Post by @greylinux
Genuine question - for desktop use, how far off is NetBSD from FreeBSD?
I've just bought a second hand laptop to have as a permanent BSD machine. I've played with both OS's before on other laptops and Raspberry Pi's but from my limited testing , NetBSD is more at home as a server OS, albeit still behind FreeBSD, but a solid option all the same.
I will test both OS's on it and I know NetBSD has seen a jolt in interest lately, due to its anti AI stance, but ultimately, I will probably stick with FreeBSD ,until NetBSD can offer the same experience. I may stay with FreeBSD permanently, if they decide to take a firm stance and not strandle the fence with AI.
Again all this based from my limited testing and experience and a large amount of fediverse posts on the subject.
Any advice from the BSD crowd.
(I know this seems hypocritical about AI, especially as I rely heavily still on cachyOS for a gaming PC and Alpine Linux for my servers but I really hope the future is bright for BSD's and a complete move of everything, eventually may be an option )
@greylinux I use both (netbsd at home, freebsd on work laptop). It really depends on the particular hardware you're using, and especially its age and general power.
In FreeBSD you can generally expect newer GPU drivers, but odd trade-offs like webcam support not being built-in.
@washbear@mastodon.sdf.org
So I've chosen a Thinkpad T490s which seems to be fully compatible, besides Bluetooth, for both FreeBSD and NetBSD.