I'll never understand why people think this looks human:
What Made This Time Different
This time, I didn't just install FreeBSD.
I created a system for learning and success.
Clear goal: FreeBSD as my daily driver
Daily habit: 10 minutes minimum
Accountability: post the journey on Linkedin
Gee, why not let the agent try FreeBSD for you and do the posting directly
It's a funny video but his stance is quite principled, as he refuses to use any non-free software even if it's horribly inconvenient. Which is the exact opposite of what we have here.
Oh my god this lady should be running a pet shop. She's had this role since 2005 and is only now dogfooding the software for 10 minutes a day? Stunning and brave.
Imagine Linus Torvalds or Theo from OpenBSD using Windows out of convenience. Unthinkable.
There was a bit of a controversy a few years ago when people realized that the head of the Linux Foundation was using Mac OS to give a presentation at a conference. If the FreeBSD Foundation is similar to the Linux Foundation (which seems to be the case from looking at their site), it's mainly intended as a vehicle so large companies can fund aspects of the system they want developed rather than an ideologically driven organization like the FSF. From that perspective, an executive actually trying to run FreeBSD is a nice thing to see. It's been a running joke for years that when you look at a FreeBSD conference you'll see all the developers running it in a VM on their MacBooks, so if they're treating bare metal as more of a priority I think it's a positive development.
I knew people running FreeBSD on the desktop back in 2003. If it was good enough for them then... Could they not scrounge up enough cash for a Thinkpad in the last 20 years?
I tried FreeBSD on tower pc in 2003, it's not that it was completely unusable it but compared to Linux it was like night and day. Now it's still not perfect, more like midnight and evening.
I used FreeBSD on a laptop 2008-2010 and it was usable, other than needing a USB Wifi adapter. Definitely not as usable as Linux, but I was able to do 18 credit hours per semester. Quite a lot more than 10 minutes a day.
Notably, you and I aren't FreeBSD Foundation Executive Directors.
Really setting the bar low there aintcha? If Torvald's Linux use is the benchmark then we're doomed. Aren't there ample quotes from him by now where he basically says he only cares about coding and doesn't have strong opinions about GUIs? Is Theo any better in that aspect?
IIRC, he cares about not breaking userspace, because he is runing the bleeding edge in his main computer and any bacward incompatible change breaks linusspace.
Not to interrupt the predictable HN hates women train but
>she noted in the past every time she tried running FreeBSD on laptops [...]
It's very explicit that she has in fact tried this in the past. She's not some diversity hire, either. She's a former embedded firmware developer at IBM, IIRC.
Have you ever tried running FreeBSD on a laptop? I have. Unless you're using it plugged in at all times and never take it anywhere it has not historically been a very pleasant experience, hence this recent push to bring it into parity with Linux from the 2010s.
Do you still need to run a Linux VM to get WiFi working? The last time I tried FreeBSD on a laptop, that was a thing. It’s just never been all that focused on laptop/mobile use. I’ve used it as a desktop (okay) and as a server (wonderful). But laptop/daily driver use has just never been a focus. Especially if you are running on a battery or wifi - it’s certainly usable as a desktop/workstation with Ethernet.
I don’t entirely fault FreeBSD for this either - it’s not where they see their niche. So, when you have comparatively limited engineering resources, they shouldn’t be wasting them on areas where their users don’t need them. I personally think that dogfooding your own OS makes for a better OS, but there are already decent laptop OS options.
Focusing on server deployments that don’t need much in terms of graphics or consumer wifi chip support isn’t that big of deal to me.
Note that "FreeBSD Foundation" != "FreeBSD Project".
Obviously they're connected, but the FreeBSD Foundation supports the FreeBSD Project; they don't direct it. Governance of the FreeBSD Project vests in the FreeBSD core team, which is elected by FreeBSD developers; and as a FreeBSD developer I'm far more concerned with what OS members of the core team run than I am with what OS members of the Foundation run.
No I'm saying that concluding that she doesn't use FreeBSD simply because she doesn't use it on a laptop, especially considering how poor the laptop experience is, is stupid.
As a long time FreeBSD user, the Foundation has really failed to impress me in recent years. I lost faith in them back in 2018 during the "code of conduct" fiasco, when they wasted Foundation funds on a consultant for a code of conduct that nobody really asked for. Haven't donated since -- instead I redirected my donations to the OpenBSD project, which while less practical in many scenarios, is a technically superior product in my eyes.
That said, I am glad to see them focusing their efforts on something useful, like laptop compatibility. Regardless, this is a really dumb post. 10 minutes a day is not "daily driving."
With ~zero unix experience (I was moving from BeOS), I ran FreeBSD full time as a chemistry grad student from 2003-2009, on a Dell XPS, and mostly had no problems. What's changed?
(I'm interested in leaving linux and going to FreeBSD)
I mean I am happy if they kept FreeBSD to be Server focused. I have been using a Mac / Windows and deploying on Linux and FreeBSD, i don't see why both the consumer and the server / enterprise has to have the same OS stack all the time.
Well, rms has never installed Linux so that's a step forward.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umQL37AC_YM
Imagine Linus Torvalds or Theo from OpenBSD using Windows out of convenience. Unthinkable.
https://fortune.com/2026/05/06/ceo-take-two-interactive-soft...
Notably, you and I aren't FreeBSD Foundation Executive Directors.
>she noted in the past every time she tried running FreeBSD on laptops [...]
It's very explicit that she has in fact tried this in the past. She's not some diversity hire, either. She's a former embedded firmware developer at IBM, IIRC.
Have you ever tried running FreeBSD on a laptop? I have. Unless you're using it plugged in at all times and never take it anywhere it has not historically been a very pleasant experience, hence this recent push to bring it into parity with Linux from the 2010s.
I don’t entirely fault FreeBSD for this either - it’s not where they see their niche. So, when you have comparatively limited engineering resources, they shouldn’t be wasting them on areas where their users don’t need them. I personally think that dogfooding your own OS makes for a better OS, but there are already decent laptop OS options.
Focusing on server deployments that don’t need much in terms of graphics or consumer wifi chip support isn’t that big of deal to me.
Or they could support one laptop well, and the CEO uses that and not a sexy MacBook because it looks cool.
Oh rubbish.
When you're the head of something, you're paid to use their products if not for anything but image purposes.
Do you think the head of GM drives around in a Mustang?
Note that "FreeBSD Foundation" != "FreeBSD Project".
Obviously they're connected, but the FreeBSD Foundation supports the FreeBSD Project; they don't direct it. Governance of the FreeBSD Project vests in the FreeBSD core team, which is elected by FreeBSD developers; and as a FreeBSD developer I'm far more concerned with what OS members of the core team run than I am with what OS members of the Foundation run.
Nah, it's not rubbish. The comments on just about any article featuring a woman in a tech leadership position are always the same here.
>When you're the head of something, you're paid to use their products if not for anything but image purposes.
Again you conveniently leave out the "on a laptop" qualifier.
10 minutes a day is about all I could tolerate of BSD on a laptop too.
If your hangup really is "Unless you're using it plugged in at all times" well, she is the Executive Director.
I'm sure they can pay an intern to follow her around at all times with a really long extension cord.
That said, I am glad to see them focusing their efforts on something useful, like laptop compatibility. Regardless, this is a really dumb post. 10 minutes a day is not "daily driving."
(I'm interested in leaving linux and going to FreeBSD)
I mean I quite like the todo list that comes with my phone and computer and syncs flawlessly between the two of them. Ships with none of that shit.
lol. That’s not the definition of a daily driver. Thats something I really don’t want to do, like pushups.
Anyone who wrote this has no business with FreeBSD or open source.