14.4 is a maintenance release. If you're installing FreeBSD today, use 15.0
Why FreeBSD ?
- Well manicured OS, excellent docs. More performant than OpenBSD in every way and approaches Linux performance in some areas (e.g. Networking)
- FreeBSD tends to have fewer features in almost all areas compared to Linux which makes it more approachable and more difficult to mess up.
- Though it has fewer features, it still has a lot of features -- many big companies (Netflix most famously) still use it today for critical functions.
- FreeBSD Kernel and Userland developed together -- it has got that undefined "cohesive" feel
- Has less layers of abstraction than Linux, gets the job done. Because there are fewer layers it's easier to understand what is going on and potentially easier to fix.
- FreeBSD is great if you want to learn pf, zfs, ...
- Worth your while if you are bored of the Linux monoculture and just want to try something a bit different (but not tooo different)
- Changes slowly, so good for setting up on a server that you want to just leave running without too much maintenance
- Will increase your Linux skills because diversity always helps the human brain
- Very simple daemon configuration via /etc/rc.conf
- FreeBSD still has that warm fuzzy small "community" feel which I like
While I also use -current, I don't think this is good advice to the kinds of people who don't know if they should be running 14.4 or 15.0. There are caveats to running -current (for example, you need to disable the built-in debugging stuff on -current to get decent performance but the debugging stuff is already disabled on actual releases), so I think for new people it's best to recommend they use the latest release (15.0) and they can discover -current when they are more familiar with FreeBSD.
It's also worth mentioning that FreeBSD lives outside of Redhat's influence. If you find yourself lamenting the direction Linux is moving in, FreeBSD remains an attractive escape hatch. It's not perfect (rc.d is definitely not as nice as runit, it's still focusing on LVM filesystems for the future, last I tried to use OSS4 it had some issues), but I would be straight up lying to you if I implied these were anything but contrivances.
NetBSD has their new npf firewall which is quite nice. Of all the options their internal architecture is the cleanest. It gets less fanfare than the others because it has less drivers, although even that is partially due to a commitment against binary blobs.
FreeBSD is more practical but for example you find the config files scattered about the file system whereas in NetBSD they’re always exactly where I expect. SDF.org has a great NetBSD system if anyone wants to try it out.
Yea!, as far as I understand, with p9fs now a simple zfs dataset can be shared with the VM, removing the need of ZVOLs (a ZVOL for the boot disk isn't an issue, but for example a data disk of 1tb is difficult to manage).
14.4 is a maintenance release. If you're installing FreeBSD today, use 15.0
Why FreeBSD ?
- Well manicured OS, excellent docs. More performant than OpenBSD in every way and approaches Linux performance in some areas (e.g. Networking)
- FreeBSD tends to have fewer features in almost all areas compared to Linux which makes it more approachable and more difficult to mess up.
- Though it has fewer features, it still has a lot of features -- many big companies (Netflix most famously) still use it today for critical functions.
- FreeBSD Kernel and Userland developed together -- it has got that undefined "cohesive" feel
- Has less layers of abstraction than Linux, gets the job done. Because there are fewer layers it's easier to understand what is going on and potentially easier to fix.
- FreeBSD is great if you want to learn pf, zfs, ...
- Worth your while if you are bored of the Linux monoculture and just want to try something a bit different (but not tooo different)
- Changes slowly, so good for setting up on a server that you want to just leave running without too much maintenance
- Will increase your Linux skills because diversity always helps the human brain
- Very simple daemon configuration via /etc/rc.conf
- FreeBSD still has that warm fuzzy small "community" feel which I like
If you're installing FreeBSD today, use 15.0
Or just run -current in production, like we do. See https://people.freebsd.org/~gallatin/talks/OpenFest2023.pdf
Or https://papers.freebsd.org/2019/fosdem/looney-netflix_and_fr...
While I also use -current, I don't think this is good advice to the kinds of people who don't know if they should be running 14.4 or 15.0. There are caveats to running -current (for example, you need to disable the built-in debugging stuff on -current to get decent performance but the debugging stuff is already disabled on actual releases), so I think for new people it's best to recommend they use the latest release (15.0) and they can discover -current when they are more familiar with FreeBSD.
Yes, FreeBSD current is quite usable. It's fun to start using the new features as they are added to kernel and userland immediately !
Oh and I forgot to add: FreeBSD `bectl` controlled zfs boot environments are just so life changing and amazing.
(this is possible via snapper on Linux + btrfs but needs complex installation and is not so integrated).
It's also worth mentioning that FreeBSD lives outside of Redhat's influence. If you find yourself lamenting the direction Linux is moving in, FreeBSD remains an attractive escape hatch. It's not perfect (rc.d is definitely not as nice as runit, it's still focusing on LVM filesystems for the future, last I tried to use OSS4 it had some issues), but I would be straight up lying to you if I implied these were anything but contrivances.
Ish. Most FreeBSD installs still make use of stuff like Wayland and a lot of Linux parts.
I heard, that BSD is dying...
Has Netcraft confirmed it?
NetBSD - situation does not seem that good. Project feels less active now.
OpenBSD - has a fanatical band of security obsessed users. Not going away anytime soon.
FreeBSD - It chugs along. Why is FreeBSD worth trying out ? See my reply above.
NetBSD has their new npf firewall which is quite nice. Of all the options their internal architecture is the cleanest. It gets less fanfare than the others because it has less drivers, although even that is partially due to a commitment against binary blobs.
FreeBSD is more practical but for example you find the config files scattered about the file system whereas in NetBSD they’re always exactly where I expect. SDF.org has a great NetBSD system if anyone wants to try it out.
Congratulations to the FreeBSD team! FreeBSD will always have a special place in my heart.
> Bhyve virtual machines can now share a filesystem with the host via the new p9fs
Nice!
Wild! Fun to see 9p filesystem protocol continue to have a life in this form.
Yea!, as far as I understand, with p9fs now a simple zfs dataset can be shared with the VM, removing the need of ZVOLs (a ZVOL for the boot disk isn't an issue, but for example a data disk of 1tb is difficult to manage).
It's the duct tape of filesystem protocols, in a good way.