Overview

FreeBSD

Stacks250

Followers196

Votes28

Linux Mint

Stacks288

Followers389

Votes77

FreeBSD vs Linux Mint: What are the differences?

Introduction

Here we will discuss the key differences between FreeBSD and Linux Mint. Both FreeBSD and Linux Mint are popular operating systems, but they have distinct features and characteristics that set them apart.

Architecture: FreeBSD is based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD) operating system, while Linux Mint is built on the Linux kernel. This difference in architecture affects various aspects of the operating systems, including their design philosophy, approach to system administration, and compatibility with different software and hardware.
Licensing: FreeBSD follows a permissive open-source license called the BSD License, which allows for greater flexibility in the redistribution and modification of the source code. On the other hand, Linux Mint follows the GNU General Public License (GPL), which imposes certain obligations and restrictions on the redistribution and modification of the software. This difference in licensing can have implications for the development and distribution of software on the respective platforms.
Package Management: FreeBSD uses its own package management system called pkg, which focuses on providing a minimal and stable base system. Linux Mint, on the other hand, utilizes the Advanced Packaging Tool (APT), which is a powerful package management system commonly used in Debian-based distributions. The choice of package management system affects the availability of software packages, ease of package installation, and update management.
Desktop Environments: Linux Mint offers a variety of desktop environments to choose from, including Cinnamon, MATE, and Xfce. Each desktop environment provides a different user interface and set of features, allowing users to customize their experience. FreeBSD, on the other hand, does not include a specific default desktop environment, but users can install and configure their desired desktop environment manually. This flexibility in desktop environments is a notable difference between the two operating systems.
Community and Support: Linux Mint has a larger and more active community compared to FreeBSD, which results in a greater availability of online resources, tutorials, and user forums. This vast community makes it easier for Linux Mint users to seek help, troubleshoot issues, and find support. FreeBSD, while having its own dedicated community, may have a relatively smaller user base and fewer resources available for support.
Target Audience: FreeBSD is often considered more suitable for advanced users, system administrators, and developers due to its focus on stability, performance, and security. It provides a robust platform for server deployments and networking scenarios. Linux Mint, on the other hand, is designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind, making it an excellent choice for desktop users transitioning from Windows or looking for a user-friendly Linux distribution.

In Summary, FreeBSD and Linux Mint differ in architecture, licensing, package management, desktop environments, community, and target audience. While FreeBSD provides a stable and secure environment for advanced users and system administrators, Linux Mint offers a user-friendly and customizable experience for desktop users.

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Advice on FreeBSD, Linux Mint

Gopi

Jun 21, 2020

Decided

I liked manjaro a lot, the huge support it has and the variety of tools it provides is just awesome. But due to its parent platform being Arch Linux it has bleeding-edge technology and that meaning, we get updated 'daily', and if we keep updating the system daily, due to the bugs in the recent updates the system sometimes used to crash, this made the OS really unstable. However, one can avoid such crashes using periodical and careful system/package updates. I now use LinuxMint which is based on Ubuntu, and this OS is completely stable with reliable(mostly tested) updates. And, since this OS is backed up by UBUNTU the concerns/questions one can encounter while using the OS can be easily rectified using the UBUNTU community, which is pretty good. Though this is backed up on UBUNTU it most certainly does NOT include the proprietary stuff of UBUNTU, which is on the bright side of the OS. That's it! Happy Computing.

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Comments

Detailed Comparison

FreeBSD	Linux Mint
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.	The purpose of Linux Mint is to produce a modern, elegant and comfortable operating system which is both powerful and easy to use.
KMS And New drm2 Video Drivers; Capsicum Enabled By Default; New Binary Packaging System; Unmapped I/O	-
Statistics
Stacks 250	Stacks 288
Followers 196	Followers 389
Votes 28	Votes 77
Pros & Cons
Pros 8 Excellent as Server 6 Very Stable 4 Helpful community 2 Good for Cloud - Nextcloud 2 Extremely simple updates and compiles of kernel and use Cons 1 Poor support for laptops, especially wireless cards 1 Slower to adopt non-server hardware than Linux	Pros 16 Simple, Fast, Comfort and Easy to Use 15 Stable 13 Elegant 12 Good for beginners 11 Free to use Cons 3 Easy to mess up with a few settings (like the panel) 2 Security breaches 1 Idiots can break it because it is open source

What are some alternatives to FreeBSD, Linux Mint?

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.

Arch Linux

A lightweight and flexible Linux distribution that tries to Keep It Simple.

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.

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.