[heathjohns]

I switched to desktop Linux in 1999, and then to FreeBSD around 2014. For me it's about culture. When you use software you're interacting with hundreds of decisions that the devs made, and the more they think like you the more they will have made the same calls that you would have.

Linux's success ended up bringing in a distinctly different crowd than it had when I first started using it, and when the software decisions started to reflect that evolving culture I just found myself going against the grain for a lot of common tasks.

Switching to FreeBSD was like coming back to your home country after being abroad - there were definitely nice things about the place you were travelling in, but it's still a relief to be back in your own culture. When you travel there's lots of random surprises because everything's built on a different set of values and assumptions - that's part of the charm of being abroad - but eventually you want to get things done and it's great to be back home where you can devote your whole brain to the task at hand.

[JeremyMorgan]

That's an interesting viewpoint. I did enjoy the "culture" of BSD as you describe it. After a couple of years using it as a daily driver, there were things I came to expect from the system and seemed very intuitive. I may go back to it and find it just like riding a bike. A seat with my butt print already embedded in it.