I second this as a strong point. The ports tree is filled with different programs which may act as equals or even better depending on what you want.
I think you're confusing software and hardware. ports is about software applications, yet you quote a comment about compatible hardware.
A couple of points:
1) I've been hacking UNIX since it was BSD UNIX on DEC minis, and my primarydesktop (386 to original pentium) was the commercial BSDi variant before Linux was stable enough for desktop use (up to 2.4 kernel)
2) my needs are a bit above generic end-user, as I design and support some rather heady graphics and numerical processing, so lack of CUDA support, and innability to easily mount media from a slew of other systems, negates using freeBSD as my workstation host OS.
3) BSD has always been kind of troubling with regard to hardware support. It's impractical and often too costly to go looking for specifically supported hardware in this made in china, custom USB driver class, short production run, buy at BestBuy or through newegg economy.
I strongly hate what Linux has become, both in terms of technical and pragmatic immaturity of the developers, and in terms of the religious zealotry. With the introduction of a super-init (systemd) and the heavy dependence upon initramfs, it is totally unsuitable for embedded work. Hell, we've now got managers that thing the raspberry pi is a serious embedded tool, and that they should be able to hire highschool students to design mission critical embedded systems based on the pi and raspian. Cough! Choke!
I simply stated originally that for as much as I'd like to rely more upon freeBSD, it also suffers from problems that will keep it from being more readily accepted and used...at least by me. Arguments to the contrary are in my most humble opinion, pure religious dogma.
I can certainly find server uses for freeBSD, but to sell it as a mainstream workstation environment seems a bit disingenuous.
Let the flaming begin!