GhostBSD 20.01 | Hacker News Reader

GhostBSD 20.01

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35 pointsblackmanta14 comments

Glad to see that BSD is catching up with Linux a bit in terms of having lots of random distributions. ;-/

Is there any good reason why various differentiating features (e.g. booting from a USB drive, various GUI packages, codecs, better driver support, better installer, whatever...) can't or shouldn't be upstreamed into a mainline BSDs like FreeBSD?'

Perhaps FreeBSD should have multiple installer images such as live/server/desktop, a la Debian/Ubuntu?

On the other hand, perhaps the most popular (Free/Open/Net?)BSDs should take a stand against Linux-style fragmentation and adopt a standard desktop GUI, API, and application binary package format.

I used FreeBSD on my last laptop.

Here are the things I liked: - all applications that I needed to do my work on windows or mac or linux were available. - native encryption of all the file systems even /boot and even /root and even / through geli on top of zfs. This is super easy to deploy through the installer. Seriously. - it also offer native compression of file systems through zfs. /var/log, /home, etc - there are tons of stuff like easy to compile custom kernels, rebuild the world, etc, but this is just me being a geek.

What I didn't like: - there is just one thing that really turned me off. I was never able to properly configure a wireless interface with also the ethernet connection. What I'd like is that if both are connected that it prefers ethernet then switches to wifi if I disconnect. This should be done by default without fiddling around. I had to use some hacks and it turned me off.

I'm very tempted to try ghostbsd, but before I do so, I'd like to know whether it's possible to have dual network connections: ethernet + wifi with preference with ethernet and smooth transition when I unplug network.

Can anyone confirm whether dual network is flawless in ghostbsd?

Anyone have experience switching from Ubuntu to GhostBSD? If so, what headaches/bumps did you encounter?

The biggest problem with any BSD - at least for me - is that I can't watch Netflix. I like watching crappy TV shows while I code and that only really works on Linux. I canceled my trial of Disney+ just for that reason.

I use a 40" 4K Samsung 'smart TV' as my monitor and it has support for Netflix, Amazon, Disney+, etc. That said, if internet streaming is that big of a deal why not use a bootable USB with Mint or Sling TV gizmo (I have a new one Sling TV sent me that I'll never use -- I'll ship it to you if you're in the US).

That's mighty kind of you. However, I'd just rather continue using Linux. It fits my use cases pretty well.

I can understand BSD for servers, but what are some of the rationales for switching from Linux to BSD for a desktop?

Basically the same reasons i had 20 years ago when I switched from Microsoft Windows to Linux. Except for the money reason, which in the era of Win98, Win2k wasn't that big of a problem.

Native full encryption through zfs. That was my main reason. Zfs is well integrated in BSD. Something that will not happen soon in linux based on Linus latest comments that zfs has legal issue with linux

It is there on Linux, and it has the encryption patches.

Disney+ now works on Linux.

oh sweet

The real problem is that you're subscribed to Netflix.

>Glad to see that BSD is catching up with Linux a bit in terms of having lots of random distributions. ;-/

GhostBSD has been around for years, since 2010. It's actually the first and only BSD distro I tried, many years ago.

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