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The argument for NetBSD is that it runs on almost anything that was ever produced. That isn't the case for Linux, even older x86 is no longer supported in the mainline.


That may be technically true but…

Linux (the kernel) may have been ported to more machines and architectures than NetBSD’s kernel, yes. But is all the code present in the same source tree or do you have to go find patch sets or unofficial branches?

More importantly: is there a modern distribution that builds an installable system for that platform?

The special thing about NetBSD is that you get the portability out of a single and modern tree for many more platforms than any single Linux distribution offers.


The Linux ecosystem is removing support for lots of stuff, especially the distros, but also the kernel.


You said the same thing I did with extra steps.


That’s because… I misread your comment.

In any case, NetBSD is not well known and “why bother because Linux also runs everywhere too” so I thought it was worth explaining.


Sadly the BSDs are not well known.

I asked a major employer why they're using Linux + Apache for an RP when OpenBSD + HAProxy + CARP is a significantly better option. Crickets.

I want a good laptop for OpenBSD (or FreeBSD, at the least) that isn't 10 years old or weighs 5+ lbs.




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