I've been burned by TrueOS, PCBSD, etc etc ....
So before I dive back into the pool -

The support/development "staff" seems very thin on the ground. With the niche status of desktop BSDs I have to ask -
what's the longer term plan to make sure its available in 3-5 years?
If the prime developer gets tired or gets hit by a bus, how will GhostBSD continue?

Bonus question - is anyone running GhostBSD on a Thinkpad P52? I can not even get it to boot where Ubuntu/Slackware and so on work fine.
It stops just after the "what do you want to do" screen --- you know the pick door 1,2,3,4..... one.
I suspect its a Freebsd underpinning issue with the security chip, memory or even a graphics issue.
The last message is one about stride and mask.....

Can GhostBSD handle 32 GB of memory? I would hope so.

As per wiki, GBsd is gng strong since 2010. Further you decide.

zslg01 wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 2:52 pm I've been burned by TrueOS, PCBSD, etc etc ....
So before I dive back into the pool -

The support/development "staff" seems very thin on the ground. With the niche status of desktop BSDs I have to ask -
what's the longer term plan to make sure its available in 3-5 years?
If the prime developer gets tired or gets hit by a bus, how will GhostBSD continue?

Your concern is legit. I even ask that myself sometimes.

There are multiple factors for that like:

• Donations is needed to pay for servers to build and distribute ISO and packages
  Users need to help each other because I can't help everyone.
  The project needs more help on the development and maintenance side, so I do not get overwhelmed.

To be honest, if I get hit by a bus, the project will die with me. It is the sad truth. Over the 13 years of GhostBSD, I almost quit 5 or 7 times, and two were in the last three months. Just maintaining GhostBSD without adding new things can be time-consuming.

I have been trying to get something done for the last four years, and I can finish it because there is too much time spent on helping, fixing minor issues, and keeping up with updates.

zslg01 wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 2:52 pm Bonus question - is anyone running GhostBSD on a Thinkpad P52? I can not even get it to boot where Ubuntu/Slackware and so on work fine.
It stops just after the "what do you want to do" screen --- you know the pick door 1,2,3,4..... one.
I suspect its a Freebsd underpinning issue with the security chip, memory or even a graphics issue.
The last message is one about stride and mask.....

It will be hard for me to tell what is the problem, but most likely if the FreeBSD ISO does not boot, it is FreeBSD.

zslg01 wrote: ↑Wed May 25, 2022 2:52 pm Can GhostBSD handle 32 GB of memory? I would hope so.

Yes, my main desktop has 64GB of RAM.

„To be honest, if I get hit by a bus, the project will die with me.“

Eric, I really don‘t want to think about that, Not for a second, you have Family and you are really pleasant.

I wonder sometimes why Shuttleworth did not choose BSD as base for Ubuntu, as it may get some easier with its bsd-license.
When I See what you did and do for great work, what could a company like canonical achive?

Oh No, noone will be Hit by bus, and we will have Ghost for next at least 30 years

Thanks for the answer. A couple of bonus questions.
- does GhostBSD boot (and run) on an Intel MacBook Pro (mid-2015)? Apple is not going to provide new systems for this machine and it has years of life left. I will give it a go if no one knows.
- I guess I have three options : Use GhostBSD, build my own FreeBSD desktop (been there done that hate X11) , or do something like Slackware Linux (no systemd code and a rational startup script structure). Of course I can keep running MacOS until the sun goes nova .....

I bought a Lenovo ThinkPad L450 which I fully intend to run GhostBSD on. As a teenager at several points I have custom built my own spins of FreeBSD on varying hardware including several old desktops that my father would get off of his employer when they would come off of lease. I have a great deal of personal experience on systems with realtek WiFi chipsets.

Maybe being a one man show is a strength, rather than a weakness: PC-BSD/True-OS/ProjectTrident Desktop BSDs seemed to fall apart over time, only asymptotically approaching usability. I don't know if this was too many cooks ruining the soup, but I suspect it. It didn't seem like that NAS company were really into making desktop BSD but rather it was a side-project maybe to get people to buy their NAS hardware?

I dunno, but GhostBSD is the only BSD I've ever found that has almost everything ready to go: easy install ZFS, BEs working, working MATE desktop rather than forcing people to test Lumina (usually a WIP mess). I guess that's because the one guy running it actually wants to make a BSD Desktop and hasn't got some corporate agenda.

interesting information

zslg01 wrote: ↑Fri Jul 08, 2022 12:06 pm Thanks for the answer. A couple of bonus questions.
- does GhostBSD boot (and run) on an Intel MacBook Pro (mid-2015)? Apple is not going to provide new systems for this machine and it has years of life left. I will give it a go if no one knows.
- I guess I have three options : Use GhostBSD, build my own FreeBSD desktop (been there done that hate X11) , or do something like Slackware Linux (no systemd code and a rational startup script structure). Of course I can keep running MacOS until the sun goes nova .....

Have you tried booting the live ISO? Download one of the latest ISOs and see how it works

Another alternative to solving the "hit the bus" or even a "rapture" scenario is to add GhostBSD specific applications to FreeBSD ports as early as possible. These applications could be maintained and used by a wider audience.