iz’s guide to new users of *nix systems

I am sure you have probably heard of this thing called “not windows”,
after all, why would you be reading this document?

Some of the most popular “not windows"…okay joke is done…free
software systems are based on this little thing called "Linux”, and
for the particularly deranged, one of the BSD projects.

But isn’t that for nerds? (ewwww bleaugh, i *hate* nerds)

Not necessarily so. These systems have made grand strides over the
years. I personally believe they can make a great alternative desktop
for those bent on trying something new.

The purpose of this blog entry is to informally introduce you to
some potential options for incoming users. I will give a brief
overview of the options presented. and Ultimately, let you decide
what you use in the end of the day. That is, if you are willing to
put up with my antics.  But why?

Well, this is a sort of loaded question. There are a plethora of
reasons one may try out an alternative operating system. I’ll try
to highlight the big ones:

- You may just dislike what you ran before.
- You are just curious and your friend won’t shut up till you try it.
 heh, don’t knock it if you hadn’t tried it, eh?
- Your hardware has gotten old. You were considering throwing it in
 the bin, but damn that keyboard was nice and throwing it out would
 be disrespectful.
- You dislike what you ran before for ethics reasons. Maybe you dislike
 windows by their controversial decisions regarding whatever the hell
 Micro$hat’s doing nowadays.
- Your system was getting slow and you wanted to breathe new life into
 it. You might have heard these systems are lighter and run more
 smoothly.

## So where should you start?

Honestly, it depends. I’ll start by giving an overview of popular
options and their derivatives and let you decide.

There are two big “Groups” of systems I will discuss here. Those
being the many Linux distributions, and the *BSD projects.  Linux?
Please don’t lecture me now…

Linux is by far, a very popular base for alternative desktops. But
what even is it?

Linux is an operating system kernel started by finnish programmer,
Linus Torvalds. What is a kernel? For your purposes, it doesn’t
really matter. But think of it as the heart of your system. Its the
core clock that keeps your system clicking.  But why Linux?

Linux has a very “freedom” focused development model. All users can
see, edit, and modify the source code if they wish. But you certainly
aren’t a developer, so what gives? Well, I’ll tell ya:

- Linux’s culture ensures transparency. Everyone can see the code.
 You can see what the hell is running on your system if you really
 wanted to.
- This transparency also brings the concept of “many eyes”. By the
 amount of eyes on the project, in theory, its more likely that
 security patches are implemented more quickly and bad actors are
 constantly under scrutiny.
- Do you trust microsoft and their arguably small team of developers
 to catch everything? Likely no, and you can’t trust Linux developers
 either. But, you can be more confident in that the project has a much
 wider set of eyes on it.
- This system is by users, for users.

## You are interested in Linux, what are the options?

There are three major branches of distribution of Linux.

Remember how I said that Linux is a “kernel”? Yeah, that’s not the
full system. This is where “distributions” come in. Distributions
provide a neatly packaged and pre-configured set of software that
runs on top of the Linux kernel. This makes for a simpler set up
instead of doing everything manually.

The three biggies I’ll discuss here are as follows:

- Debian & Debian-based
- Arch & Arch-based
- Redhat-based

### Debian & Debian-based

This branch is nicknamed the “granddaddy of all distributions”. Its
the oldest and most adapted base of Linux Distribution.

Debian strives on keeping things rock hard and stable. This comes
at a cost of slightly older software, but damn it will work. and
it will work very damn well.

It also is by far the most popular for incoming users.

Of course, you can install Debian itself if you want. Its pretty
nice. but there are options based on it that are popular as well.

If going this route, https://debian.org

Popular Linux distributions based on Debian:

- [Linux Mint](https://linuxmint.com)
- [Peppermint OS](https://peppermintos.com/)
- [Ubuntu](https://ubuntu.com)
- [Pop!_OS](https://pop.system76.com/)

### Arch & Arch-based

Arch is probably the one you heard about the most. Its users love
telling you about the fact that they use it.

Arch is considerably more difficult to set up, so fair warning. It
can be done, and it makes a very solid system when set up.

Its “Killer Feature” is the “AUR”, or “Arch User Repository”. This
provides a online inventory of user-contributed software that isn’t
otherwise available. This gives much more flexibility in how you
want to use the system, but this software can be of dubious quality,
so tread lightly.

Arch is also “Bleeding edge”. This means that you get the latest
greatest software. This can lead to potentially breaking changes,
and sometimes even instability.

If you wanna try out arch “as is” and go through the install manually,
you can, https://archlinux.org

Some Popular Arch Based Distributions:

- [EndeavorOS](https://endeavoros.org)
- [Manjaro](https://manjaro.org)

### Redhat-based

Redhat has a complex history. It became something called “Fedora
Workstation”. Lots of history why, but all you really need to know
is that the most “vanilla” consumer Linux distribution based on
Redhat is Fedora. There is also somthing called Redhat Enterprise
Linux, but this is more geared towards corporate use, and frankly
it’s beyond the scope of this blog entry.

Fedora is known to incorporate newer standards, and be the flaming
sword forward in the Linux ecosystem. Their changes can be radical
but the ripple effect is well felt.

If you want a vanilla experience: https://tryfedora.org

Some popular Redhat-based systems:

- [OpenSUSE](https://opensuse.org)
- [Nobara Linux](https://nobaraproject.org)
- [Mageia](https://mageia.org)

Note: Mageia isn't redhat based, it's actually based on Mandrake
linux. It just uses the same package format so I lumped it in here.

## BSD, what’s that?

First off, BSD isn’t like Linux. Its a very historic operating
codebase dating all the way back to the AT&T UNIX in the 1970s.
Each of the BSD projects are derivatives of the original “BSD”, and
are also independently developed from one another. This means that
just because something works on one of the BSD projects doesn’t
necessarily mean it will work the same way, or at all on another.

Each BSD is a fully complete working system out of the box. They
aren’t just distributed bits of software on top of the kernel, and
as such they are more “Homgenous” in nature. This means that the
main developer team can work on the core function of the system,
and let users add on top what they want with something called the
“ports” system.

Like Linux, all of the BSD Projects are fully open source. You can
see, edit, and modify the code as you wish. Same benefits apply.

What the hell is ports? Okay, so you as a user may want to have
some bit of software that isn’t otherwise included in the base
system out of the box. This is where ports come in. They let the
user easily incorporate software on top of the base utilities and
system. There are lots of software all ready made, set up, and
waiting for you to install.

I keep saying “BSD projects”, what “BSD Projects” are there?

There are three major BSD projects, each with different uses and
goals:

- FreeBSD
- OpenBSD
- NetBSD

The BSDs tend to be a bit more involved to set up for new users,
comparable to Arch Linux, but can be really solid systems cos of
their incredible stability and sheer simplistic nature.

### FreeBSD & FreeBSD-based systems

FreeBSD is the most popular of the three BSD projects. It boasts
the fastest speed of the three, and makes for a solid server or
even desktop system.

It tends to get the biggest changes made in how things work. Of the
BSD’s it is comparable to Fedora Workstation in terms of use-case
and goals

If you wanted to try FreeBSD, know its more involved to set up than
these derivatives (similar to Arch Linux), but here: https://freebsd.org

Some popular noob-friendly FreeBSD-based systems:

- [GhostBSD](https://ghostbsd.org)
- [NomadBSD](https://nomadbsd.org)

### OpenBSD & OpenBSD-based systems

OpenBSD is very popular among security nuts. It boasts some of the
tightest security on a system, albeit with a slight hit in performance.
I personally use it and really love it. But its incredibly minimal
out of the box, and isn’t super beginner friendly.

If you want to “LARP” (live action role play) as me, here:
https://openbsd.org

If new to OpenBSD, there aren’t as many big derivatives for new
users, but I personally recommend FuguIta, which is a live OpenBSD
system that can be ran from a USB drive. It has a nice deskop setup
script that walks you through everything. Its a great experience,
but it may still be a little scary for new users. Nonetheless, here:
https://fuguita.org

### NetBSD

NetBSD is the old curmudgeon of the three BSDs. It has incredible
support for random hardware that nothing supports anymore. If a
piece of hardware can boot an operating system, it can likely run
NetBSD. It is the “Doom” of the free software world. So much so,
that their motto is: “Of course it runs NetBSD”.

NetBSD unfortunately isn’t the most popular of the three BSD projects,
and as a result, there really isn’t a great “user friendly” derivative
of it. Here’s the website if still interested: https://netbsd.org

## Takeways:

I hope this short guide was comprehensive enough to point you in
the right direction. Cheers!

tags: openbsd, linux, free-software, freebsd, new-users, netbsd, operating-system

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