Make pkg(8) Faster In FreeBSD 11

A few weeks ago I had a little problem installing binaries via pkg(8). It was painfully slow. I had to do a fresh install on a new SSD after an old mechanical hard disk broke and reinstalling everything was a pain, not because I had to deal with it but because the whole reinstalling process was supposed to be faster.

Speedtest was okay. Installing from ports was okay, but in pkg the speed was only about 10 – 20%. Which is ridiculously unacceptable.

I don’t know if this is always the case but, when you install FreeBSD, its pkg server will be set to a US server which is pkg.freebsd.org, regardless of where you are actually.

Setting Up Conky System Monitor Utility

Conky is a system monitor for X originally based on torsmo (see conky(1) manual). In this tutorial you will learn how to setup conky on both Archlinux and FreeBSD. Here’s what mine look like in FreeBSD. In my Archlinux machine it looks pretty much the same.

Install Conky 1.10.x

In Archlinux:

$ sudo pacman -S conky

In FreeBSD via package manager:

Wireless Connection Using Broadcom BCM4313 (Archlinux)

I had an old laptop that I tried installing FreeBSD, unfortunately, I totally forgot it uses an old Broadcom BCM4313 chip for a wireless network. This chip for some reason is a pain in the rear in FreeBSD mainly because Broadcom doesn’t consider much writing an open-source driver for this chip. Anyway, so I just installed Archlinux with it.

By the way, for those who would like to get a new laptop and install FreeBSD in it, I would strongly advise you to find one with either Atheros or Realtek chip in it. Saves you some headache.

Here’s how to make the Broadcom BCM4313 working for Archlinux. There are some other ways to do it for sure but in my case, I just went with the broadcom_wl_dkms and wpa_supplicant packages. You would also need to install linux-headers if you don’t already have it.

Setup USB Wireless Adapter FreeBSD 11+

Setting up a wireless adapter on FreeBSD may not be as straightforward as it does in Linux, at times. I actually had several attempts before I finally get it to work. Below is a simple tutorial (that worked for me) on how you can setup a USB wireless adapter on FreeBSD 11. Let’s get started.

Identify Wireless Adapter

First, you need to identify your wireless adapter. On FreeBSD 11 and newer versions you can check for your wireless adapter by typing this command:

$ sysctl net.wlan.devices

Review: FreeBSD Performance Test

The screenshot of the performance test that I made with FreeBSD

One evening I was doing a little research online about something and as I open up websites after websites that talks about this certain topic, I didn’t realized I was already building up that many tabs in Chromium. And as we all know, Chromium tabs eats a lot of RAM. I only noticed it when I didn’t see any fave icons anymore. I’m surprised and I should say I’m impressed I didn’t even felt any slow down, not a bit, in FreeBSD’s performance – which is way better compared to the other OS’s that I have on this machine (Archlinux and Windows 10).

How To Install FreeBSD 11 (step by step)

This is quite a lengthy process but I assure you if you patiently and carefully follow all the steps I have prepare in this tutorial, you will have FreeBSD 11 up and running in no time. The whole installation process for this tutorial took me around 30 minutes from start to finish.

Installation Media

For this tutorial, I used a DVD ISO installation media (FreeBSD-11.1-RELEASE-amd64-dvd1.iso). If you prefer to use USB Memstick, CD or Boot-only ISO, you can visit FreeBSD 11’s download page here and get your preferred installation media for FREE!

Disclaimer

This installation of FreeBSD 11 does not include a Desktop Environment (DE). This tutorial will only cover the whole default base pre-installation process. Later I will be creating another tutorial on how to setup a Desktop Environment in FreeBSD.

Welcome to La Taza Vacío

After years and years of using, trying and testing different Operating Systems, from Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, to variants of BSDs, I supposed I have reached the end of the line and now I’m trying to convince myself that finally, I’ve found the one that suits my “preference.” I’m not here to ridicule any OS or specific software, Proprietary or Open Source, I’m just here to share what I have learned along the way and I’m hoping someone reading this would find my contents helpful somehow.

It All Boils Down To Preference

Yes, that’s true. And I’m aware of the fact that we all have different tastes. Preference is a very complicated topic. But for me, when it comes to the software I use, I just want it to be as simple as possible. You can say I’m a minimalist, but then again, that’s just my preference.

I’ve narrowed down my own preference to just three things:

1. Security: First and foremost, I wanted a software that doesn’t have to deal with tons and tons of malware everytime but, when the time comes it has to deal with it, would have the toughest backbone to dodge anything.
2. Stability: Very important. I work hours and hours in front of a computer so I need something that can deal with my work load without putting much strain on my hardware. Just something that could keep up with my pace.
3. Freedom: I like to tinker with things when it comes to the software I use. So, I just need something that could give me 110% freedom. If I have 100 things that I can write here as my preference, this would be my cream of the crop. Freedom must be absolute!

I had lots of fun exploring and tinkering with different software. I hope as you journey with me, you would also experience the same excitement I had.

Happy hacking. Happy computing. Cheers!