After decades on Linux, FreeBSD finally gave me a reason to switch

A report from Zdnet says FreeBSD is among the most stable operating systems but is more challenging to use than Linux. FreeBSD is a Unix-like OS descended from the Berkeley Software Distribution and maintains a complete system — kernel, device drivers, userland utilities, and documentation — in contrast to Linux, which provides just a kernel and relies on third parties for system software.

The installer is command-line based; defaults can be accepted by pressing Enter, and installation requires setting a root password and creating a standard user. There is no GUI by default, so the reviewer installed KDE Plasma, enabled dbus and the login manager, and performed additional manual package installs.

PackageKit repeatedly crashed, rendering KDE Discover unusable and forcing app installation via the command line; GNOME’s GDM also failed to start when tried. The reviewer noted that FreeBSD is not Linux but that Linux skills were helpful, and found FreeBSD to be very fast and exceptionally stable.