Is it worth learning to use a BSD system?

[nolag]

Is there a real world usage of BSD? Is it worth trying? I don't want to bother with something that I know will never help me in the future. I don't want to try it because I can, since there are a lot of "because I can" things and I don't have the time for all of them. Does anyone use BSD here or know of any companies that do or jobs that it can help in? I know linux is great for me because it is used on a lot of servers, and super computers and my school, but if there is some reason to I would learn BSD (using freebsd I guess). I am willing to use a partition (or at the least use a vm), if someone can say it's worth the time.

thanks for any advice :D

[czr114]

It may be worth it if you're considering a career in IT dealing with servers or supercomputing.

I say may, because it is still a small portion of the market even in those sectors in which it does best.

[weasel fierce]

My understanding is BSD is used a lot for servers and heavy IT infrastructure

[cariboo]

Learning something, is always worth spending time on. The learning curve, won't be as high as going for Windows to Linux, as many commands work the same way in both BSD and Linux.

[Linux_junkie]

BSD just like Linux is based upon Unix so if your interested in learning a Unix type OS then its not a waste of time. Go for it.

[angryfirelord]

It's interesting if you've never used it before. However, before you ask for any help on BSD forums, make sure you've read the handbook. You will always get asked to read it if you're a new user.

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/handbook/

FreeBSD and the other BSDs inherit the Unix tradition of doing everything yourself. That means everything, including the installer, will not hold your hand. I would recommend installing it in a virtual machine (like VritualBox) instead of allocating it directly on your hard drive.

I personally found it to be a pain in the butt because it seems I had to edit a configuration file for every task I wanted it to do. If you're looking for a less steeper learning curve, I would look at Arch Linux first since it uses some BSD-style configuration.

[juancarlospaco]

Use Debian, its a BSD.

(...too)

[Spice Weasel]

Yes. FreeBSD, OpenBSD and NetBSD are amazingly stable and secure (extremely in OpenBSD's case). What they don't make is a good desktop system - unless you have lots of time on your hands.

I'd recommend OpenBSD because it has really good defaults and includes Apache, OpenSSH (duh!) and a FTP server so you can get everything working properly really quickly and then have lots of time for the fun part - tinkering.

They're great on servers, and a fair share of them run them.

[forrestcupp]

Is there a real world usage of BSD? Is it worth trying? I don't want to bother with something that I know will never help me in the future. I don't want to try it because I can, since there are a lot of "because I can" things and I don't have the time for all of them. Does anyone use BSD here or know of any companies that do or jobs that it can help in? I know linux is great for me because it is used on a lot of servers, and super computers and my school, but if there is some reason to I would learn BSD (using freebsd I guess). I am willing to use a partition (or at the least use a vm), if someone can say it's worth the time.

thanks for any advice :DWith that attitude, no, it's not worth your time.


BSD just like Linux is based upon Unix so if your interested in learning a Unix type OS then its not a waste of time. Go for it.Actually, BSD is a unix and Linux is more inspired by Minix. Linux is just Unix-like.

[Johnsie]

Hi, I work at Irelands biggest mailing house (Northern Ireland, Not the debt crippled ROI). Our main server for scheduling, bagging and uploading data to other mail companies uses FreeBSD.

Why learn BSD? Because if a company does use it then you can make the big bucks. Very few people know how to work BSD so your skills will be absolutely critical for the business.

It's very easy for a company to find a Windows professional or even somone who knows about Linux, but people who know the BSD distros are a little harder to find and that makes them more expensive.

Techically there are very few reasons to justify using it over Ubuntu Server Edition though other than security and load-handling efficiency. Personally I would start out with Ubuntu Server and then try FreeBSD when you get comforatable using that.

[nolag]

Thank you all for your replies. I have still not decided, mostly because of the time commitment, but I have narrowed it down to tribooting with either debian or freebsd. If I do choose freebsd then I will backup everything before installing (also try to make it dual boot on a VM first to make sure I understand how it works and I don't delete everything on my computer). I don't have a server, but I guess the more one knows the better. I alsways thought that linux has a 60% or so market share on servers, but from what you guys are saying I sound wrong.

[forrestcupp]

I don't know much about Debian BSD, but if it uses apt, then I wouldn't really consider that a real BSD experience.

[nolag]

I don't know much about Debian BSD, but if it uses apt, then I wouldn't really consider that a real BSD experience.

Sorry, I was not refering to Debian BSD just normal. I would use it to expand my linux knowledge (since I would need to learn more that is done for me in ubuntu). I guess I should have made that clear, my bad :$.

[Penguin=)]

Its really up to you, i don't reccomend it unless your good at technical stuff.

But if your really wanting too see what its like go ahead but here is a warning:

Its just like Linux upon Unix, so if you don't like that kind of OS, then don't do it.

[forrestcupp]

Sorry, I was not refering to Debian BSD just normal. I would use it to expand my linux knowledge (since I would need to learn more that is done for me in ubuntu). I guess I should have made that clear, my bad :$.

Oh. I just thought you were talking about that because juancarlospaco mentioned the BSD version of Debian. I'm actually not downing it; I think it might be a great system. I just think it probably wouldn't give you good BSD experience.

But if you're wanting to learn the parts of Linux that Ubuntu does for you, I wouldn't go with Debian. Debian has a lot of automated stuff, too. I'd go with something like Arch where you have to configure it yourself.

[MasterNetra]

Worth learning if your simply expanding your knowledge horizon, but otherwise, meh.