DaemonForums  

Go Back   DaemonForums > Miscellaneous > Off-Topic

Off-Topic Everything else.

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1   (View Single Post)  
Old 16th December 2010
Gargamelle's Avatar
Gargamelle Gargamelle is offline
New User
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Panamá
Posts: 1
Question Noob

Hello,

I have never tried *bsd before and will like to give it a try. I have been a Linux user since 1995, (Slackware mostly).

With Linux all the distributions share (more or less) the same kernel, I understand this is not the case on the BSD world, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD have different kernels, is this correct?

Which BSD should I try? (and why) My main use will be desktop.
Reply With Quote
  #2   (View Single Post)  
Old 16th December 2010
rocket357's Avatar
rocket357 rocket357 is offline
Real Name: Jonathon
Wannabe OpenBSD porter
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: 127.0.0.1
Posts: 429
Default

Unless you're a hardcore CLI junkie, you should probably start with something like PC-BSD: a user-oriented derivative of FreeBSD. Once you get comfortable with the differences between BSD and Linux, check out FreeBSD, OpenBSD, or NetBSD. FreeBSD is a performance-geared OS that is very nimble, OpenBSD is a stability/security driven OS, and I can't say much for NetBSD because I don't use it (other than to say NetBSD has been ported to tons of architectures).

And even though the BSD's all derive from a common codebase, they've diverged enough to be truly different operating systems. Coming from Linux, you'll likely notice that the BSD's are more consistent as well, because they are developed as kernel + userland by the same team, not kernel by one team and userland by another.
Reply With Quote
  #3   (View Single Post)  
Old 16th December 2010
IdOp's Avatar
IdOp IdOp is offline
Too dumb for a smartphone
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: twisting on the daemon's fork(2)
Posts: 1,027
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargamelle View Post
Hello,

I have never tried *bsd before and will like to give it a try. I have been a Linux user since 1995, (Slackware mostly).
Welcome to the forum. Your background sounds vaguely similar to mine; I started Slackware around 1997 (and before that a bit of MCC Linux!). I still use Slackware, and one of the 3 major BSDs about half-and-half.

Quote:
With Linux all the distributions share (more or less) the same kernel, I understand this is not the case on the BSD world, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD have different kernels, is this correct?
That is basically correct. So, you can't take a FreeBSD kernel, for example, and plop it into an OpenBSD system and expect it to work, it won't (no matter what you might expect ). I guess with Linux there are some renegade kernels but it's not something I ever paid much attention to.

Quote:
Which BSD should I try? (and why) My main use will be desktop.
My advice is try them all, but one at a time! So the question is which to start with? I would spend a very limited amount of time assessing (but not obsessing over) my needs -- is there some feature(s) I *must* have? -- and any special hardware requirements. Then look at Free (and/or PC), Open and Net, and see how they match up to those. With that, and if you see anything especially intriguing, just pick one and try it first.

You're sure to find some things you like better, and worse, among all of them and Linux. That's the nature of it. Good luck!
Reply With Quote
  #4   (View Single Post)  
Old 16th December 2010
vermaden's Avatar
vermaden vermaden is offline
Administrator
 
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: pl_PL.lodz
Posts: 1,056
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gargamelle View Post
Which BSD should I try? (and why) My main use will be desktop.
I use FreeBSD as my desktop/workstation (even at work), so I would recommend FreeBSD.
__________________
religions, worst damnation of mankind
"If 386BSD had been available when I started on Linux, Linux would probably never had happened." Linus Torvalds

Linux is not UNIX! Face it! It is not an insult. It is fact: GNU is a recursive acronym for “GNU's Not UNIX”.
vermaden's: links resources deviantart spreadbsd
Reply With Quote
  #5   (View Single Post)  
Old 16th December 2010
Oliver_H's Avatar
Oliver_H Oliver_H is offline
Real Name: Oliver Herold
UNIX lover
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Germany
Posts: 427
Default

Many moons ago I started with some ancient UNIX called Siemens SINIX. Without any convenient GUI-Tools it was sometimes hard but the best way to learn it. Try FreeBSD first, starting with a GUI is prone to failure, because sometimes you have to use the console and then you'll fail because you don't have any experience.
__________________
use UNIX or die :-)
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
OpenBSD Noob Security Noobification OpenBSD Security 2 24th October 2010 08:22 PM
[Noob] test a port before install? Broodjegehaktmetmayo FreeBSD Ports and Packages 6 13th April 2010 05:43 AM
hahaha noob mistake, file called -z... michaelrmgreen FreeBSD General 8 9th December 2008 12:12 AM
Noob: Updating To OpenBSD-Stable. MetalHead OpenBSD Installation and Upgrading 3 11th November 2008 02:06 AM
Unix noob's license plate drhowarddrfine Off-Topic 16 20th September 2008 04:57 PM


All times are GMT. The time now is 09:00 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Content copyright © 2007-2010, the authors
Daemon image copyright ©1988, Marshall Kirk McKusick