Should you abandon Linux and switch to *BSD?

The popularity of Linux skyrockets these days: More and more companies adapt it and even the just-above-average who doesn’t accept the imposition that is called “Windows 10” is often open to try it out. However at the same time, the popularity of said System seems to be fading among some of the more technical people, operating system enthusiasts and even followers of the FLOSS ideology.

Just recently an article called Why you should migrate everything from Linux to BSD was published and it has caught some attention and even replies like this one (it makes false claims like ZFS not being available on NetBSD and such, though.)

There have always been some posts like this, this is nothing too special. What I think is new, however, is the frequency that you can find discussions like this. Also the general tone has changed. Just a couple of years ago most Linux users wouldn’t even have bothered to comment such a thing. Today they seem to be much more open to learning about alternatives or in fact looking for something better than what they have. So what’s wrong with Linux?

It’s not about Systemd (alone)…

There are a lot of perfectly valid technical reasons to not want to use Systemd on your Linux system. But none of those could ever be an excuse for the hatred that this project has attracted. However there is a pretty simple explanation for that phenomenon: It’s how somebody is acting all high and mighty, simply dismissing valid critics and being a great example for a person with an arrogant attitude.

We have a lot of… let’s say… difficult persons it tech. Sometimes you think they have no manners, are being jerks or greatly overestimate their knowledge in certain fields. That’s ok and in fact they often are somewhat brilliant in a certain area. Most of us have learned to live with that.

And then there are people who think that they can dictate the one way to go. Well, there are project leaders who actually can do that due to being widely respected. But sometimes it’s different. Now when somebody wants to take something away from you (or he really doesn’t but you get the impression), you are likely to stand upon your defense.

Now when all of that unites in one person, you have the perfect boogeyman. Then all the technical aspects lose in weight and the feeling takes over. Which is not to say that feeling is not an important factor: If you don’t feel comfortable with Linux anymore, it might be time to move on.

The GNOME factor

The GNOME desktop is well known among *nix desktop users. It suits the needs some people but not others. That’s fine and there would not be any problem at all. However GNOME has a certain reputation which is not that nice… Why? Not because they didn’t accept some feature requests. Also not because are being ignoramuses when it comes to systems that are not so mainstream. No. They are notorious for cutting features that have already existed! This is what makes a lot of people mad.

I was a GNOME user myself and remember pretty well how I liked the file manager. To my dismay they removed so many features which I needed that the application became useless for me. I didn’t want to go looking for something else, but I was eventually forced to as the situation became unbearable. As I’m more of a calm guy, I didn’t go off at insult anybody, but other people did. And things got worse…

Today I’m a former GNOME user. This is *nix and not Windows. Nobody can force tiles upon us against our will. Yes, some projects think they know better than their users and that leads to the latter becoming upset. But as long as there are alternatives, we can move on.

Clumsy leaders

Recently Linus Torvalds spoke out against ZFS. Being the Linux “inventor” he has earned a lot of respect among the *nix community. I also used to hold him in high esteem despite his often ignoble behavior. However over the course of the last few years, I’ve lost a lot of respect for him.

The ZFS statement was the last coffin nail for me. He says that he always found ZFS more of a “buzzword” than anything else and that “benchmarks” didn’t make it look that good anyway. This is so far off the shot that I’m ashamed to ever have considered him a technical genius. He obviously does have no idea at all what problem ZFS actually solves! Speed benchmarks are all nice and well, but they are not why people want ZFS! And of course it’s far from being a buzzword – if you have valuable data today, you almost certainly want to bet on ZFS.

But not only is he ok with judging what he has not even bothered to take a look at from closer that several hundred meters – he’s also making completely stupid claims that make him look like a terribly ridiculous figure. According to Mr. Torvalds, ZFS had “no real maintenance behind it either any more”.

Ouch! He hasn’t even heard about OpenZFS, I’d guess. If you’re not in a closed-Solaris environment, this is what people are referring to when they say “ZFS”. Nobody outside the small, isolated isle of Oracle has any interest in ClosedZFS. Yes, Oracle laid off most of their Solaris staff and nobody knows if there is any noteworthy future for that OS. But not too long Solaris 11.4 was released – so even if Linus referred to the situation at Oracle, he’s not exactly right. In the case of OpenZFS, however, he could not be more wrong.

The OpenZFS is as alive as it could be. There are regular leadership meetings, many new features are being developed – and just recently a common repository for both Linux and FreeBSD was created, with other operating systems expected to join in! This is a moment of glory for collaboration in Open Source, but Linus didn’t hear a thing – or did he not want to hear anything? The fact that the second-in-command, GKH, has attacked ZFS about a year ago in a pretty questionable way, too, does not bode well.

Why do people leave Linux?

There have always been compelling technical reasons why you would choose *BSD over Linux (e.g. the complete operating system approach, much more consistent design, etc.). But I’d say that lately the the feeling part of it became much more important.

I left Linux because I was so sick and tired of the stupid fights between the hardcore fans of one distro or another and the unbearable arrogance of many. Yes, I also had the feeling that Linux was heading down the wrong way, too. I simply was no longer really happy with it and ready to try something new. There was a learning curve for sure, but the FreeBSD community is extremely friendly and while there are of course also people getting into disputes, I got the feeling that I described as “BSD is for grown-ups”. Not saying that there aren’t any really bright people in the Linux community, but on average I feel that the BSD users are more technical.

Others have stated similar reasons. The primary developer of ClonOS (that strives to be for FreeBSD what Proxmox is for Linux) wrote this:

According to the authors of the project, Linux is no longer a member of the common people, it is fully controlled by big commercial organization. while FreeBSD is developed mostly by enthusiasts. Today, Linux – it is a commercial machine for making money – is that it was Microsoft Windows in 90 years. While many Linux users have struggled against the Windows monopoly (CBSD author of one of them).

Yes, FreeBSD very far behind in their characteristics in comparing to Linux. Just look at the abundance of such powerfull decisions as the OpenVZ, Docker, Rancher, Kubernetis, LXD, Ceph, GlusterFS, OpenNebula, OpenStack, Proxmox, ISPPanel and a dozen others. All this is created by commercial companies for Linux and this is done very well. However, Linux is oversaturated with similar solutions. Therefore, it’s much more interesting to create it on FreeBSD, where nothing like that exists. This is an excellent challenge to improve and fix in FreeBSD.

We all love independence and freedom and FreeBSD today – an independent and free operating system, which is in the hands of ordinary people.

They are not alone. Even convinced followers of the FSF ideas have come to the conclusion that Linux may not be the right platform for them anymore. The people behind Hyperbola GNU/Linux have announced this:

Due to the Linux kernel rapidly proceeding down an unstable path, we are planning on implementing a completely new OS derived from several BSD implementations. This was not an easy decision to make, but we wish to use our time and resources to create a viable alternative to the current operating system trends which are actively seeking to undermine user choice and freedom.

This will not be a “distro”, but a hard fork of the OpenBSD kernel and userspace including new code written under GPLv3 and LGPLv3 to replace GPL-incompatible parts and non-free ones.

Reasons for this include:

Linux kernel forcing adaption of DRM, including HDCP.
Linux kernel proposed usage of Rust (which contains freedom flaws and a centralized code repository that is more prone to cyber attack and generally requires internet access to use.)
Linux kernel being written without security and in mind. (KSPP is basically a dead project and Grsec is no longer free software)
Many GNU userspace and core utils are all forcing adaption of features without build time options to disable them. E.g. (PulseAudio / SystemD / Rust / Java as forced dependencies)

As such, we will continue to support the Milky Way branch until 2022 when our legacy Linux-libre kernel reaches End of Life.

Will *BSD be a better OS for you?

So the big question is: If you are a Linux user, should you make the switch, too? I won’t unconditionally say yes. It really depends.

Are you happy with the overall situation in Linux? In that case there’s no need to migrate anything over. However you might still want to give a BSD of your choice a try. Perhaps you find something that you like even better? If you spend a bit of time exploring a BSD, you will find that several problems can be solved in other ways than those you are familiar with. And that will likely make you a better Linux admin, even if you decide to stick with it. Or maybe you’ll want to use the best tool for the job which could sometimes be Linux and sometimes a BSD. Getting to know a somewhat similar but also at times quite different *nix system will enable you to make an informed choice.

Not happy with Linux anymore in the recent years? Try out a BSD. If you need help to decide which one might be for you, I’ve written an article about that topic, too. Do a bit of reading, then install that BSD in a VM and explore. If you go with FreeBSD, make sure you take a look at the handbook (probably also available in your language) as that is a great source of information and one thing that sets FreeBSD apart from almost all Linux distros.

If you find that you like what you found, make a list of your requirements and find out if your BSD would indeed fulfill your needs. If it doesn’t, consider alternatives. Once the path is clear, I recommend to take a look at the community, too. For example there’s the weekly BSDNow! podcast that’s very informative. A lot of people have already written in, confessing that they are still Linux users only, but the topics of the show got them still hooked.

Do not rush things. Did you start with Linux or have you migrated e.g. from Windows? If you did come from a different OS, remember that there have been frustrating moments when you were all new to Linux and had certain misconceptions. You will be going through that again, but looking at the final outcome it will likely be a pretty rewarding journey.

Also don’t be shy and ask others if you don’t have the time or will to figure out everything yourself. The BSD people are usually pretty approachable and helpful. Feel free to ask me questions here, I might be able to give some answers.

It has been a couple of years now since I replaced the last machine that ran Linux at home. Would I choose to make the switch after all the experience that I gained since then? Oh yes! Anytime.