NetBSD
Portable, open-source Unix-like operating system from the BSD family.
Liked for a clean, well-documented design that even beginners can learn from,12 for running consistently across a wide range of hardware,34 and as a workable daily driver with pkgsrc packages.56 The main caveat raised is poor UTF-8 support in core tools like wscons and vi, though that report dates from the NetBSD 5 era.7
Why people recommend it
Clean design · 3
Commenters find the system small, lean and easy to understand and customize.
“NetBSD is IMHO the most beginner friendly nix out there. It's small, lean, and well documented.”
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“I find it easier to understand and customize”
Portability · 3
It runs on nearly any hardware, including old netbooks, with a consistent experience.
“it runs on d**ed near everything. And more importantly, it's a pretty consistent experience across the supported platforms.”
“I used NetBSD as the OS.”
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“I find it easier to understand and customize”
Daily driver · 3
Some use it as their everyday OS, including people who switched from Windows.
“NetBSD 11 with Firefox 151 from pkgsrc on a custom CTWM is a usable daily driver”
“I used NetBSD as the OS.”
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“I switched from Windows back to NetBSD many years ago and I got what I wanted.”
Documentation · 2
The handbook and docs are described as complete enough to need no outside help.
“NetBSD is IMHO the most beginner friendly nix out there. It's small, lean, and well documented.”
Package management · 2
Users like the package system, with pkgsrc supplying apps like current Firefox.
“NetBSD 11 with Firefox 151 from pkgsrc on a custom CTWM is a usable daily driver”
Jails design · 1
One commenter says kauth-backed jails could surpass FreeBSD's jails.
“Having jails backed by kauth puts NetBSD's well above FreeBSD's, if NetBSD can reach feature parity.”
Caveats and dissent
UTF-8 support · 1
A former daily-driver user found UTF-8 support lacking in core tools like wscons and vi back in the NetBSD 5 days.
“My only gripe with NetBSD was its lacking UTF-8 support for many core tools”
Immature jails · 1
The jails work has not yet reached feature parity, and an earlier implementation struggled with missing networking features.
“Having jails backed by kauth puts NetBSD's well above FreeBSD's, if NetBSD can reach feature parity.”
Desktop app support · 1
One commenter questions how many Linux GUI applications work on the BSDs as a desktop.
“it seems prudent to switch to a NetBSD/OpenBSD/Qubes system for the next few years”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- NetBSD 11.0 Released 3 mentions
- NetBSD adds a new text editor called atto 2 mentions
- Research carried out using NetBSD 2 mentions
- NetBSD and my life (2005) 1 mention
- Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux 1 mention
- Microsoft Needs Windows Lite 1 mention
Data: netbsd.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 13
“My only gripe with NetBSD was its lacking UTF-8 support for many core tools”
“NetBSD is IMHO the most beginner friendly nix out there. It's small, lean, and well documented.”
“NetBSD 11 with Firefox 151 from pkgsrc on a custom CTWM is a usable daily driver”
“it seems prudent to switch to a NetBSD/OpenBSD/Qubes system for the next few years”
“NetBSD is a lot like this, still even today. I love working with/in/on it.”
“Definitely my desert island OS.”
“it runs on d**ed near everything. And more importantly, it's a pretty consistent experience across the supported platforms.”
“I find it easier to understand and customize”
“I used NetBSD as the OS.”
“I switched from Windows back to NetBSD many years ago and I got what I wanted.”
“Having jails backed by kauth puts NetBSD's well above FreeBSD's, if NetBSD can reach feature parity.”
“NetBSD is still favorite OS but I use Linux the most”
“Also NetBSD.”