Re: [dev] Seeking Recommendations for a UNIX-like Operating System

From: lain. <lain_AT_fair.moe>
Date: Mon, 29 Jul 2024 02:50:41 +0900

On 2024年07月27日 23:29, the silly marcel.wirkore_AT_keemail.me claimed to have said:
> Dear Members of the suckless.org Dev Mailing List,
>
> My name is Marcel, and I am looking for a new operating system.
>
> Since 2023, I have been using Gentoo Linux as my daily driver. However, after a thorough examination of the Linux kernel and recent decisions made by the Gentoo Linux council, I am contemplating switching to a different operating system. I am particularly interested in finding the most UNIX-like operating system available in 2024, which does not necessarily have to be Linux-based.
>
> One option I have considered is plan9, but I am concerned about its safety for modern web use, as I frequently connect to the internet for research purposes. My primary requirements for an operating system are as follows:
> - Safe connectivity to the web
> - Ability to open a text editor (such as vim or vi)
> - (If possible) Support for Wayland (I am not a fan of X)
>
> Additionally, I am curious about the operating systems that you all use and the reasons behind your choices.
>
> I appreciate your time and look forward to your recommendations.
>
> -- Marcel

I'd say either OpenBSD or NetBSD.
OpenBSD checks the safety and vim boxes, but not Wayland, and reserve
NetBSD if you're either running some obscure non-X86_64 hardware that
OpenBSD doesn't support (yet), or if OpenBSD runs too slow on your machine.

If you want something more desktop-oriented, hamonious, and you don't
mind it not being UNIX-like (but somewhat similar), there's Haiku.

As for Plan9, safety shouldn't be a problem, since there are 2 forks
that are still being maintained today, compatibility work poorly written
webpages, I mean, "modern web" is probably a bigger issue.

I don't use Wayland personally, and I daily drive OpenBSD, but I don't
mind that OpenBSD doesn't support Wayland, seeing it's a supposedly
"simple" protocol that has been in development for 16 years, and still
not production ready.
But honestly, if Wayland is important to you, then you might not have
other options than Linux to be honest.
Even though FreeBSD and NetBSD do have Wayland in their repositories,
it's a pain in the ass to get working on those.

-- 
lain.
PGP public key: https://fair.moe/lain.asc

Received on Sun Jul 28 2024 - 19:50:41 CEST

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