I was hoping that someone would start a FreeBSD subspace here. I just installed 13.2 onto real hardware for the first time in a while. FreeBSD used to be my everyday OS for a few years, and while I had my reasons for walking away I have to say I did miss it.

Some thoughts after installation

Posted in: s/FreeBSD

🦀 jeang3nie

2023-06-15 · 11 months ago · 👍 innerteapot

8 Comments ↓

🚀 stack · 2023-06-15 at 17:33:

I would do it except I know nothing about it! I always look at FreeBSD posts with envy, as I find Linux more and more Windows-like as time goes by. Curious about your reasons for walking away.

🦀 jeang3nie [OP] · 2023-06-15 at 18:06:

@stack there was a bit of a convergence of things happening all in succession, not all of which directly relate to FreeBSD. I had been using Gnome2 for a while and gotten used to that environment. Gnome3 came out and it was very obviously Linux centric and not going to be running on BSD any time soon, so I switched to Xfce. Shortly after that, the Xfce project stopped supporting automatic handling of removable media for systems other than Linux. Then my marriage fell apart, changed careers, moved and wound up a single parent. I was basically at the point where I needed my computer to work with a little less fuss on my part.

What's interesting is that coming back now, it almost feels like that situation is reversed. Linux seems more fractured than ever, with a half dozen ways to install the same software and more and more abstractions being pilled on top. I'm not on board with the immutable filesystem trend or the idea that security requires sandboxing.

🚀 stack · 2023-06-15 at 18:50:

Gnome is complete shit - I've been using Xubuntu forever, but recently I got rid of XFCE for dwm, and now I am kind of happy. Of course, I don't need most of Linux - I am down to a few command shells, LaGrange and LibreFox most of the time.

It really bothers me that Linux distros chase Windows/Mac instead of focusing on simple and clean and most importantly consistent interface! Ubuntu used to have a simple desktop, but then it turned into a horrible and unusable mess.

🦀 jeang3nie [OP] · 2023-06-15 at 19:07:

Yeah I did a similar migration not long ago from Xfce to Sway. I'm looking forward to trying out Sway on FreeBSD, because they actually do support Wayland somewhat.

So far I've gotten most of my day to day workflow set back up. The one exception is the terminal multiplexer that I have grown used to, Zellij, which has a package but appears to be broken currently. I'm trying out Tmux but you know, muscle memory tends to get in the way. I miss the old shortcuts.

I also stopped partway and got my sudo replacement ported over and running on FreeBSD. That's the project I was referring to in the gemlog post where I'm talking about how FreeBSD keeps password hashes secure vs how it's done on Linux.

🚀 stack · 2023-06-15 at 19:22:

@jeang3nie: tmux is pretty configurable as keystrokes go... You seem to be a good candidate for dwm (or at least I3). I just switched, and I can't believe I've wasted my life dragging windows around the screen like a fool.

Are you an Arch user? If you are, is it worth it?

Also, why Wayland? X is a bit stale, but it's kind of wonderful the way real X apps run over the network, especially now that bandwidth is nearly free and unlimited. Is there a reason to use Wayland other than cool transparency effects?

🦀 jeang3nie [OP] · 2023-06-15 at 20:16:

@stack Arch is what I migrated to after FreeBSD about ten years ago. More recently I've been using Void and find it to be better in a lot of ways. I've never really found Arch to be particularly unstable like so many people claim. It's cool if you buy in to the rolling release model. I've decided against using it for things like servers, however, that aren't going to see manual updates every day, because of something is going to break its always at the worst time and it's usually due to attempting an upgrade after letting it sit for a few weeks.

I actually used DWM pretty soon after it first was written, but never got used to the keys and don't care for the compiled in idea. Sway and i3 share a config format so if I can't use Say then i3 is probably what I'll settle on.

I'm using wayland because X is old and becoming unmaintained,and from a technical standpoint it is a simpler, cleaner and more secure protocol. I know X isn't exactly dead yet, but that day is coming at some point.

🚀 stack · 2023-06-15 at 20:23:

@jeang3nie: Oh, I did not realize that Sway is a tiler... I actually like the compiled dwm although in practice mods and patches are a pain... But so far it works for me -- I only added a couple of keybindings.

I will take a look at Void for the next time I feel the need to strip down, thanks.

🚀 stack · 2023-06-15 at 23:34:

I know next to nothing about wayland, but having written an (incomplete) set of XCB bindings in Common Lisp, I didn't ithink it was too terrible.