I am a long time Linux User, KDE user. I want to try out BSD, but I am having a hard time getting it installed.
I tried the latest version of FreeBSD but it seems to come without X or Wayland (Or any of the other graphical bits) and I can’t seem to get the graphical part working.
Nothing yet has been done with the machine, so, if anyone can recommend an easy-to-install - that works out of the box in full graphics where I don’t have to mess with modelines like 2001. I would love to try an OS where there are not too many cooks in the kitchen.
I will be installing it on a Lenovo Ideapad.
I will be installing it on a Lenovo Ideapad
The BSD’s are great systems, but I wouldn’t recommend them on a laptop.
I’ve been down that path. It took me a couple of days to fix several issues related to hardware support (including patching and recompiling the kernel), and then I learnt that Wifi support is very limited.I second this. I have a Framework (which is even one they’ve said they’re trying to support) and it’s been getting better, but still a bit janky
I started with a distro of FreeBSD called GhostBSD. It works pretty well out of the box, and is a good starting point for someone who’s just starting out with FreeBSD. NomadBSD is also a good option if you don’t mind running it from an external drive.
Of the *BSD family, only OpenBSD is a fully featured system out of the box. It comes with a graphical server, a window manager and a full suite of programs. It also has the simplest installation process. And the cliche “it has great documentation” still applies.
Whatever you pick, keep in mind that many programs you’re familiar with may behave differently (depending on what you do with them) from their GNU counterparts, like tar, sed or date.
Thanks! Yes this is one reason I am trying out BSD - Because it is different. The background politics are also different, and may be an important reason to switch. Finally though I have to be able to play Minecraft.(Yes this is a major design goal)
Here are some urls to help you get started, as for minecraft, it is definitely possible and there are launchers in the package repository, but that’s all I know. There is a dedicated #openbsd-gaming on irc on libera.chat and/or on reddit, if you find you need help with that.
https://www.tumfatig.net/2024/openbsd-workstation-for-the-people/
The handbook has a guide on how to install X; it is not installed by default with FreeBSD: https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/x11/
If you want a FreeBSD based distro which does install a desktop environment by default then GhostBSD is pretty straight forward: https://ghostbsd.org/download It has a default MATE image or a community XFCE spin, but also other DEs available like KDE and Gnome, and is based on FreeBSD
I followed that, but it never did work. I don’t remember the error the Xorg threw when I attempted to initialize it. I will probably try OpenBSD next.
I installed OpenBSD on a Lenovo Thinkpad T530, and it automatically configured X, WiFi, etc. It all runs just fine. Mind you, the installer is spartan, but very simple to understand and use. You may want to try installing it on a VM first to get acquainted with it.
Try GhostBSD or helloSystem
