Introduce yourself, tell us who you are and why you chose FreeBSD

I spent all day playing FreeBSD from installing desktop environment to compiling kernel which is failed and make me more curious for 4 days until I have success make my custom kernel, when installing FreeBSD I'm surprise that installation process is faster compare to Slackware installation and doesn't eat many storage at first install (I don't have screenshot but I know because I already compare). When installing Slackware I'm choosing the package one by one, not choosing kde and x windows for faster install.
Ah, the specs you mentioned earlier:

My name Zainal, I have old laptop Asus X45U with 500GB hdd, 2GB ram
RAM is very important for compilation, esp. for kernel. I would not attempt to compile the kernel if my machine has less than 16 GB of RAM. I'd suggest not abusing your machine like that, especially if you plan to use it for work. Well, using FreeBSD is an excellent way to teach users how to correlate machine specs to the tasks asked of the machine. Welcome to the Forums, please feel free to ask questions!
 
RAM is very important for compilation, esp. for kernel. I would not attempt to compile the kernel if my machine has less than 16 GB of RAM. I'd suggest not abusing your machine like that, especially if you plan to use it for work. Well, using FreeBSD is an excellent way to teach users how to correlate machine specs to the tasks asked of the machine. Welcome to the Forums, please feel free to ask questions!
I put time command before make build, the result is 2 hour 51 minutes... I already achieve what I want, now I'm planning to learn jail. Thank you for your suggestion about RAM
 
After some 20 years I am back on bsd again. Still using Ghost but planning to switch to Free somewhere thiis year.
Mostly interested in virtual machine management and already started working with bhyve, cbsd, bvcp to see what it all can do.

Like a lot of other people I do have some 20+ years with Linux. Was happy using it but I wanted a new challenge.

Some personal info:

Living in Germany, retired (health issues)
Worked for a company where I mainly took care of all the Debian machines for monitoring, hosting, etc...
Former nl.linux.org member
Not afraid of the cli :cool:
 
I would not attempt to compile the kernel if my machine has less than 16 GB of RAM.
I've never had problems compiling FreeBSD (not only the kernel) on a laptop with 8GB RAM, and zamon already successfully built kernels on his laptop with 2GB RAM, so your requirements are rather high. For sure you're probably not able to do your regular business on a 2GB laptop during the build, but it works.
 
RAM and kernel compilation is entirely dependent on how many parallel jobs you run. If you turn off parallel compilation altogether then 512 MB will probably still do, even for the linker (maybe requires debug to be off).

If you want to keep all your 56 cores busy and only have 4 GB RAM then you are in trouble :)
 
I spent all day playing FreeBSD from installing desktop environment to compiling kernel which is failed and make me more curious for 4 days until I have success make my custom kernel, when installing FreeBSD I'm surprise that installation process is faster compare to Slackware installation and doesn't eat many storage at first install (I don't have screenshot but I know because I already compare). When installing Slackware I'm choosing the package one by one, not choosing kde and x windows for faster install.

Linux distro have their own structure especially in /etc for example ubuntu and slackware. Changing distro means you must learn how to install package with that distro, setting firewall, network etc... Sometimes this is frustrating for me, I know because I already setup web server using debian, ubuntu, centos (not using slackware because my client is not convenient with the distro).

As I said before I want to make my old laptop for working purpose (I'm a web developer) so this is not just experimental setup and then back again install Slackware.. no I'm not planning like that, right now I'm happy with my FreeBSD setup, I already download visual studio code and docker (then I found it useless because FreeBSD already have jail feature.. oh well😅)

I don't want to compare FreeBSD with Linux distro and start holy wars, they are different system if you know what I mean. For me FreeBSD is simple yet powerful OS and yes this time I switching full to FreeBSD and I'm preparing to deploy my work along with FreeBSD as web server.

So yeah if you planning to use FreeBSD as primary OS in your laptop, I think you should do it. just my two cent🙏
zamon you have a great literary style! :)

RAM is very important for compilation, esp. for kernel. I would not attempt to compile the kernel if my machine has less than 16 GB of RAM. I'd suggest not abusing your machine like that, especially if you plan to use it for work. Well, using FreeBSD is an excellent way to teach users how to correlate machine specs to the tasks asked of the machine.
astyle, I have my opinion about the rebuilding of the system, it is for weak hardware that the relief of reassembly gives serious benefits. And so when I was messing around with very old laptops (P2+256M, etc.), of course I started the rebuilding and left the PC for a few days so that it rustled quietly on the sidelines :)

But of course this is purely for personal interest, and not for a serious matter.
 
Funny, I tried building devel/llvm15 and later www/firefox with just make (no -j flags) on a Ryzen 5 2500U with 8GB RAM, and both times, compilations failed with OOM errors, and KDE crashed together with Xorg (I only had Konsole running for the compilations). The crash was so bad, I could not even SSH into my laptop to give it a reboot command, I had to do a hard power cycle. Trying to restart the compilations did me no good, I had to install those two ports from a pkg repo. But on another machine with 16 GB RAM (yeah, also a more powerful Ryzen 9 6900HS, but otherwise very similar FreeBSD install, minus KDE/Xorg), both LLVM15 and Firefox 111 finished compilation with no issues... go figga.
 
both times, compilations failed with OOM errors, and KDE crashed together with Xorg (I only had Konsole running for the compilations).
It tends to only need more than 8GB of ram during very few stages within the compile. This means that you can generally get by using Swap.

Yes, the disks will churn horrifically during those sections but as mentioned, that is luckily only going to be a small part of the overall build.
 
It tends to only need more than 8GB of ram during very few stages within the compile. This means that you can generally get by using Swap.

Yes, the disks will churn horrifically during those sections but as mentioned, that is luckily only going to be a small part of the overall build.
yeah, I have 2 GB of swap, it gets assigned by default no matter how much RAM I have. I double-checked on a rig with 32 GB of RAM (where LLVM and Firefox compile no problem) - that rig also has just 2 GB of swap. And I use SSD's, not HDD's. And yeah, the laptop with the R9 and 16 GB of RAM also had just 2 GB of swap. And no, I did not set up a ramdisk. In all cases, compilations were done without jails.
 
Funny, I tried building devel/llvm15 and later www/firefox with just make (no -j flags) on a Ryzen 5 2500U with 8GB RAM, and both times, compilations failed with OOM errors, and KDE crashed together with Xorg (I only had Konsole running for the compilations). The crash was so bad, I could not even SSH into my laptop to give it a reboot command, I had to do a hard power cycle. Trying to restart the compilations did me no good, I had to install those two ports from a pkg repo. But on another machine with 16 GB RAM (yeah, also a more powerful Ryzen 9 6900HS, but otherwise very similar FreeBSD install, minus KDE/Xorg), both LLVM15 and Firefox 111 finished compilation with no issues... go figga.

Do you have WITH_DEBUG on? That blows up the linker processes within the llvm build to 6 GB or so, each.
 
Do you have WITH_DEBUG on? That blows up the linker processes within the llvm build to 6 GB or so, each.
I actually avoid any DEBUG - related flags when I compile ports, so the answer is "nope" .

I want to enable features, but I don't have the time or inclination to actually debug the stuff. Well, if it becomes necessary to answer some troubleshooting questions and recompile the port with debugging on, sure. These days, I'm happy if the port compiles, installs, and doesn't break my machine.
 
SilverC3ll; how do you do. I want make some careful steps into installing, running, and using FreeBSD. Big Tech operating systems violate our privacy, and it takes an open source for all to read to protect that privacy, which I find a beautiful, nearly poetic, irony. I've had a hard life and have been deprived of education; installing and using FreeBSD will enable me to learn much about using a computer in a more-advanced manner and honour my deprived faculties of learning. It is my aim to learn enough JavaScript, PHP, and C to create some fun code that can work with- and process the mathematics (and potentially physics) I'm presently in the process of learning. I hope to write this code on FreeBSD.

FreeBSD is not the most easy-to-use open-source OS, but it is well documented and hence is perfect for people who want to learn a little more. FreeBSD's documentation contrasts to that of Arch Linux, an OS which may also have served this educational purpose but whose approach to documentation (as I understood it) is based on using search-terms rather than a subsequent introduction to the OS (chapter by chapter; an actual book). This, to me, made Arch Linux inaccessible for those in the neophyte-range that have a willingness to progressively learn each principle and instance of nomenclature, step by step.

Your humble friend,

SilverC3ll
 
Hello, my name is Matt. I am in the process of migrating from fedora 37 to FreeBSD. I am using 13.2 RC3 at the moment.

I have been a Linux user since 2001 and prior I used Windows 2000/ME/98SE. Until 2006 I dual booted Windows XP and from 2006-23 I have used Redhat/Debian systems.

My experience so far with FreeBSD has been surprising. I have found every program available that I want or need works on FreeBSD.

The guides on this forum and the handbook have been easy to follow and very well written.

The documentation included with pkg packages is also very helpful for setting up new software.

I am currently learning the system on a Celeron N5095 based system with Intel graphics. I have installed Gnome Wayland and all is working well.

I am very excited about FreeBSD and I hope there are more computer users that adopt FreeBSD.

I have enjoyed the last week of migrating and using the system more than I have enjoyed Linux in many many years.

Thank you for making this forum available it has made migrating a breeze.

I have attached an image of the machine I am using. It is based on the beelink U59. Celeron N5095 32GB DDR4 m.2 sata and 2.5" sata SSD storage. I put it together in a tiger saw case last year. It has two 8" ips screens at 1024x768 60hz each.

-Matt
 

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SilverC3ll; how do you do. I want make some careful steps into installing, running, and using FreeBSD. Big Tech operating systems violate our privacy, and it takes an open source for all to read to protect that privacy, which I find a beautiful, nearly poetic, irony. I've had a hard life and have been deprived of education; installing and using FreeBSD will enable me to learn much about using a computer in a more-advanced manner and honour my deprived faculties of learning. It is my aim to learn enough JavaScript, PHP, and C to create some fun code that can work with- and process the mathematics (and potentially physics) I'm presently in the process of learning. I hope to write this code on FreeBSD.

FreeBSD is not the most easy-to-use open-source OS, but it is well documented and hence is perfect for people who want to learn a little more. FreeBSD's documentation contrasts to that of Arch Linux, an OS which may also have served this educational purpose but whose approach to documentation (as I understood it) is based on using search-terms rather than a subsequent introduction to the OS (chapter by chapter; an actual book). This, to me, made Arch Linux inaccessible for those in the neophyte-range that have a willingness to progressively learn each principle and instance of nomenclature, step by step.

Your humble friend,

SilverC3ll
After installing FreeBSD, I actually tried Arch and Gentoo in VirtualBox VMs... Those two are famously the most difficult ones to install - Most of the time, I ended up going for a derivative with a graphical install, because I could not make head or tails of the distros' documentation of the install process. After I installed FreeBSD a few times, I was able to finish the install process successfully for both Arch and Gentoo. But, the Linux documentation was not always easy to follow...
 
Male. 44 yo. Developer by heart and craft (Basic, Pascal, Assembly, C, C++, Java and now Haskell).
Moved to FreeBSD few years ago, being tired of GNU/Linux and distros I had to strip off bloatware (Ubuntu) or install almost everything (Debian).
Using FreeBSD 13.1 on my desktop and on NAS (TrueNAS).
I feel I'm home now.
 
I have attached an image of the machine I am using. It is based on the beelink U59. Celeron N5095 32GB DDR4 m.2 sata and 2.5" sata SSD storage. I put it together in a tiger saw case last year. It has two 8" ips screens at 1024x768 60hz each.
This is an interesting DIY luggable computer, not something I see every day. Thanks for sharing!
 
This is an interesting DIY luggable computer, not something I see every day. Thanks for sharing!
I like to make these. Over the years I've made very small systems with pico projectors and larger in steel drill cases and others with screens etc. Just a fun hobby. I have another that uses a pi4. The good thing with the larger case is having a quality keyboard fit in the case.
 
small introduction: I go by wolfy online. I was always interested in low level development since I was a 14 old teen. and aspiring to become an CSE student.
as for why I switched to freebsd from linux: I simply looked for something I could learn on, and freebsd- alongside the comprehensive documentation, seemed like a nice fit.
other than tinkering with stuff before I get into college, I garden and work out.
I hope I dont sound too stupid at times, considering this is a well-established tech community, tldr; please have some patience with me, here to learn lol
 
Hello, my name is Matt. I am in the process of migrating from fedora 37 to FreeBSD. I am using 13.2 RC3 at the moment.

I have been a Linux user since 2001 and prior I used Windows 2000/ME/98SE. Until 2006 I dual booted Windows XP and from 2006-23 I have used Redhat/Debian systems.

My experience so far with FreeBSD has been surprising. I have found every program available that I want or need works on FreeBSD.

The guides on this forum and the handbook have been easy to follow and very well written.

The documentation included with pkg packages is also very helpful for setting up new software.

I am currently learning the system on a Celeron N5095 based system with Intel graphics. I have installed Gnome Wayland and all is working well.

I am very excited about FreeBSD and I hope there are more computer users that adopt FreeBSD.

I have enjoyed the last week of migrating and using the system more than I have enjoyed Linux in many many years.

Thank you for making this forum available it has made migrating a breeze.

I have attached an image of the machine I am using. It is based on the beelink U59. Celeron N5095 32GB DDR4 m.2 sata and 2.5" sata SSD storage. I put it together in a tiger saw case last year. It has two 8" ips screens at 1024x768 60hz each.

-Matt
Interesting approach to building a PC you can transport, it's always interesting to see people's homebrew setups. The U59 looks like a useful little box.
https://www.bee-link.net/products/u59-n5095. A bluetooth mouse would be nice to prevent the cable chafing on the edge of the case. Nice to see the stereo speakers. I guess you have some batteries in there too. I'm wondering what the two small pcb's next to the LVDS cables beneath each panel are? Is that a lead acid battery at the front left with the row of coloured LEDs on top? Does it have a built-in UPS perhaps? Would be interesting to learn a bit more about how you have built this! Is there any particular application, or was this just something you did for fun?

You might be interested in the IBM PS/2 P75:-
IBM-P75-Portable-2-1870x1403.jpg



That was a 486 machine. I always thought it would be a nice project to upgrade one of these with a modern system board and screen. IBM kit of that period had excellent build quality, keyboard in particular was extremely good, and the industrial design of the luggable case and screen is superb.
 
Interesting approach to building a PC you can transport, it's always interesting to see people's homebrew setups. The U59 looks like a useful little box.
https://www.bee-link.net/products/u59-n5095. A bluetooth mouse would be nice to prevent the cable chafing on the edge of the case. Nice to see the stereo speakers. I guess you have some batteries in there too. I'm wondering what the two small pcb's next to the LVDS cables beneath each panel are? Is that a lead acid battery at the front left with the row of coloured LEDs on top? Does it have a built-in UPS perhaps? Would be interesting to learn a bit more about how you have built this! Is there any particular application, or was this just something you did for fun?
I've made many similar setups. This one I decided to make as heavy as possible. The pcbs are 50 to 40 pin converters from the controller boards as well as the buttons for input select and other osd options.

Behind the panels is a 12'x6' 1/4' steel plate to protect against flex in the case lid.

The batteries are 3x 12v atv batteries and the led strip is a power monitor for charge level. They are essentially a built in ups.

The system can run approximately 6-7 hours under heavy load such as gaming.

The system, though small, weighs 37lbs. And I am pretty proud of that. Lol 😆

The next system I may use lifepo4 batteries.

Edit: I forgot to address the mouse. I prefer a tethered mouse so no fiddling with batteries. However I do have another system based on the pi4 that uses a Bluetooth mouse. It is built in a steel drill case.
 
I like IBM mechanical keyboards. They have always been of excellent quality. Especially, IBM Model M
Me, too!
I love those!
They're a bit :) - okay, pretty :rolleyes: noisy,
but the feeling is just perfect.
Since production was stopped a long time ago, and you may only get an orignal one with your preferred layout e.g. by ebay at a high prize - if you're lucky,
one might be interested in that unicomp owns the licenses to produce them.
I had a couple of original Ms and unicomp's (accidential pouring beverages on the kb cost me some...),
and can say they have 95% of the quality of the original IBM ones.

I already thought about to start a KB thread,
since I'm still looking for the perfect keyboard (what my wife is in shoes, I'm in keyboards - but I would be settled with one 😂).
 
Yes, good old buckliing spring, those were made at Greenock in Scotland, for a good few years. That was a nice keyboard, but I actually preferred the earlier original ibm pc or pc-xt keyboard, like this. The Model M layout was superior, but the key switches on the XT keyboard were even better than the model M, which tended to have rather a heavy feel. I've also had some nice alps and cherry keyboards over the years. Such a shame that ibm pulled out of pc hardware though. I guess its hard to sell something that costs $100 to make when I can buy a cheap membrane keyboard for $10 in the supermarket.

1680714075266.png
 
I've made many similar setups. This one I decided to make as heavy as possible. The pcbs are 50 to 40 pin converters from the controller boards as well as the buttons for input select and other osd options.

Behind the panels is a 12'x6' 1/4' steel plate to protect against flex in the case lid.

The batteries are 3x 12v atv batteries and the led strip is a power monitor for charge level. They are essentially a built in ups.

The system can run approximately 6-7 hours under heavy load such as gaming.

The system, though small, weighs 37lbs. And I am pretty proud of that. Lol 😆

The next system I may use lifepo4 batteries.

Edit: I forgot to address the mouse. I prefer a tethered mouse so no fiddling with batteries. However I do have another system based on the pi4 that uses a Bluetooth mouse. It is built in a steel drill case.
I definitely like the built-in UPS! I guess they won't be putting yours in the ISS though at 37 lbs!

thinkpads-in-iss.jpeg


You might like this too:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUVfHaW6nWs


Anyway, we're veering waaaay off topic, hahaha, but interesting to hear what you've done!
 
Me, too!
I love those!
They're a bit :) - okay, pretty :rolleyes: noisy,
but the feeling is just perfect.
Since production was stopped a long time ago, and you may only get an orignal one with your preferred layout e.g. by ebay at a high prize - if you're lucky,
one might be interested in that unicomp owns the licenses to produce them.
I had a couple of original Ms and unicomp's (accidential pouring beverages on the kb cost me some...),
and can say they have 95% of the quality of the original IBM ones.

I already thought about to start a KB thread,
since I'm still looking for the perfect keyboard (what my wife is in shoes, I'm in keyboards - but I would be settled with one 😂).
Cherry G80-3000 is worth a look. Gold crosspoint MX switches. These are actually made by cherry. The feel is good, but overall build quality nowhere near as good as IBM. A bit lighter to type on than the model M.
 
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