Overview

FreeBSD

Stacks250

Followers196

Votes28

Arch Linux

Stacks562

Followers555

Votes108

Arch Linux vs FreeBSD: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Arch Linux and FreeBSD

Arch Linux and FreeBSD are two popular operating systems that differ in various aspects. Here are the key differences:

Package Management: Arch Linux uses its own package manager called Pacman, which is a binary package manager. It allows users to easily install, update, and manage packages from a central repository. On the other hand, FreeBSD uses the Ports Collection, a system similar to source-based package management. It allows users to compile software from source code, providing flexibility and customization options.
Installation Process: Arch Linux has a relatively complex and manual installation process. It requires users to perform various configurations and set up the system manually, making it suitable for advanced users who prefer customization. Conversely, FreeBSD offers a more user-friendly installation process with a graphical installer called bsdinstall. It simplifies the installation procedure, making it accessible for a wider range of users.
System Architecture: Arch Linux is designed for x86-64 architecture, providing extensive support for modern hardware. It focuses mainly on 64-bit systems, although support for 32-bit systems is also available. In contrast, FreeBSD supports a wider range of system architectures, including x86, x86-64, ARM, PowerPC, and MIPS. It is known for its versatility and compatibility across different hardware platforms.
Update Model: Arch Linux follows a rolling release model, which means that it provides frequent updates to the latest versions of packages. This ensures that users always have the most up-to-date software. On the other hand, FreeBSD follows a more conservative approach, with a stable release model. It focuses on stability and reliability by providing periodic releases with backported security updates and bug fixes.
Community and Support: Arch Linux has a large and active community that actively contributes to its development and provides extensive documentation and support. The Arch Wiki is a valuable resource for troubleshooting and finding solutions to various issues. FreeBSD also has a supportive community, but it is relatively smaller compared to Arch Linux. However, FreeBSD provides comprehensive documentation and official resources to aid users in navigating the system.
Philosophy: Arch Linux follows a minimalist philosophy, providing a simple and minimal base system that users can customize according to their needs. It follows the "Keep It Simple, Stupid" (KISS) principle, promoting simplicity and avoiding unnecessary complexity. On the other hand, FreeBSD emphasizes stability, performance, and reliability, aiming to provide a robust and secure operating system for a wide range of use cases.

In summary, Arch Linux and FreeBSD differ in their package management systems, installation processes, supported system architectures, update models, community support, and philosophical approaches. These differences make each operating system suitable for different user preferences and requirements.

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Advice on FreeBSD, Arch Linux

Simon

Developer Advocate at k6 / Load Impact

Mar 7, 2020

Decided

At the moment of the decision, my desktop was the primary place I did work. Due to this, I can't have it blow up on me while I work. While Arch is interesting and powerful, Ubuntu offers (at least for me) a lot more stability and lets me focus on other things than maintaining my own OS installation.

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Detailed Comparison

FreeBSD	Arch Linux
An operating system for a variety of platforms which focuses on features, speed, and stability. It is derived from BSD, the version of UNIX® developed at the University of California, Berkeley. It is developed and maintained by a large community.	A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.
KMS And New drm2 Video Drivers; Capsicum Enabled By Default; New Binary Packaging System; Unmapped I/O	-
Statistics
Stacks 250	Stacks 562
Followers 196	Followers 555
Votes 28	Votes 108
Pros & Cons
Pros 8 Excellent as Server 6 Very Stable 4 Helpful community 2 Ports and packages system is mature and well-supported 2 Good for Cloud - Nextcloud Cons 1 Poor support for laptops, especially wireless cards 1 Slower to adopt non-server hardware than Linux	Pros 17 Large Community 15 Package Manager 13 Customizable 12 Rolling Release 11 Bleeding Edge Cons 4 Systemd only 3 Only X86_64 architecture is offically supported 1 Unstable 1 System maintenance 1 Comparatively fewer offically supported packages

What are some alternatives to FreeBSD, Arch Linux?

Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an ancient African word meaning ‘humanity to others’. It also means ‘I am what I am because of who we all are’. The Ubuntu operating system brings the spirit of Ubuntu to the world of computers.

Debian

Debian systems currently use the Linux kernel or the FreeBSD kernel. Linux is a piece of software started by Linus Torvalds and supported by thousands of programmers worldwide. FreeBSD is an operating system including a kernel and other software.

Fedora

Fedora is a Linux-based operating system that provides users with access to the latest free and open source software, in a stable, secure and easy to manage form. Fedora is the largest of many free software creations of the Fedora Project. Because of its predominance, the word "Fedora" is often used interchangeably to mean both the Fedora Project and the Fedora operating system.

Linux Mint

The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.

CentOS

The CentOS Project is a community-driven free software effort focused on delivering a robust open source ecosystem. For users, we offer a consistent manageable platform that suits a wide variety of deployments. For open source communities, we offer a solid, predictable base to build upon, along with extensive resources to build, test, release, and maintain their code.

Linux

A clone of the operating system Unix, written from scratch by Linus Torvalds with assistance from a loosely-knit team of hackers across the Net. It aims towards POSIX and Single UNIX Specification compliance.

CoreOS

It is designed for security, consistency, and reliability. Instead of installing packages via yum or apt, it uses Linux containers to manage your services at a higher level of abstraction. A single service's code and all dependencies are packaged within a container that can be run on one or many machines.

Gentoo Linux

It is a free operating system based on either Linux or FreeBSD that can be automatically optimized and customized for just about any application or need.

Alpine Linux

Alpine Linux is a security-oriented, lightweight Linux distribution based on musl libc and busybox.

Manjaro

It is an accessible, friendly, open-source Linux distribution and community. Based on Arch Linux, it provides all the benefits of cutting-edge software combined with a focus on getting started quickly, automated tools to require less manual intervention, and help readily available when needed.