# FreeBSD and simplicity



## segfault (Nov 14, 2013)

Just want to say thank you to the developers and folks supporting FreeBSD for a making such a great, simple and effective OS. I have been working on a particularly tough problem over the last couple weeks and today it became evident that I needed to fire up an FTP server for an install process to pull from. No problem I figured, my workstation is Slackware so I'll just set up a quick host on my machine. It's been a couple years since I've done it but remembered it being simple.

Long story short, after having set the few settings I needed to start up my FTP server was erroring. Spent 35 minutes online troubleshooting, all the while puzzling over how on Earth I could have screwed up something so simple. I then remembered I have a FreeBSD VirtualBox running so quickly set that up to serve the files to the process I'm working on. Literally 5 minutes.

It may be just me but I am finding things becoming more and more complex and obscure in Linux. The general trend in Linux distros seems to be sliding towards chaos in my (somewhat uninformed) opinion, and find myself appreciating more and more the simple cohesion and continuity that FreeBSD offers.

Once again, thank you FreeBSD developers.


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## hitest (Nov 15, 2013)

I'm glad you like FreeBSD; I do as well.  I like the BSDs.  
I don't see the point of Linux bashing though.


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## Deleted member 9563 (Nov 15, 2013)

I too am thankful that FreeBSD is so well developed.

I do see the point in criticizing Linux though.  Having used it for most of its life I have strong feelings about where it has gone wrong. That's why I'm transitioning to BSD. As for whether or not that is "bashing", well that's a matter of taste. Actually, the things that are going wrong, are not with Linux as such. They are with contemporary thinking in the whole software world. The only solution to that is remaining critical of all of it.


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## zspider (Nov 15, 2013)

I agree with you Linux is becoming evermore chaotic and that's why I got off it. It's not the kernel, it's everything else that goes with it, that are where the issues probably lie.

But anyway FreeBSD has been good to me in the last 3 3/4 years, hope for many more.


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## jrm@ (Nov 15, 2013)

While we're all in a thankful mood, let's make it official with a donation to the foundation.


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## drhowarddrfine (Nov 15, 2013)

segfault said:
			
		

> It may be just me but I am finding things becoming more and more complex and obscure in Linux. The general trend in Linux distros seems to be sliding towards chaos



For a couple years now I've been saying Linux is less and less Unix-y and becoming more a product of its own to its detriment. The fighting among users and developers has given rise to a noisy confusion you constantly hear in the background.


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## G_Nerc (Nov 15, 2013)

jrm said:
			
		

> While we're all in a thankful mood, let's make it official with a donation to the foundation.


+10$ From Russia with pleasure


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## segfault (Nov 15, 2013)

Nice to see I am not the only one feeling this way about Linux, was afraid I was succumbing to my own biases.




			
				jrm said:
			
		

> While we're all in a thankful mood, let's make it official with a donation to the foundation.



Ha, well done. Was thinking just that while starting this thread. 

+$10


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## ShelLuser (Nov 15, 2013)

segfault said:
			
		

> It may be just me but I am finding things becoming more and more complex and obscure in Linux.


It most certainly isn't you, I have the same experiences. And to make matters worse I sometimes (very seldom fortunately) have to provide support for that stuff too 

Thing is; FreeBSD doesn't try to change the software it provides (Ports collection) into something its not. The only requirement is that your stuff ends up in /usr/local (but even that can be controlled) but the structure of the program itself is up to, well, the author.

As such I have Midnight Commander sitting in /usr/local/bin/mc but my trusty Java environment in /usr/local/openjdk6/bin.

And the best part of this is that whenever I need some extra information about the software I'm using I can turn to the official documentation which will also be applicable on my FreeBSD environment. And that is something a lot of Linux distributions are no longer able to say. Some like cutting up the configuration files in "easier" dynamic sections, others insist that configuration files get renamed into something more suitable whereas others end up putting these files into totally different locations than your usual etc directory.

No donations from me this year (other than occasionally providing some help and input on these forums), but I am planning on doing so through my company next year. I'll be saving out on my TechNet subscription because Microsoft is going to whack it, and I'll also be saving up on my Window server licenses because I'm going to migrate two in-house Windows 2003 servers to FreeBSD (backed up with Mono and Samba) instead of upgrading to 2008.

And a part of those savings is going to find its way into the FreeBSD foundation.


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## break19 (Nov 16, 2013)

Yes. I was unable to get my Radeon 6670 to work with acceleration under FreeBSD 10-BETA3 and decided to simply use Linux on this machine until FreeBSD progresses to a point where I can switch back to it.

My GeForce 9600GTX had died, and in a moment of weakness I bought the on-sale Radeon..

edit: I should say "KMS support under FreeBSD progresses"... up there.


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## igorino (Nov 16, 2013)

I agree @segfault, the simplicity and the objectivity are what attracts me most in FreeBSD. Every operating system, Unix, Linux, Windows etc, has its defects and, as my little experience says, at some point, those operating systems will use resources from the others, they need each other to make an effective environment.


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## hitest (Nov 16, 2013)

I think all of the points made in this thread are valid and well said.  Thank you.  I guess I did not make my point well enough.  Users in the official Slackware forum don't spend a lot of time being critical of FreeBSD.  Each to his own.  I enjoy both Linux and the BSDs.


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## Savagedlight (Nov 16, 2013)

One point I didn't see mentioned earlier in the thread is best described with my own experience: I used 4.x since 2001-ish, and stopped paying attention to FreeBSD when 5.x hit. I didn't run a single 5.x system, and only barely experimented with a 6.x system. I had my 4.10 (I believe) box running for years, completely forgetting it was there. It just did its thing. Some years later, I set up a new FreeBSD 7.2 server. All my previous knowledge was still relevant. I didn't have to re-learn things to get it working. I didn't even have to bring myself up to speed on what was new since 4.x, because in regard to setting up userland services, FreeBSD worked exactly like it always did.

I had similar smooth experiences with 8.x and 9.x, although I was following the progress more actively for these releases, and even made it a point to re-learn FreeBSD as the bulk of my knowledge was from the start of the previous decade.

I've also made it a point to donate to the foundation, and am trying to get more actively involved in promising FreeBSD-related projects. For now, I'm following ports-mgmt/poudriere and bhyve closely.


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## markbsd (Nov 16, 2013)

jrm said:
			
		

> While we're all in a thankful mood, let's make it official with a donation to the foundation.



Great idea!

I couldn't find a BitCcoin option. Can you please provide me with the BitCoin link so I can donate to the awesome developers of FreeBSD? Thanks!

Alternatively, if there isn't a Foundation address, perhaps you could provide me with contact details (email) of a FreeBSD developer so I might be able to contact them for their wallet address and make the deposit that way.


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## drhowarddrfine (Nov 16, 2013)

hitest said:
			
		

> Users in the official Slackware forum don't spend a lot of time being critical of FreeBSD.


Neither do we.

The OP's point is that Linux appears to be changing from the past and its roots. That change is duly noted here.


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## markbsd (Nov 16, 2013)

I don't think Linux developers or users of any distribution really care what is duly noted here. They're obviously happy with their platform, they only outnumber BSD by about 627,938:1. Developers of either platform probably don't pay much mind to alternatives. There are usually plenty of fanboys for that sort of behaviour.


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## Savagedlight (Nov 16, 2013)

Then it's a good thing this thread is about praising the strengths of FreeBSD, even though bad experiences with other operating systems made some people realize those strengths.


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## markbsd (Nov 16, 2013)

Savagedlight said:
			
		

> Then it's a good thing this thread is about praising the strengths of FreeBSD, even though bad experiences with other operating systems made some people realize those strengths.



More than 50% of the posts have something (bad) to say about Linux ITT. Can't something be praised without belittling something else?

"We shall have no better conditions in the future if we are satisfied with all those which we have at present." 

Nothing is perfect, but extolling the virtues of yourself and criticizing others doesn't get you anywhere. Unless you're already perfect, but then you wouldn't be judgmental either.

FreeBSD is great, but there's only about 831,937,450 more Linux users who think Linux is greater. If it were a numbers race, we'd have lost. I prefer thinking about what can make something better, rather than what makes it better than something else. And FreeBSD can definitely be better all on its own without worrying about what Linux is doing.


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