BSD User Questionnaire

Qryptocracy

Questions for a curious mind.
1) What BSD are you using?
2) Is that BSD your main OS?
3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason?

nia

I'm using NetBSD on all my personal laptops, servers, routers, and miscellaneous computers, with no other OSes currently in use except at work, which is entirely FreeBSD. I use NetBSD for my side hustle of music production, audio engineering, and DJing.

I'm using LineageOS with microG (open source Android) on mobile devices

unicorn

I'm using all three BSDs. FreeBSD and NetBSD are my favorite. I mainly use FreeBSD. I also use Linux to play steam games,sometimes I have to use Windows because some organizations use windows only.

1) What BSD are you using?
NetBSD

2) Is that BSD your main OS?
Yes

3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason?
Void Linux, for fun and unfortunately Windows at work.

nortonham

what kind of work do you do?

pfr

pin Same here. Although now, with my new desktop machine, I use Windows for fun as well 😆

However, I like to play with SculptOS in a VM and I do plan to run it on hardware (once MNT release their RISC-V Reform laptop). I also tinker on 9front a little but it's still a little too complicated in its simplicity for me to understand 😄

nortonham

I currently have free, open, and net running on VM's. BSD is not my main OS. My main OS is Debian ( a linux distro). I use Debian as my main OS partly out of habit. I'm not sure when I will move everything to a BSD.

nortonham I'm a process chemist/engineer working for a pharma company.

nortonham

Oh right, I think you have mentioned that before

puhaTek

pin Ahh I see you Windows at work.
What type of propiertary software do you use as a chemist/engineer?

What are the Open Source or versions that run on Linux/*BSD like?
Are there any .JS web based ones?
When I was studying Mechanical Engineering, Solidworks was the most expensive with a annual fee of $8,000USD which is expensive but the amount of time the software saves you makes up for it. Also used AutoCAD for the 2D part which I believe had a annual fee of $1,000USD a year.

I tried using FreeCAD not as intuitive as Solidworks.

Qryptocracy

Thanks for your responses.
Answering my own questions:
1) What BSD are you using? FreeBSD
2) Is that BSD your main OS? Yes
3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason? Yes. Void Linux myself. Everyone one else in my family is on Windows so I get to experience that joy occasionally too..

venotaku

1) What BSD are you using? NetBSD
2) Is that BSD your main OS? Yes
3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason? Yes. Windows in other Laptop for Gaming purpose mostly and other laptop with windows for working that belongs to the company.

pfr

NetBSD
Main OS? kind of..
I also use Void Linux on (arguably) my main laptop. However, I am about to finish building my NetBSD desktop PC so then I guess I can say NetBSD is my main OS.

I too, am forced to use Windows for work, on my company owned laptop.

dev0

1) I use FreeBSD on a Mac Pro, NetBSD and OpenBSD on laptops. Each of the BSD variants has its advantages and drawbacks. E.g. I like the seamless ZFS integration and the excellent software repository of FreeBSD, I like the security features and ease of use on laptops of OpenBSD and I like NetBSD for its portability, its approach to innovation and the nice community. A synthesis of all would be the ideal BSD for me
2) My main OS is Fedora Linux, because I need access to tools like Matlab/Simulink and Nvidia CUDA that are not available on any BSD.
3) At work, I use Fedora and Rocky Linux and sometimes Windows for some corporate applications.

oui

1) NetBSD
2) Yes, I run NetBSD on my desktop (Lenovo ThinkCentre M700 Tiny) and on both my laptops (ThinkPad X250 and Pinebook Pro)
3) macOS for work (design related)

JuvenalUrbino

NetBSD (have used all BSDs in the past).
Sort of. I have NetBSD on the amd64 laptop which I spend most time onto (used for web browsing, writing, listening to music, hacking), on a i386 laptop (mainly used for retrogaming and reading because of 4:3 aspect ratio), on the internet-facing server (serving web, mail, ftp, news, matrix), on my local media server (NFS, DLNA).
The amd64 laptop which I use for studying runs Slackware (ease at running videoconferencing software + few proprietary things and Linux-only Electron apps). My workstation dual boots Slackware and Windows. I don't hink its dedicated soundcard is supported by any of the BSDs. This is the only rather new computer I own and is where I build my pkgsrc packages for Linux. Windows is mainly used for Microsoft Office and MATLAB. An old x86 PC desktop runs Illumos (Tribblix), but I rarely boot it and it's not even connected to the Internet. I run illumos (OmniTribblix) and Solaris 11 in VMs (for fun, curiosity/learning, testing pkgsrc). I also use FreeDOS, to play old games, have fun writing BASIC and to get a real vibe while surfing BBSes. I seldom use 9front for fun through SDF (9p.sdf.org). Beside NetBSD, the x86 laptop also runs eComStation (a IBM OS/2 derivative).

joany

1 NetBSD, tried Open and Free, but its in the NET i want to be.

No not yet 😔
Windows since i like my FlightSims
Debian and Void for my experiments.

bsduck

My main OS is FreeBSD, which I use on a laptop and a desktop computer.

I maintain a few Linux machines (Debian and Void) used in my family and at work.

I also have to use Windows at my current job.

I like to experiment with other BSDs but don't use them on a regular basis.

dressupgeekout

1) What BSD are you using? -- NetBSD primarily, but I dabble with DragonFly.

2) Is that BSD your main OS? -- Not really. My "stable"/"desktop" NetBSD machine is quite capable, but doesn't do ALL the things I need. My daily driver is macOS "Catalina", that's my 'command center' and I SSH into other machines from there.

3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason? -- Linux for work (embedded/toolchain engineering for a company that makes speakers and headphones). Windows 10 for the cutting-edge games and video editing. I love my Atari ST, which runs good ol' fashioned TOS. Experimenting with FreeMiNT and Solaris.

puhaTek

1) What BSD are you using?
NetBSD amd64 9.3

2) Is that BSD your main OS?
No I'm using Lubuntu Linux as it supports most of my Laptop hardware.

3) Do you use any other OS for any other reason?
Windows-X Spyware Edition for when I was studying as I needed to use Solid Works and M$ Excel and Word, Multisim.
Also WinUAE is the best Amiga Emulator and it runs best on M$ Windows.
Raspberry Pi OS on my Raspberry Pi 3B+ because it supports all the hardware
AmigaDOS/Workbench 1.3 -> 3.1 on my Amiga or on a Amiga Emulator.
TOS on Hatari Emulator
NeXTSTEP 3.3 on Previous Emulator

puhaTek What type of propiertary software do you use as a chemist/engineer?

I could list a few but, that's not the main issue tbh.
There're open source alternatives for most things and they are good or, in some cases ok.
The major issue is that you're expected to use the same tools as anybody else. Anyway, it's not my machine.