Hey fellow Users, i always wanted to try out other operating systems , I tried OSX, Linux Windows but not BSD.
I've heard that BSD is similar to the basic feel of Arch once first installed. I'm pretty comfy when it comes to getting arch to work properly and comforting with other users needing GUI (which i like an i3 approach). So asking to the people whom use BSD on a regular basis,
how is it like using it as your daily driver?
how was your experience trying to configure it to work properly? Are there any Gui's for BSD? if so how are they?
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Also can this operating system be used as a server or a cloud computing lets say theoretically 40 thin clients connected through ssh to a single computer with 64 cores and 128 threaded acting as a remote connection to the thin clients. Will BSD be able to handle more high end system configurations like the example above?
OSX is based one darwin. (OSX is a BSD version)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Unix_history-simple.svg
BSD just refers to its license.
Its not 100% open and it has slow development with new hardware.
Just try these:
https://www.dragonflybsd.org/
https://www.openbsd.org/
and this one is most used:
https://www.freebsd.org/
NEXTSTEP was the firs webserver and that was based on BSD. So yeah you can use it as a server.
BSD is just Unix and it can support everything that Linux can do also almost all GUI work both on Linux based as on BSD based.
But you should really try it out if it is your style. It has Pros and Cons just like every Linux distro. Only negative was in the passed they used to be less open.
BSD is... odd. But not bad. Free BSD has support for esoteric storage formats by default which is cool, but otherwise it's more or less like some of the slow release cycle Linux distributions.
I haven't played with it in a bit but it really hasn't changed much for a while.
Hmm alright thats interesting I'll check it out and see if theres a posiblilty to try and do a cloud computing type deal. I'' going to do a small test with a decent server and some thin clients. Most going to use this for testing and feel like a basic management of this idea , thanks for the help.
Fun fact - the PlayStation 4's operating system is a fork of FreeBSD.
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these days everything is a fork from a BSD distro or a Linux distro and the successful once keep it for itself :p I wonder how long this trend will endure till we see a new better OS that succeed Unix or do we have to wait till quantum computers hit off.
As BSD was mentioned I will do the obligatory @FaunCB tag so he can tell us how it is / how it rapes windows in this way or another
Hmm? No windows just sucks. I am indifferent on BSD. Doesn't benefit me any runs like shit on older hardware.
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Depends on BSD :p but it yeah it lacks lot of hardware support either on old or on new hardware, but that just because of its small user area.
BSD has been around as long as I have and I am older then dirt
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I think the problem is that BSD is under shitty licence. Companies take all source code, make their custom version (OSX, PS4} but don't have to give anything back. Therefore the progress is really slow.
Linux is under different licence so everyone who takes must also give back.
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That's a... Bold statement.
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I've tried FreeBSD twice now. Both times I ended up destroying after a few days because it doesnt support my goddamn GPU! Other than that, I really liked it, especially the package management system. If only they could hurry the fuck up with their fucking amdgpu support or at least make it easier to install the experimental kernel
I think it doesnt make much of a difference what they use. I think they could very well make a largely proprietary linux if they wanted to. Most licenses are flawed so they could probably still manage to make something like macOS linux-based, but mostly proprietary
Shitty in terms of helping fast development, well sure. In that industry is not forced to integrate their improvements back to the public code. Thus it remains mostly useful only to an industrial niche while GNU/Linux having mostly non-permissive licenses and can use community development coming from the industry.
But the permissive licenses are not shitty as a whole and have their practical uses. LGPL, Apache are also permissive along side BSD. And they are made for a reason. To help the adoption of free software in industry that would never be used under a strict copyleft license.
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No they cannot. that is the point of community development. If you want to make a kernel with the maturity of the Linux kernel through traditional means the capital you need is insane. Just the value of the Linux kernel is estimated at 1.4 billion+ if it was to be developed with traditional means. A whole platform like 10 billion or sth. (these are actually old estimate. It could be a lot more by now) No company would be wiling to spend that much money. So if you want to compete you have to use community development.
EDIT: if you are talking about taking the actual Linux kernel and closing it off. No again...That is actually illegal. MS has stolen code from the Linux before but you cannot hide that fact for ever.
Oh i think I should have been more clear. When I said linux I meant a linux based platform in general. So somebody could make a proprietary OS (i.e. a unix) using the Linux kernel and just open source the kernel. Unless of course even thats impossible and i got that wrong, in which case feel free to correct me
It is not exactly possible, but not impossible (i am not sure to be honest - it is a bit of a legal gray area). If sth is published with GPL you can only link it to non-proprietary GPL compatible stuff. For things that are with LGPLor just use propitiatory packages on the side without any linking (or with dynamic linking or what ever) to the GPL stuff you can have them along-side GPL software. If you want to make a whole OS like that with only the kernel open i can imagine to be too difficult to be worth it though.
What you are describing is basically what Google did with Android. Taken the kernel and made the rest, although published under a compatible free license.
The BSDs are great, unique, thriving projects. They may not have the mass following of Linux, but they still continue to innovate and improve. There is a large back catalog of videos about the various BSDs you can get started with if you're interested here: https://bsdnow.tv