Hi there, I am new here. I'm interested in BSD in general, not exactly sure yet which will suit me best (heck, I guess I'll simply have to try more), but at this moment I feel a general inclination to NetBSD, not only because it runs on toasters as well (though, that's cool), but that this feature can translate to it runs on more commodity hardware (that means amd64 these days) with less problems.
FreeBSD is the most popular BSD by the numbers and so is the one most people gets introduced to BSD in general, has the most numerous and most awesome books written for and about (probably? I guess) but if it already starts with the question - will it run on my hardware? - and you already solved this question, then going with NetBSD would mean one less problem to worry about. (Oh, and now I'm in the market of a new, modern laptop and I don't want to start with stupid compromises already.) But here' the rub: The guide says ( https://www.netbsd.org/docs/guide/en/netbsd.html ) "This guide is not a Unix tutorial: basic knowledge of some concepts and tools is assumed. You should know, for example, what a file and a directory are, and how to use an editor. There are plenty of books explaining basic Unix and operating system concepts, and you should consult one if you need more background information. It is better to choose a general book and avoid titles like “Learning Unix-XYZ, version 1.2.3.4 in 10 days”, but this is a matter of personal taste." OK, I think I can handle the matter in the first sentence with my only background being a Windows user, but still, I might prefer to have another, more general purpose book teaching me on Unix concepts. Which do you recommend to study along? There are not many books on NetBSD in particular, if I write 'NetBSD' into the search field of Amazon, I have found zero books focused on it. Best selling author of Absolute FreeBSD, Absolute OpenBSD (awesome books) Michael W Lucas says about NetBSD: https://www.michaelwlucas.com/nonfiction /nonexistent-books "I’ve also wanted to write a NetBSD book for, oh, about ten years now. It appears that this isn’t commercially viable for a mainstream publisher. Recent experiments in self-publishing have made me ponder doing this on my own, however. But that will have to wait until the current projects are complete." I am agnostic yet regarding I want the OS for desktop, server or firewall, etc. use (more the latter than the former, though), but first and in general: learning. Michael suggests to install all components including desktop while learning and fully immerse yourself in it. Ultimately, learning about BSD is installing it on your hardware and tinkering with it; sadly I seem to have chosen the one with the least amount of accessible documentation. :( Or, should I really start with FreeBSD (and the hardware issues)? Ps. This list uses Majordomo, which does not support vacation hold mail: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/26849/does-majordomo-support-no-mail-delivery-subscription So why?