IOLMCj_ZiwM?si=dz1sc3…

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

Regarding #GhostBSD, that's more or less a FreeBSD "distribution" adding some automation installing and configuring a #desktop setup. Nothing you can't have with vanilla #FreeBSD just as well. The handbook has nice chapters guiding you doing this manual work.

I'd personally recommend going vanilla, you'll learn how the system works upfront, but I might be biased of course. With GhostBSD, you'll have a working desktop setup out of the box.

Can't say anything about 3D printing, never did that myself, except for one thing: FreeBSD vs GhostBSD will almost certainly make no difference regarding that.

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

FreeBSD makes you work a bit (not too much) harder to get a desktop, Ghost has no full-disk encryption but comes with pre-configured desktop.
in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

#GhostBSD and #MidnightBSD target desktop users more than basic #FreeBSD does. This is not to say that it's not possible to do desktop and GUI stuff with FreeBSD, but there's more setting things up from scratch yourself.

In the end, your most valuable skills will likely be independent of the choice. They'll be learning to always check the manual and the Handbook, unlearning some GNU habits, and learning how to build and install some thing that you need in some non-pre-packaged configuration from the ports tree. (-:

Oh, and embracing ZFS from the start. Don't make it an afterthought like on Mint. (-:

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

Never done 3D printing, never used GhostBSD. But I *have* used FreeBSD as a daily driver desktop (+ laptop) OS for nearly a decade now, and greatly enjoy it.

If you're curious, my setup scripts are here:

git.sr.ht/~duncan-bayne/setups

in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

FreeBSD doesn't come with a x11/wayland setup out of the box. But if you are comfortable running a few commands and reading the manual, yes it's good. GhostBSD is built on top of FreeBSD to get you to GUI fast. I do not know about 3d printing, sorry.
in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

If you dont need native encryption go with Ghostbsd. But i guess you could start with FreeBSD
in reply to zeitverschreib [friendica]

Wow! Thank y'all for the input!

I guess I will try to install #FreeBSD on a spare machine tomorrow and see where that road takes me.