# Request for pre-installation advice



## nix1 (Jun 4, 2019)

Hi everyone,

I am a new member and I need your opinion on these questions:

1) Do I need to install a desktop with FreeBSD, can I expect the same stability as Debian-Testing with FreeBSD-Current?

or is it too unstable?

2) Is FreeBSD-Current compatible with UEFI and SECURE BOOT?

3) with Debian-Testing I programmed "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade && apt-get dist-upgrade", automatically updating the kernel at boot time, with FreeBSD how can I get the same result?

Thanks for your help


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## SirDice (Jun 4, 2019)

Topics about unsupported FreeBSD versions

I strongly suggest you start with a normal -RELEASE version.



nix1 said:


> with Debian-Testing I programmed "apt-get update && apt-get upgrade && apt-get dist-upgrade", automatically updating the kernel at boot time, with FreeBSD how can I get the same result?


Unlike Linux FreeBSD is a complete OS. The kernel is only part of the OS. Upgrading the OS will also upgrade the kernel as they are complete "set". 

Handbook: Chapter 23. Updating and Upgrading FreeBSD


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## zirias@ (Jun 4, 2019)

Adding to that, the reason people run Debian testing is often to get more up-to-date application software. With FreeBSD, you have this trade-off only for the base system (kernel and basic userland, which is developed and shipped as a whole). In this base system, the "-STABLE" branches are comparable with Debian "testing", while "-CURRENT" is comparable with Debian "unstable" (or "sid"). But, the important thing is: The ports tree is completely independent of this base system and is continuously updated, and this is where you get most of your application software from. So if you don't actively develop FreeBSD yourself, there's rarely a reason to run anything other than "-RELEASE". You can install the most recent ports anyways.


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## balanga (Jun 4, 2019)

It's worth mentioning that FreeBSD does not come with a GUI built in. You need to install that yourself.

If/when you get to that point, it's worth reading the relevant  parts of The Handbook.  In fact you should browse through the whole of it to familiarise yourself with numerous FreeBSD concepts and methods.


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## Sevendogsbsd (Jun 4, 2019)

What everyone else said. And to add for the OP: FreeBSD uses separate tools to update the base OS and user installed software. FreeBSD is not like Linux at all in that regard. One set of tools updates the OS and the other updates anything the end user has installed.

Read the documentation, suggest installing in a VM first so you can learn about how it works.


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## zirias@ (Jun 4, 2019)

balanga said:


> It's worth mentioning that FreeBSD does not come with a GUI built in.


Depends on your definition of "built in".

For someone coming from Linux, it's important to know that FreeBSD delivers two distinct artifacts: A base system, which is a _complete_ (but somewhat minimal) operating system developed as a whole -- this is what the installer will install, and it indeed doesn't have a GUI. But it also delivers the ports tree (and official package repositories built from it), which works very much like a "rolling release" distribution. This of course includes a lot of GUI stuff and it's ready to install in binary form using pkg(8).


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## nix1 (Jun 4, 2019)

Thank you all for the interventions and compliments for the operation.
I have already worked on FreeBSD, 10 years ago and considering that it will not be a PC for work, I will start from CURRENT at most I will come back.
I always prefer to work on recent things, but we know at the expense of stability.

Maybe some considerations on the compatibility with secure boot, since nobody has talked about it, anyway I will update you in the near future, as soon as I will be aperativo for the configuration.
Thank you all
Greetings


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## SirDice (Jun 4, 2019)

nix1 said:


> I will start from CURRENT at most I will come back.


-CURRENT is not supported here.

 Posting again: Topics about unsupported FreeBSD versions


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## zirias@ (Jun 4, 2019)

nix1 said:


> I will start from CURRENT [...]
> I always prefer to work on recent things


Did you really read the replies given here (including mine)?

That's a particularly bad idea. And I'm saying that having started myself with 11-CURRENT -- but back then, I had a particular reason: drivers for my GPU weren't available with 10-RELEASE. Long since, I only used -RELEASE versions and, thanks to the continuously updated ports tree, have the most recent software _anyways_.

Of course, running -CURRENT, I experienced weird stuff, even including kernel panics -- this was expected, as it is an _active development branch_! And, of course, I had to compile the system myself using some options to disable all that debugging stuff that's in -CURRENT _by default_, but makes the system slow as hell. Well, I still compile my own base system, but for other reasons 

Bottom line: If you don't have a _pressing_ reason, *don't run -CURRENT*. This is well-meant advise. Running the latest versions of applications isn't a reason to pick -CURRENT, the ports tree is always up to date and independent of your system version.


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## Sevendogsbsd (Jun 4, 2019)

I believe OP is coming from Linux world were the OS and apps are all munged together into a big mess - could explain their desire to run "latest" which is what Linux strives for...


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## Shadow53 (Jun 4, 2019)

I'm going to throw in my two cents here too.

_Don't run -CURRENT unless you absolutely need to._

-CURRENT is not "bleeding-edge stable," it's "we're developing a bunch of new features and stuff that will absolutely break the system at any given point and no one should run this unless they know exactly what they're doing or want to help us find bugs."

For a bit of context, I'm running -STABLE on my laptop, as -RELEASE doesn't have the WiFi drivers it needs. This is comparable to Debian Testing. Right now, if I try upgrading the base system, I will end up unable to boot. I'm also subscribed to a mailing list where I keep up to date on how things might break in the future. -CURRENT is less stable than -STABLE, and -STABLE isn't always stable either.

Running -CURRENT is not running the latest releases of your favorite software, it's compiling everything from the unstable master/devel branches on GitHub and expecting everything to work.

To directly answer your questions:

1) FreeBSD requires more work to set up as a desktop, but absolutely works as one. I have my laptop set up with FreeBSD and KDE. If you use -CURRENT, it's going to break. Use -RELEASE.

2) FreeBSD is compatible with UEFI, not sure about secure boot, as I have it disabled.

3) freebsd-update(8) updates your base system, pkg(8) updates your packages. It's very easy and only works on -RELEASE. -STABLE and -CURRENT require compiling the base system from source whenever you want to update it.

My suggestion to you, as someone who also likes running the latest software, is to install 12-RELEASE, followed by configuring pkg(8) to follow the "latest" package repo rather than the default "quarterly." This will give you what you are looking for without causing unnecessary breakage.

Also: read the FreeBSD handbook before installing. It's a good resource and I'm pretty sure your questions can be answered by reading it.


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## rsronin (Jun 4, 2019)

Shadow53 said:


> My suggestion to you, as someone who also likes running the latest software, is to install 12-RELEASE, followed by configuring pkg(8) to follow the "latest" package repo rather than the default "quarterly." This will give you what you are looking for without causing unnecessary breakage.


This is what I learned last year and my first year using FreeBSD.


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## Sevendogsbsd (Jun 4, 2019)

I am running this configuration with zero issues as well.


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## nix1 (Jun 5, 2019)

Goodmorning everyone,
handing down wisdom is the hardest thing ;-)
you have convinced me, it is useless for you to try to reinvent the wheel,
yes, coming from Debian, where packages are related to the distribution version, with FreeBSD the system is disconnected from the package version.
12-RELEASE is then

See you soon and good work


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