Forget it. I'm switching to BSD

So I would like to give an argument for people to stay with Linux. Apple is a wall garden which will not change. Windows is now just a vacuum for advertising data, with the only real option to not using it. BSD, although great, is not realistic for most people out there with the lack of many programs that are required for most people. Linux is just starting to be capable of handling all users needs. Do not underestimate the benefits of a larger user base for the higher level users.

Why run away from a fight that should be fought and can be won. 99% of the population does not believe what these extremist believe. The extremist only tactic is to manipulate and intimidate. The only thing to prevail is not run and inform those that are mislead in a calm and respectful way. If you do not have the patience for that then just send them to places like the Level 1 Techs Youtube channel or ignore them while living your life and trying solving problems using computers. Light on what they truly believe leaves them alone and defeated.

If everyone runs to BSD, soon they will be at your door leaving you no where to run. I know it is not a fight you asked for, but it is one you were given. I know everyone has to weight the risk and reward but running is a choice that has consequences.

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Please donā€™t bring your logic and reason to change Zippyā€™s mind. I want more of Zippyā€™s posts on the BSD experience :grinning:

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Fair :slight_smile:

I am curious too.

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lol.

good luck.

openBSD is good for router/firewall boxes, but if youā€™re running it as a desktop youā€™re a bit of a masochist.

youā€™d be better off with FreeBSD to be honest.

Giving it a quick google, it appears bspwm is not in the ports tree.

http://openports.se/x11

So you would have to compile it from sauce.

Get the dependencies that are listed here https://www.freshports.org/x11-wm/bspwm . Then it should be as simple as navigating to where you downloaded the source and then do a ā€œ make install cleanā€.

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Why are there no joke memes about ā€œcompiling from sauceā€ instead of ā€œcompiling from sourceā€ for the love of a geek joke, someone please make one!

image

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Iā€™ve been to two already and prom. They were nothing special. I think the loud music with people crammed into a small space is what gets to me. I canā€™t manage it for some reason. My anxiety shoots up. I donā€™t know how it comes so naturally to others. They also hiked the price from $10 to $30 and my sister wanted to go see a movie with her friends so I pitched in on that for her leaving me broke until Monday. I do much better with people in smaller groups and have a lot more fun anyway

Ahh okay.

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The thing with BSD is there isnā€™t much flexibility in terms of desktop environments. Thereā€™s Gnome, a port of KDE, and XFCE. Everything else will need to be compiled from source and maintained at your own expense.

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I wonā€™t get too far into this but in the case of Coraline Ada she has yet to follow up on any questions from legitimate developers, only a stupid reason as to why the change was needed, and the rest of the maintainers have kept their lips sealed including those on the mailing lists. I have no doubt itā€™s a fight that can be won and I encourage it. If anything start a petition. Avoid all the crybabies and deal with raw data. Thatā€™ll prove a point. But all the people that have gotten carried away with the debate havenā€™t organized anything like that leaving the discussion fragmented.

Now, as for BSD. I completely agree. Itā€™s not for the average desktop user. Neither was Linux initially. But BSD does a few things better than Linux, and (specifically in the case of OpenBSD) one of those is security. Itā€™s only had two vulnerabilities over the course of itā€™s lifetime with the packages in itā€™s base install. That says a lot. Linux has had countless.

I guess what Iā€™m trying to say is, even though in this case itā€™s completely unconventional, you should always use the right tools for the right job and the only way to know if itā€™s the right tool is to try it for yourself.

I intend to try FreeBSD afterwards. Doesnā€™t hurt to familiarize yourself with multiple platforms. OpenBSD does have a newer version of pf than FreeBSD which is really useful

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F.Y.I.
As already mentioned, the documentation contained in the FreeBSD Handbook and OpenBSD man pages is second to none and should be your first stop, whenever problems/questions arise. Back when the BSD Now weekly podcast first launched, they were in the habit of including a tutorial/demo in nearly every episode and many of those tutorials may still be relevant. While you can still watch the episodes, here is the index of the written documentation for each of those tutorials:

BSD Now Tutorial Index

Also, if you are a fan of old-fashioned, printed documentation on dead trees, have a look at the works of Michael W, Lucas. His books are well researched, informative and contain many nuggets of wry humor ā€¦ highly recemmended:

Michael W. Lucas at Amazon

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Thank you so much for the resources. I really appreciate it.

Edit: whoops. I noticed you mentioned the handbook hahaha. I was too consumed with BSD Now and those books lol

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@Goalkeeper

Strangely enough I have actually found bspwm in the ports package, unless Iā€™m missing something? Iā€™ll look more into it, but I do know that when Iā€™ve done make install nothing seems to happen. Anyway this is Zippyā€™s thread, so let the excitement continue!

@SgtAwesomesauce Haha my bad, I just chose from the recents list.

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tagging me in this thread

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Hafta say that, despite using Linux and, back in the day, FreeBSD, since the mid '90ā€™s, Iā€™ve never felt any motivation to stop using Something and start using Something Else because I agreed/disagreed with someoneā€™s non-technologically related statements or opinions.

I use what I like. I canā€™t see why the opinions of the people who make my software should constrain my choices.

Re: Torvalds ā€“ Lots of bosses and executives are out there verbally abusing staff and colleagues every day. A lot of them do it because they stupidly think itā€™s the way to motivate people. And some folks are just, in simple fact, abusive. Torvaldsā€™ problem is heā€™s become the nearest thing to a celebrity in Linux and he ranted on a mailing list, not in private in an office.

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You do know you can quote reply and it notifies people, or you could reply directly to their post like I am, and it will notify them as well. :stuck_out_tongue:

/fyi

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(Final off-topic)

Yeah old habits of IRC, and the like of just tagging the individual, but hey it works right!?

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The issue is those policies impact how tech is advancedā€¦ Even if itā€™s indirect. My problem isnā€™t Linux. I will always use Linux. My problem is I no longer feel the need to contribute to a project, especially an open source project, where what I and everyone else has to say means fiddle in spite of our contributions.

Iā€™d rather spend my time volunteering locally where work is appreciated rather than on something like Linux where quite frankly, nobody cares. Thatā€™s why Iā€™m a part of CarbonROM; my friends appreciate the work that I do and I appreciate the work that they do. Itā€™s symbiotic.

Unlike a lot of people, I use software to learn and advance what I know. Thatā€™s what is important to me. So yes, whenever we have some crazy person tell me that somebody who writes documentation is as important as the guy that wrote the patch then thatā€™s troubling to me.

That said, I definitely see where youā€™re coming from.

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Did you get wifi or any internet working yet?