Is FreeBSD the right choice?
 

What i'm searching for?

* Stable and fast OS
* Easy to update
* With a lot of optimized packages
* With automatic hardware configuration (when possible)

Why not using Linux? Becase i've heard *BSD is faster.. and i want a "system" non a "distribution".. i think is better..

So.. moving from Ubuntu x64 (imho a beatiful distro..) to FreeBSD could be a good idea?
And what about PC-BSD? Probably FreeBSD is hard to me, just a newbie.

I think the only way to find out if FreeBSD is the right choice for you is to try it out yourself. Nothing beats personal experience in my opinion. PC-BSD and DESKTOP BSD are good alternatives because they are based on FreeBSD but are more desktop oriented.

Based? Like Ubuntu is based on Debian? If i'm not wrong DesktopBSD is a simplified installation of FreeBSD.. the same for PC-BSD plus another way for managing pakages..
But.. the repositories are the same for all these 3 *BSD?

Faster?
 

I'm not sure about faster. Faster is relative. Speed depends upon your base hardware, the quality of driver that interfaces with that hardware, the kernel build, the Desktop, the . . . well you get the idea. If someone assured you that BSD was faster, then it isn't that they are lying, it's just that they haven't truly delved into the options.

Issue 1) What are you trying to do faster?
Issue 2) What is the hardware you are trying to make go faster?
Issue 3) How is the kernel built?
Issue 4) What distribution are you using?

You see, there are truly too many factors to decide a proper outcome. I actually could never imagine a victor as far as speed, due to the fact that there are too many variables. If you aren't a system tweaker, then I suggest this to you: Dual Boot. Put one OS along side the other OS, and find out which one suits you.

System VS Distro? Not sure I understand. Both are OS's. Both have distribs of those OS's.

Linux/UNIX is about personal choice. Personally I chose Linux, because of the community, but you may have you own reasons. I don't know the BSD community, I'm sure they have their plusses as well. Check out both OS's.
You made the choice to go with a *nix, vice a Dohs!. That was the biggest choice. Congratulations on that.

Druisgod

To be clear..

Linux = kernel
GNU Linux = a lot of distro
*BSD = an OS

Probably this difference is unsignificant to most of us

• Stable and fast? (depending on how you're defining 'fast') -- check.
• Easy to update? -- csup and portmaster (ports) -- check.
• With a lot of optimized packages? -- see manpages for make.conf(5) -- check. Although I don't bother with this.
• With automatic hardware configuration -- see supported hardware: http://www.freebsd.org/releases/6.2R/hardware.html

If you're happy with ubuntu, stick with it. If you want to try something new and are willing to put in the work to get comfortable with it, you may be very happy with FreeBSD too.

This is one of those questions that your own experience will answer.

Yes, similar to how Ubuntu is based on Debian but the PC-BSD and DesktopBSD have not diverged too much from the main FreeBSD release. DesktopBSD uses ports, so can share repositories with the main FreeBSD release, but PC-BSD uses PBIs, so I don't think it shares the same repos as the main FreeBSD release by default (you probably could install ports if you wish).

Been using Ubuntu as a home server for over 5 months and haven't event switched the machine off even once. I restarted it a couple of times after doing updates etc.

I used to use Windows XP professional as a home server, and after a couple of weeks of running none-stop, you definitely notice that things are not moving as fast as they're ought to.

If you are new to Linux, I think you would find Ubuntu much easier to use and configure and possibly the easiest distro to install.

I'm not new to Linux.. for example a couple of years ago i succesfully installed, used and enjoyed slackware.. but now i've no time to spend in configuration, maintenance or whatever.. i just want to use an OS and i wish it is a pleasure.

If you enjoy Slackware then you'd most likely enjoy FreeBSD. FreeBSD does require initial configuration in the same way as Slackware. And every OS needs on going maintenance in response to security patches and bug fixes.

If your looking for something with a fancy auto-configuring installer and to click on a button to let the system update itself then it sounds like you should be sticking with that Ubuntu install.

I'm a bit confused by your distinction between a "system" and a "distribution". BSD shares many packages with Linux so I don't see any radical difference.

Personally, I prefer having BSD as a server rather than a desktop. It is most definately not faster and it suffers from severe paranoia. That paranoia suits it very well as a highly secure server but it can be a major PITA if you're hoping to run a desktop with minimal extra work. For example, FreeBSD offers win32codecs but it refuses to install it because of a security risk. This also means no mplayerplug-in. Yes, there are workarounds but then you are already doing the extra work that you were hoping to avoid. And there aren't any video drivers for 64 bit BSD unless you use the open source drivers.

Anyway, FreeBSD is free and it has a great handbook so why not try it? But don't expect too much. If you know how to google, you can solve most Linux problems in not time at all. Searching google with BSD issues, on the other hand, can be extremely time-consuming.

PC-BSD is good
nice KDE desktop, very easy to install
Open Office, Firefox by default

has access to PBIs and Ports
check out
http://www.pcbsd.org/
http://www.pbidir.com/

and a list of FreeBSD ports
http://www.freebsd.org/ports/index.html

and you can always try dual-booting if you have disk space

regards
floppy