NomadBSD is a 32-bit and 64-bit live system for USB flash drives, based on FreeBSD. Together with automatic hardware detection and setup, it is configured to be used as a desktop system that works out of the box, but can also be used for data recovery.
To compare the software in this project to the software available in other distributions, please see our Compare Packages page.
Notes: In case where multiple versions of a package are shipped with a distribution, only the default version appears in the table. For indication about the GNOME version, please check the "nautilus" and "gnome-shell" packages. The Apache web server is listed as "httpd" and the Linux kernel is listed as "linux". The KDE desktop is represented by the "plasma-desktop" package and the Xfce desktop by the "xfdesktop" package.
Colour scheme:green text = latest stable version, red text = development or beta version. The function determining beta versions is not 100% reliable due to a wide variety of versioning schemes.
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I have tested many operating systems with FreeCAD. nomad bsd (installed on the hard drive) is the fastest. I'm totally thrilled. I hope the system will last for a long time.
Here is the installation of FreeCAD as shown below
pkt install freecad
very easy
I've been working with Unix-like systems since the 80s. In my opinion, nomadbsd is the most powerful today. it doesn't slow down the hardware. Nvidia cards also run very well. e.g. gtx 770
I just take my usb stick with NomadBSD and it's working at many old and new laptops.
Very simple installation (in comparsion with others BSD).
Some packages onboard (editors, browser, file manager etc)
Simple languages config.
Very nice look.
Most of my hardware devices working without some jumps and magicians, with minimum console using or without it.
It's like FreeBSD with desktop for newbies, and I like it.
Very goog for non-profy users to start learning BSD and for peoples, who afraid console now.
Thanks for authors of NomadBSD.
Version: 140r Rating: 1 Date: 2023-12-29 Votes: 0
NomadBSD is a theoretically great idea that does not work in practice.
It's a nice system, and the OpenBox interface is a billion times better than the badly cludged Linux DE on FreeBSD offerings by others. This is probably because OpenBox is not really a 'desktop environment' per se, but an interface that runs well atop a server, which is essentially what FreeBSD is.
The idea of a live FreeBSD is brilliant, and NomadBSD fundamentally works as a live system. Settings can be customised on the fly, and the live system can be installed to a real hard drive, keeping ones personal settings.
But it's not possible to tell whether it's a real full install or simply a clone of the live USB version with the continued option to edit personal settings.
For a start, the install to a hard drive is unusually fast, under 10 minutes, the same as decompressing the disk.img and writing it to a USB pendrive: literally erasing the drive, writing a bootable file system and copying the live OS to the drive.
But then, it is impossible to update or upgrade the system, or add software, which suggests that it is no more than a static FreeBSD with a very nice GUI. The OctoPkg application is essentially useless, because it can do nothing more than read the package lists. Even running 'sudo freebsd-update fetch' in the terminal does nothing more. It's not even possible to add the Linux compatible repositories, in spite of what the NomadBSD handbook instructs.
So NomadBSD is not really what it claims to be.
It lacks the genuine persistence of a live (Linux) system in which software can actually be added and removed, and it lacks even the capabilities of a genuine frugal install that can do the same (e.g. Puppy, EasyOS, or Slax), so it is not truly a 'live' system.
I hope that this project continues, but thus far, it only proves that FreeBSD is a server system, not a genuine live system in the Linux sense.