FreeBSD

I own a desktop but have been wanting to switch to something more portable. I have been saving up for a laptop and, as such, will soon be installing and reconfiguring an OS from scratch (one of my favorite pastimes). I’m normally an Artix Linux user, but I’ve been becoming increasingly intrigued by BSD.

Arguably both the best and worst thing about Linux is that it’s just a kernel, which means there’s so many ways to do one thing (musl vs glibc, x vs wayland, pipewire vs pulse vs alsa and so on). This is great because it allows the ecosystem to innovate and stay modern and lets people like me kitbash a system that’s perfect for them. However, it also forces developers to build compatibility layers, distribute and manage multiple builds, etc. Generally, it’s just messy. Now, I could just use a “fully-featured” OS like Mint, Fedora, or Ubuntu, but I prefer lighter systems, and I absolutely love custom tailoring a system to fit my needs. I couldn’t tell you why.

From the research I’ve done, BSD seems to “solve” this issue. It’s a full operating system, so there’s a set way to handle things like networking, package management, etc. However, it doesn’t come with a GUI, so I get to rice and configure to my heart’s content. Is this assumption correct? Also, do you have any words of wisdom for a Linux user thinking about transitioning?

P.S. I’ve looked at the section on the website about laptop compatibility, but suggestions from you guys would also be great. I don’t have the most pocket change, so old-ish laptops are fine.

Gruß!