Ok, it’s been… a *while* since I used a BSD at any kind of depth, and probably 20 years since I attempted a desktop.

[calcifer@masto.hackers.town]

Ok, it’s been… a *while* since I used a BSD at any kind of depth, and probably 20 years since I attempted a desktop. So BSD-using friends:

- what #BSD flavor would you recommend for a “comfortable with *nix, but doesn’t want to spend all their time on admin” user with a preference for KDE+Plasma?

- I’m gonna try it as a VM guest first. Any special considerations?

- What’s a good resource for checking hardware compatibility for laptops for that flavor of BSD?

Boost for vis is OK.

[andreasdavour@dice.camp]

@calcifer I know that FreeBSD has been devoting serious time and money at improving laptop support lately, so I think that would be a good choice. But, that's theoretical knowledge, as my last daily desktop experience is as old as yopurs.

Boosted for visibility.

[nomad@masto.hackers.town]

@calcifer Disclaimer: I'm a (very) longtime FBSD user and am very comfortable with it.

In general I view the three main versions as:
FBSD: best general, all-around OS for the architectures it runs on.

OpenBSD: highly security focused but not as much depth/options.

NetBSD: runs on everything but doesn't offer much by way of depth.

There are others based on these three but I've never touched them.

*I* would start with FBSD and see how it feels to you.