r/freebsd

How good is Byhyve compared with Proxmox? And jails w docker/containers? Are there webmin?

Is KDE Plasma due to the lack of login not continued?

I have a media server where I would like to have one common sttorage pool, ideally something like mergerFS. It would then be copied to another so there is a mirror on a backup server. The file system should ideally be ZFS, with some JBOD functionality. Each server would have a full copy of the data & the HDs would be same size. The main server would then propagate all changes to its storage pool the mirror server & its HDs, say each day.

EDIT: I forgot fan control and low power use, as it resides in a condo.
EDIT 2: LLMs have revealed what are likely intel services backdoors to Linux systems. How is this for BSD?
EDIT 3: I plan on getting a Asrock B650D4U and AM5 cpu for the server.

Notice

FreeBSD-EN-26:13.freebsd-update

Advisories

FreeBSD-SA-26:18.setcred

• Stack buffer overflow via setcred(2)
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45250
• NVD - CVE-2026-45250
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:18.setcred.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:19.file

• Kernel use-after-free via file descriptor syscalls
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45251
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:19.file.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:20.fusefs

• Heap overflow in FUSE_LISTXATTR
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45252
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:20.fusefs.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:21.ptrace

• Missing validation in ptrace(PT_SC_REMOTE)
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45253
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:21.ptrace.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:22.libcasper

• select(2) file descriptor set overflow causes stack overflow
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-39461
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:22.libcasper.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:23.bsdinstall

• Remote code execution via installer Wi-Fi access point scans
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45255
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:23.bsdinstall.asc>

FreeBSD-SA-26:24.cap_net

• Incorrect libcap_net limitation list manipulation
• CVE Record: CVE-2026-45254
• <https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:24.cap_net.asc>

FreeBSD patch level table

<https://bokut.in/freebsd-patch-level-table/>

• non-official
• parsed from advisories and notices …

I am just trying to use FreeBSD as a NAS OS. What else could I try for fun, just wondering? What is this bhyve thing, or jails? How could it benefit me?

I have managed to get Firefox working with widevine for drm playback working in a Rocky Linux Podman container on Freebsd

Without the Nvidia driver installed in the container using some witchcraft

devfs.rules, starting pulseaudio on the Frebsd host using pavucontrol and mounting the wayland and pulseaudio sockets from Freebsd inside the Podman container

using the dummy-uvm and mounting some of the Linuxulator directories for the Nvidia driver from the Freebsd host to the container and lots of other settings as well

Firefox settings to get the widevine to download and install and hardware accelerated video playback

with persistent settings as well so when you restart the container all your extensions and settings are preversed

Picture in Picture also works so you can pop the video out and display it on a second monitor

Tested using Youtube free with ads movies which use drm, successfully playing back a 1080p video on the second display with ublock origin installed to block the ads

See the attached screenshot

Cuda works in the container as well as nvenc encoding which i use in a ffmpeg container

Im creating github project for this, so now i have cracked Cuda, ffmpeg nvenc encoding and Firefox widevine drm playback i should be able to create containers for different Linux applications

In theory python applications that use Cuda like Whisperx, Stable diffusion, Comfy UI should also be possible

As well as thing like Davinci Resolve as well

Ill do a youtube video about this and post a heads up when its upload

https://preview.redd.it/ef0r5unx062h1.jpg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=43e2851119ea04076cbf1c1b390eb6a2cab9f73c

Coming from Linux, very new to FreeBSD so sorry if this is well worn territory.

Basically I have a Dell Precision M4500 with an NVidia Quadro FX1800M, compatible with the nvidia-340 driver. I've installed that and enabled it, but when reading up on installing Xorg, the handbook mentions that I need to use a version of xorg-server prior to 1.20 if my NVidia driver version is below 390.

What would be the correct way to install a compatible xorg-server? I read through the pkg and ports handbook sections but didn't see much about installing specific package versions.

If there's an official resource for this that I just missed, or if anybody has some tips I'd be very appreciative. Thanks

As suggested on a previous and deleted post by u/grahamperrin, here I am asking some questions about KDE and FreeBSD.

I've tried all morning long to install FreeBSD 15.x with KDE for a project I'm investigating.

First on my PC (AMD Ryzen 7 5700, ASUS B550 TUF Gaming II, Radeon RX 7600) has been IMPOSSIBLE to boot the installer. Every time I've tried with any ISO of FreeBSD 15.0-RELEASE or FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE I've been smacked in the face with something like "Waiting for CAM..." 5 times in a row, and then stopping the install altogether. I don't know why.

Later on my laptop (HP Probook 445 G8) the same drive (external SSD via USB) with the same ISOs, booted fine and installed it. Well... when I say "fine" I mean trying to ignore some ACPI errors that keeps throwing every few seconds, but it does it with Linux too, and I don't know where they come from.

As the installer kept going I've been filling the blanks, user info, disk selection, etc...

Then, on the... terminal? CLI? ...on the prompt, using "pkg install desktop-installer" I tried to install the installer for the desktops and use it. I guess it did something.

The weird thing is: I selected KDE as the desktop environment, "SDDM" was enabled on rc.conf at the end of the installer process, as well as "DBUS", but while DBUS was correctly installed, SDDM was nowhere to be found. A quick "pkg install sddm" later, it worked fine after a reboot... but only in X11 mode, albeit always telling the installer to use Wayland.

So... question: Is there a place where a documentation is living for this installer? Is there a place for it to place this kind of... bugs? ...errors? I don't know what to call them. Am I missing some crucial step?

Right now I'm writing this on the laptop with Firefox on KDE over FreeBSD 15.1-STABLE, so somethings are working. But I don't know if this is the intended behaviour, and if it isn't where to communicate it.

A few hours from now:

• https://osselcna2026.sched.com/event/2JQsf/what-running-freebsd-on-a-modern-laptop-taught-me-deb-goodkin-the-freebsd-foundation

>"FreeBSD is only for servers.” “FreeBSD is for hardcore engineers.” We have all heard the myths. In this talk, Deb shares what happened when she decided to run FreeBSD on a modern laptop. Learn more about her journey to getting this rock-solid operating system on her laptop, and how it is far more accessible than its reputation suggests.

Via https://mastodon.social/@FreeBSDFoundation/116597241748913763

16:00 UTC: https://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/converter.html?iso=20260519T160000&p1=tz_ct&p2=1440

https://social.linux.pizza/@thesaigoneer/116599867018818913

>I got triggered to revive my description on how to get a KDE Wayland session on FreeBSD up and running. You can find it here:
https://codeberg.org/thesaigoneer/pages/src/branch/main/FreeBSD%20and%20Plasma%206%20install%20-%20a%20log

>From line 105 onwards it handles the Big K and how to run a Wayland session. This is what you'll end up with: …

Edit: I got in

I foolishly forgot my root password; I have it written down, but I used a label printer that only uses capital letters. Therefore, I have my password printed as:

"BSD-MASTERKEY". The "-" character is either a "-" or an "_".

Every ssh attempt I get 3 chances before i have to attempt to reconnect. By default, does FreeBSD stop these attempts without alerting the connector? I have tried every combination of capitals for that password that I can possible think of.

Connecting to the server locally is not really an option. I have been logging each password I have tried and failed; But now, I worry that the system is auto-rejecting me without alerting me. Is there an ssh password attempt limit by default?

I have an ARM64 pet VM running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure that I've upgraded numerous times since ~April 2022 (I think the original version was 13.0). While the whole process took about an hour, the quality of the documentation and accompanying smooth experience was gratifying.

Appreciate everyone who works to keep the OS experience satisfying.

I am currently investigating a possible switch from GNU/Linux to FreeBSD/GhostBSD. I have used GNU/Linux for the past 20+ years.

I have read parts of the FreeBSD handbook and was positively surprised by its clarity and that its content is not particularly difficult to understand. At the same time I am well aware that FreeBSD and GNU/Linux differ in many respects and that I will need to learn new things. I plan to begin my evaluation of FreeBSD/GhostBSD in a virtual machine.

My hardware is fairly common — 5600G; B550; NVMe SSD — and it should reasonably work on FreeBSD without problems. If anyone has a different view I am very interested in hearing about your experience.

I use my PC for web browsing with Firefox, word processing with LibreOffice, OS testing with Virt‑manager, and a fair amount of multimedia consumption, both local files and online content.

My limited knowledge and experience of FreeBSD/GhostBSD makes me doubtful that they will be able to meet all of my needs. What I am most unsure about is support for various multimedia formats/codecs and hardware/GPU acceleration for both local files and online content.

I would be very grateful for any input from FreeBSD and/or GhostBSD users.

I daily-drive Linux at work and FreeBSD on my personal ThinkPads (T480 & P52 currently). Both laptops and both operating systems, every day. I'm the kind of person who reads freebsd-update output and Phoronix benchmarks in the same hour.

Recently saw the "is FreeBSD really that goated" thread and it brought back the timeline of my own journey. Started with a rough —call it version 0.9 — build that barely had X11 working, evolved through five iterations, landed on something I'd call "production-stable personal desktop" around version 2.0 on FreeBSD 15.0 with a heavily customized MATE, ZFS boot environments, BastilleBSD jails for microservices, WireGuard tunnels and PF.

If I could send a packet back in time to my earlier self, here's what I'd put in the payload:

═══════════════════════════ ON HARDWARE ══════════════════════════════

ThinkPad T480 isn't magic — it's just unusually well-documented in FreeBSD-land. The wiki tells you which kernel modules to load for the trackpoint, which acpi_video tweaks fix backlight, exactly which iwm/iwn driver matches your wifi card. That isn't true for random laptops. Save yourself a year: pick hardware the community has already debugged.

Corollary: a "spare disk" is not enough. Spare TWO disks. One for the OS, one for your /home and data — the classic configuration. ZFS makes this trivial to set up and disaster-proof. When (not if) you brick the OS partition trying something experimental, you reinstall and your data is still there. Took me three re-installs to internalize this.

Actually, I prefer managing one pair of disks for Linux and another pair for FreeBSD — kept entirely separate. No dual-boot tears, no GRUB rescue at 2am, no shared partitions to corrupt. Two systems, four disks, full isolation.

════════════════════════ ON DESKTOP ENVIRONMENTS ═══════════════════════

I cycled through Xfce, KDE, GNOME, i3, Hyprland (briefly), and landed back on MATE. The cycle wasn't wasted — it taught me what I actually need vs what looked cool on r/unixporn. MATE is boring, stable, lightweight, and doesn't fight FreeBSD's input stack.

Bonus learning: don't install Wayland compositors on FreeBSD before they're production-ready. X11 + a sensible compositor (or no compositor) outperforms experimental Wayland on this OS today. Maybe in two more releases.

══════════════════════ ON COEXISTING WITH LINUX ══════════════════════════

Running both daily isn't a war. It's two different tools for two different mental modes:

1. Linux when I need bleeding-edge: latest kernel, GPU compute workloads, anything that requires NVIDIA proprietary stack, Steam, things that touch hardware that landed in mainline last month.
2. FreeBSD when I need to think clearly: writing, code review, network experiments, anything where I want the OS to disappear and let me work.

The mental shift isn't a downgrade. It's a context switch. Two hats, two desks.

══════════════════ ON ZFS — THE THING I UNDERRATED ════════════════════════

ZFS boot environments saved me probably 40 hours of reinstall pain over the years.

\bectl create before-experiment``

then break stuff freely.

\bectl activate``

rolled back, reboot, done.

No Linux distro gives me this out of the box with the same simplicity (yes, btrfs exists, yes, NixOS exists, neither feels the same).

If you're starting FreeBSD: learn boot environments in your first week. Not month. Week.

════════════════════════ ON THE COMMUNITY ═════════════════════════════

All FreeBSD-forums and r/freebsd are friendly compared to Linux equivalents. Smaller userbase, higher signal-to-noise. Ask a specific question, you get a specific answer, usually from someone who has shipped production systems.

But: don't ask "should I use FreeBSD". Ask "what are the trade-offs for my specific workload". The former question gets you religion. The latter gets you engineering.

═════════════════════ QUESTION FOR THIS SUB ═════════════════════════════

What's the one thing YOU wish someone had told you in your first year on FreeBSD?

I suspect we'll generate a better FAQ in this thread than the wiki currently has.

https://preview.redd.it/drjnbvbgkr1h1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=d37cccbfe3d019cbb3883c718aed0ed16f0c83fe

yay

https://www.freebsd.org/

New design for the FreeBSD website. · freebsd/freebsd-doc@c9c518d

Postscript: GitHub on an iPad obscures the name of the primary author: Mark McBride. His name is easier to see in Codeberg (below the commit log message), and so on.