{"slug": "ghostbsd", "name": "GhostBSD", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 7, "warners": 0, "score": 4.278, "rising": -1.64, "first": "2025-11-03", "latest": "2026-08-01", "why": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 3, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "ghostbsd.org", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://ghostbsd.org", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["GhostBSD"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 786221888, "item_id": 49138868, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138868", "by": "aleph_minus_one", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "have a look at GhostBSD", "excerpt": "> I often wonder what the current status is of the BSDs (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD). DragonFly BSD ([1], [2]): \"Am I a joke to you? :-(\" ;-) By the way: If you look for a BSD-based desktop OS, have a look at GhostBSD ([3], [4]) (based on FreeBSD) and/or MidnightBSD ([5], [6]) (forked from FreeBSD). Both are under under active development. --- [1] https://www.dragonflybsd.org/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonFl", "context": "", "use_case": "BSD-based desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "NetBSD 11.0 Released"}, {"id": 758439857, "item_id": 47402491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402491", "by": "xenophonf", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want something with a graphical environment ready to run, check out GhostBSD, which is based on FreeBSD and features MATE", "excerpt": "I love FreeBSD for its documentation. To answer your question about Wayland specifically: https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/wayland/ If you want something with a graphical environment ready to run, check out GhostBSD, which is based on FreeBSD and features MATE: https://www.ghostbsd.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "FreeBSD desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Love FreeBSD"}, {"id": 750463040, "item_id": 46903940, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903940", "by": "vermaden", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Highly recommended.", "excerpt": "GhostBSD is FreeBSD with GUI installer and MATE by default - it also comes with XFCE flavor. Highly recommended.", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop BSD OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation"}, {"id": 750461440, "item_id": 46903840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903840", "by": "JPLeRouzic", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago.", "excerpt": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago. Until now it seems a very pleasant travel, even bringing back nice memories of Unix in the 1990 while using all the modern tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Devuan", "story": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation"}, {"id": 732814624, "item_id": 45800914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45800914", "by": "lproven", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "GhostBSD.", "excerpt": "> Having never used anything beyond Linux, Windows and Mac, what would be a good starting point? GhostBSD. https://ghostbsd.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using FreeBSD to make self-hosting fun again"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["bsd-based desktop os", "freebsd desktop", "desktop bsd os"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46841897", "title": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49136736", "title": "NetBSD 11.0 Released", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882189", "title": "Theo de Raadt: \"You've been smoking something mind altering\" (2007)", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47397574", "title": "I Love FreeBSD", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46484662", "title": "Gershwin-desktop: OS X-like Desktop Environment based on GNUStep", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45789424", "title": "Using FreeBSD to make self-hosting fun again", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2, "neutral": 1}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {}}, "quotes": [{"id": 786221888, "item_id": 49138868, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138868", "by": "aleph_minus_one", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "have a look at GhostBSD", "excerpt": "> I often wonder what the current status is of the BSDs (FreeBSD, OpenBSD, NetBSD). DragonFly BSD ([1], [2]): \"Am I a joke to you? :-(\" ;-) By the way: If you look for a BSD-based desktop OS, have a look at GhostBSD ([3], [4]) (based on FreeBSD) and/or MidnightBSD ([5], [6]) (forked from FreeBSD). Both are under under active development. --- [1] https://www.dragonflybsd.org/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DragonFl", "context": "", "use_case": "BSD-based desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "NetBSD 11.0 Released"}, {"id": 782181840, "item_id": 48886365, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48886365", "by": "sellmesoap", "date": "2026-07-12", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "GhostBSD DragonflyBSD pf/opn sense even funky hybrid stuff like Chimera Linux", "excerpt": "GhostBSD DragonflyBSD pf/opn sense even funky hybrid stuff like Chimera Linux, out of curiosity I had a quick search and the list goes on https://github.com/DiscoverBSD/awesome-bsd Linux has a lot of corporate sponsorship and its own legal hurdles of the past (SCO le sigh.)", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Theo de Raadt: \"You've been smoking something mind altering\" (2007)"}, {"id": 758439857, "item_id": 47402491, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47402491", "by": "xenophonf", "date": "2026-03-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "If you want something with a graphical environment ready to run, check out GhostBSD, which is based on FreeBSD and features MATE", "excerpt": "I love FreeBSD for its documentation. To answer your question about Wayland specifically: https://docs.freebsd.org/en/books/handbook/wayland/ If you want something with a graphical environment ready to run, check out GhostBSD, which is based on FreeBSD and features MATE: https://www.ghostbsd.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "FreeBSD desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Love FreeBSD"}, {"id": 750485728, "item_id": 46905358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46905358", "by": "nazgulsenpai", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I haven't checked out GhostBSD's site in a while", "excerpt": "I haven't checked out GhostBSD's site in a while, and saw they had a version with a DE called \"Gershwin\" I've never heard of before. It looks really cool for those Apple folk among us https://github.com/gershwin-desktop/gershwin-desktop", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation"}, {"id": 750463040, "item_id": 46903940, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903940", "by": "vermaden", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Highly recommended.", "excerpt": "GhostBSD is FreeBSD with GUI installer and MATE by default - it also comes with XFCE flavor. Highly recommended.", "context": "", "use_case": "Desktop BSD OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation"}, {"id": 750461440, "item_id": 46903840, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46903840", "by": "JPLeRouzic", "date": "2026-02-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago.", "excerpt": "I switched from Devuan (Debian without SystemD) to GhostBSD a few weeks ago. Until now it seems a very pleasant travel, even bringing back nice memories of Unix in the 1990 while using all the modern tools.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "Devuan", "story": "150 MB Minimal FreeBSD Installation"}, {"id": 743797600, "item_id": 46487350, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46487350", "by": "lproven", "date": "2026-01-04", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I tried it and wrote about it", "excerpt": "This was back in August, and at the time, I tried it and wrote about it: https://www.theregister.com/2025/08/27/ghostbsd_2502/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Gershwin-desktop: OS X-like Desktop Environment based on GNUStep"}, {"id": 732814624, "item_id": 45800914, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45800914", "by": "lproven", "date": "2025-11-03", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "GhostBSD.", "excerpt": "> Having never used anything beyond Linux, Windows and Mac, what would be a good starting point? GhostBSD. https://ghostbsd.org/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Using FreeBSD to make self-hosting fun again"}]}