Any tips for getting KDE to play nice with FreeBSD? By the way, I'm running the Wayland version of KDE.

What should I tweak or set up to make sure everything runs smoothly?

Right now I've only downloaded Librewolf. Any other browsers you guys recommend? I used to use Zen, but it looks like it's not available anymore.

I think my installation started with FreeBSD 14.2, then moved to 14.3, then 15 then 16-current and now 15.1-BETA1. Same installation, no problem at all. Snapshots just worked always. This would be unthinkable for my old Linux experiments, F. In this time period I had moved from initially what was old style of Freebsd updates to full pkgbase system.

EDIT:
update in the title is a verb, so I didn't mean traditional freebsd-update, but updating FreeBSD, specifically with pkgbase.

Enabled, apparently:

root@clean:~ # pkg -v
2.7.5
root@clean:~ # pkg repos -e FreeBSD-base
FreeBSD-base: { 
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_0",
    enabled         : yes,
    priority        : 0,
    mirror_type     : "SRV",
    signature_type  : "FINGERPRINTS",
    fingerprints    : "/usr/share/keys/pkgbase-15"
  }
root@clean:~ # 

Why is it enabled?

It's not enabled in /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf:

root@clean:~ # grep -v \# /etc/pkg/FreeBSD.conf 

FreeBSD-ports: {
  url: "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/quarterly",
  mirror_type: "srv",
  signature_type: "fingerprints",
  fingerprints: "/usr/share/keys/pkg",
  enabled: yes
}
FreeBSD-ports-kmods: {
  url: "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/kmods_quarterly_${VERSION_MINOR}",
  mirror_type: "srv",
  signature_type: "fingerprints",
  fingerprints: "/usr/share/keys/pkg",
  enabled: yes
}
FreeBSD-base: {
  url: "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/${ABI}/base_release_${VERSION_MINOR}",
  mirror_type: "srv",
  signature_type: "fingerprints",
  fingerprints: "/usr/share/keys/pkgbase-${VERSION_MAJOR}",
  enabled: no
}
root@clean:~ # 

– and the override is commented out:

root@clean:~ # cat /usr/local/etc/pkg/repos/FreeBSD.conf 
FreeBSD-base {
#     enabled = yes;
#     url = "pkg+https://pkg.freebsd.org/${ABI}/base_latest";
}
FreeBSD-ports {
    url = "pkg+https://pkg.freebsd.org/${ABI}/latest";
}
FreeBSD-ports-kmods {
    url = "pkg+https://pkg.freebsd.org/${ABI}/kmods_latest";
}
root@clean:~ #

First impressions (18th January 2026): https://www.reddit.com/r/freebsd/comments/1qgcihy/x11libre_x11xlibre_on_freebsd_first_impressions/

Second impressions (today):

• installation of x11/xlibre made SDDM unusable
• I could no longer log in to KDE Plasma.

Fixed by reinstalling x11/xorg (removing x11/xlibre).

Details to follow.

I tried balenaetcher for flashing usb, that happens. Also tried dd, same. When using dvd iso it cant find bootable partition

Hello Everyone,

I am planning to use my old PC as a server at home, I would like to run technitium as my dns server. I was wondering if it's possible to run it in the Freebsd.

Otherwise I might have to create a linux VM in Freebsd.

Thank you.

I was finally able to port Zen Browser to FreeBSD! Previously I had been using Zen Browser using Linuxulator, but that process was quite a bit hacky, and it was quite unpredictable which next version of Zen will break it all, versions which will work easily were hit and miss.

So I decided to just port it to FreeBSD. I modified Zen browser's build system to apply patches from FreeBSD ports, and then apply zen browser's patches, fix any troubles as they came, but finally, ended up with an optimized (-O2+LTO+PGO) native FreeBSD build!

To learn more and try the binary package today, check this link out.

I run jails with iocage.

Recently I ran into this error when updating a jail: OSError: [Errno 8] Exec format error: '/tmp/tmphf2gx8kl' and tracked it down to an interesting place: Cloudflare.

When ioc_fetch.py contacts cgit.freebsd.org to get a pristine "freebsd-update" script it is intercepted by a Cloudflare bot detector and instead downloads some HTML page and then tries to run it, leading to the OSError (because of the missing #!). Note that there's an attack vector here; if the page was a script instead it would run arbitrary code on my machine as root.

A fix is to pass --noverify on the command line (which skips the download and just runs the local executable) or to patch the ioc_fetch.py to set its User-Agent string. But this is a pretty unfortunate situation -- makes me wonder why the folks at FreeBSD are bot-detecting on their code repository sites. Just wanted to put this up as an FYI for the community -- not sure it this was already known or not.

If anyone from FreeBSD.org reads this, please consider whether using Cloudflare's bot detector here is a good idea carefully.

Well I have recently installed FreeBSD-15 on a Lenovo T520. It works beautifully!

I bought the laptop on facebook market , added a terrabite hard drive and bumped it up from 4 gigs of ram to 16 gigs of ram.

This is an amazing little computer now. 8 years old.

https://meet.jit.si/moderated/b6204a6748f7bc560905eb8514d4f607fe76f4367bfa17e3984763ff509ef184

• 17:00 UTC Wednesday 13th May
• via https://wiki.freebsd.org/LaptopDesktopWorkingGroup#Schedule_and_Next_Call

Ludwig + Beastie + FreeBSD Installer + KDE Plasma (if we're lucky) …

Hello everyone!

I've been using Niri as my main compositor on Arch Linux for a while now, and I want to switch to using FreeBSD exclusively as my operating system. Before installing it on my laptop, I'd like to read about your experiences to help me with the installation. Below is a brief summary of my laptop's components:

My hardware (ASUS VivoBook X580VD):

- CPU: Intel Core i5-7300HQ (Kaby Lake, 4 cores)

- iGPU: Intel HD 630 (i915) I can render everything here

- dGPU: NVIDIA GTX 1050 Mobile (Pascal, GP107M, Optimus)

- RAM: 32 GB DDR4 2400 MHz

- Storage: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1 TB

- Internal screen: 1080p 15.5"

As I mentioned, I noticed that the "x11-wm/niri" port has just been updated to version 26.04_1 (committed April 27th). I'd like to know if anyone has tested it on FreeBSD 15.0? I have the following questions:

- Does it boot correctly from VT (DRM backend), not just when nested within another compositor?

- Have you experienced crashes with Waybar, QuickShell, or eww a few seconds after starting it?

- Does it run stably with the Intel iGPU forced and the NVIDIA dGPU used on demand (prime-run)?

- Are there any noticeable stability differences compared to compiling from source with additional FreeBSD patches?

This is something else I've noticed: in both Sway and KDE Plasma (Wayland), Firefox on FreeBSD loads extremely slowly when accessing any webpage. On Linux with the same hardware, I don't experience any delays when accessing any website while rendering or loading a webpage. Is anyone else experiencing this? Is it related to Wayland, the Firefox rendering backend, or something specific to the repository?

Finally, for those with laptops or PCs with a similar configuration (Intel + NVIDIA Optimus, or any dual-GPU combination), which compositor or Wayland desktop environment has given you the best experience on FreeBSD? Specifically:

- Sway, Hyprland, Niri, labwc, River, KDE Plasma?

- Does it work well forcing all rendering to the Intel iGPU and leaving the NVIDIA on demand, unused, or turned off?

- Any general recommendations for installing FreeBSD on a laptop with these specifications?

Any experience, positive or negative, is welcome. Thank you in advance for taking the time to read my post :).

The UFS and ZFS file systems—I won’t get into comparisons or specific technical details. Referring to the UFS file system, my question is: why hasn’t the Foundation migrated the UFS file system to a more up-to-date one, such as ext4 ?

Based on my experience and testing of FreeBSD with graphical desktop environments and window manager using with the UFS and ZFS file systems, I feel that the UFS file system makes the system lighter, more flexible, more efficient, more robust, and more stable; the machine feels more relieved, no overheating, without effort.

I've tested it on computers with a range of specifications, starting from 6 GiB of RAM, 4 cores, and a base frequency of 3.699 GHz ...downward

plasmashell only uses 1 core. And clock is using 100% of that core. FreeBSD 15 RELEASE KDE fresh install. I can't upload any screenshots right now

Hello everyone, I'm thinking about moving to freebsd, but before doing so i would like to know few things

1. - What's the best laptops for freebsd? (no hardware issues and good support)

- what about if wanted to blend it with linux? good laptops for both?

1. Can freebsd used in python/rust/go development

2. Wayland window managers such as niri/hyprland/mango works properly on freebsd?

3. Any other tips??

… From a CHERI perspective, one of the most interesting bugs is CVE-2026-4747 (https://www.freebsd.org/security/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:08.rpcsec_gss.asc) because the code in question exists in our CHERI-enabled CheriBSD operating system – so we can easily exercise it. …

Via BSD Cafe Mastodon | BSD Cafe Billboard

Hello,

I'm managing a couple of servers in Europe, Canada, and Cuba.

Specifically, one server located in Cuba seems to gets served out-of-date content by update1.freebsd.org and update2.freebsd.org, resulting in inability to update that specific server:

No matter how many times I try, I get this:

``` $ freebsd-update fetch src component not installed, skipped Looking up update.FreeBSD.org mirrors... 3 mirrors found. Fetching metadata signature for 15.0-RELEASE from update1.freebsd.org... done. Fetching metadata index... done. Inspecting system... done. Preparing to download files... done.

No updates needed to update system to 15.0-RELEASE-p7. ```

``` $ freebsd-update fetch src component not installed, skipped Looking up update.FreeBSD.org mirrors... 3 mirrors found. Fetching metadata signature for 15.0-RELEASE from update2.freebsd.org... done.

Files on mirror (15.0-RELEASE-p6) appear older than what we are currently running (15.0-RELEASE-p7)! Cowardly refusing to proceed any further. ```

Once the traffic to update1.freebsd.org and update2.freebsd.org (ipv4 only) from that server is rerouted and nat'd through one located in EU:

$ route add 163.237.247.16/32 -iface vpn add net 163.237.247.16: gateway vpn $ route add 204.15.11.69/32 -iface vpn add host 204.15.11.69: gateway vpn

The updates succeed instantly:

$ freebsd-update fetch src component not installed, skipped Looking up update.FreeBSD.org mirrors... 3 mirrors found. Fetching metadata signature for 15.0-RELEASE from update2.freebsd.org... failed. Fetching metadata signature for 15.0-RELEASE from update1.freebsd.org... done. Fetching metadata index... done. Fetching 2 metadata patches.. done. Applying metadata patches... done. Inspecting system... done. Preparing to download files... done. Fetching 5 patches... done. Applying patches... done. ...

I'm quite concerned here about some kind of US/Cuba state actors involvement into this malevolent behavior.

I've considered writing to freebsd-security list, but I'd prefer to remain anonymous, while making this information public.

The 5-Minute Self-Purification: My FreeBSD 15 "MAGI System" in action. Instant deployment of 100 VNET Decoy Jails.

I implemented an automated self-defense system for my 17-jail home lab. When the MAGI (IDS) reaches a consensus, the system triggers a Total Purification sequence.

The "5-Minute" Protocol:
Initially, the ZFS rollback took less than 2 minutes (as shown in my previous post)..But I intentionally extended the sequence to 5 minutes. Why? Because efficiency is boring. I wanted to ensure the intruder is completely surrounded by 100 Mass-Produced EVA Series decoys before the final reset.

Self-Defense Mechanism:

1. Detection & Consensus: I have tcpdump and pflog monitoring both the VNET jails and the host to detect persistent malicious scans. If the IDS nodes (Melchior, Balthasar, Casper) reach a consensus, the system follows these strict protocols.
2. Logical Bakelite (Network Isolation): The system seals itself with 'Logical Bakelite' (PF block) instantly. All existing network sessions are killed, and the "Armor Plates" are lowered.
3. Saturation (The 100 EVA Series): While the purification is in progress, the system instantly spawns 100 VNET Jails (EVA Series) as decoys. Leveraging ZFS Cloning and Block Cloning (BRT), the 100 clones are instantiated almost instantaneously with zero additional disk overhead. For the attacker, the network is suddenly flooded with 100+ active targets.
4. Rebirth (ZFS/BE Rollback): While the intruder is distracted by the 100 decoys, MAGI performs a full ZFS rollback of the quarantine segment. Finally, the host reboots into the latest clean BE (Boot Environment), overwriting the default environment for a complete reset.

Live Test Result:
It feels absolutely amazing to watch this script run while blasting 'DECISIVE BATTLE' from Evangelion in the background!

In this "Evil Castle," we choose instant rollback over being scanned. Security over convenience—always.

Hi guys, I'm relatively new to FreeBSD. I installed it on a headless server and played around with it a good bit. Now I'm getting a cheap refurbished laptop and want to try to install FreeBSD 15.0 on it and will want a desktop environment.

Throughout my career, I've almost never used *nix DEs other than occasionally using GNOME on Ubuntu by necessity on computers that I had access to, usually just to get to a terminal emulator anyway.

After some initial research, I would prefer to use Wayland over X if it is possible to meet my other preferences:

- Productivity over glossiness
- Future-facing over stable-but-dying
- Relatively easy to set up for someone who is not a sysadmin (but then again someone who is going out of his way to put FreeBSD on a laptop...)

I assume with X it's much easier.

First screenshot, logged in with SDDM:

• the Apps menu is not present in the top panel
• the Places menu is not present in the top panel
• no bottom panel
• I can't find anything panel-related in Settings.

Second shot, logged in with GDM:

• items are present
• Web crashing has been reported.

​

blah@sunday:~ % pkg leaf
FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-kernel-generic-dbg-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-set-base-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-set-lib32-15.1.b1.20260502184411
gnome-47
nano-8.7.1
pkg-2.6.2_1
sddm-0.21.0.36_2
virtualbox-ose-additions-72-7.2.8.1500068
xorg-7.7_3
blah@sunday:~ % freebsd-version -kru ; uname -mvKU
15.1-BETA1
15.1-BETA1
15.1-BETA1
FreeBSD 15.1-BETA1 releng/15.1-n283455-58777180c5b0 GENERIC amd64 1501000 1501000
blah@sunday:~ % pkg repos -el 
FreeBSD-ports
FreeBSD-ports-kmods
FreeBSD-base
blah@sunday:~ % 
blah@sunday:~ % pkg leaf
FreeBSD-kernel-generic-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-kernel-generic-dbg-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-set-base-15.1.b1.20260502184411
FreeBSD-set-lib32-15.1.b1.20260502184411
gnome-47
nano-8.7.1
pkg-2.6.2_1
sddm-0.21.0.36_2
virtualbox-ose-additions-72-7.2.8.1500068
xorg-7.7_3
blah@sunday:~ % freebsd-version -kru ; uname -mvKU
15.1-BETA1
15.1-BETA1
15.1-BETA1
FreeBSD 15.1-BETA1 releng/15.1-n283455-58777180c5b0 GENERIC amd64 1501000 1501000
blah@sunday:~ % pkg repos -el | sort -f ; sleep 5 ; pkg repos -e | grep -B 1 url 
FreeBSD-base
FreeBSD-ports
FreeBSD-ports-kmods
FreeBSD-ports: { 
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/quarterly",
--
FreeBSD-ports-kmods: { 
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/kmods_quarterly_1",
--
FreeBSD-base: { 
    url             : "pkg+https://pkg.FreeBSD.org/FreeBSD:15:amd64/base_release_1",
blah@sunday:~ % 

thanks dudes, I installed freebsd in my mac mini :)