FreeBSD Handbook
FreeBSD Handbook by FreeBSD Documentation Projectby FreeBSD Documentation Project
Ranked 4 of 16 technical books by recommenders
Newcomers to FreeBSD use it as the official onboarding guide, and people praise its documentation as well organized and easy to search.
Newcomers to FreeBSD use it as the official onboarding guide, and people praise its documentation as well organized and easy to search.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 9
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 90%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 9 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 9 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Official onboarding guide for new users
“the FreeBSD Handbook is the onboarding guide. It's been a long while since I've set something up going from the Handbook”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “A brief look at FreeBSD” “the FreeBSD Handbook is the onboarding guide”
Comment from 12 Nov 2025 in “A brief look at FreeBSD” Well organized and easy to find
“exemplary in terms of what documentation should be”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “FreeBSD” “Everything is easy to find and well formatted.”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “FreeBSD” Widely praised as excellent resource
“I stand by my statement that the cited FreeBSD resources are "a gold standard" while acknowledging they are not perfect.”
Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “I Love FreeBSD” “was a great resource and I am sure it still is”
Comment from 21 Jan 2026 in “FreeBSD” “Those are both great starting points”
Comment from 27 Apr 2026 in “FreeBSD Device Drivers Book” - Comment from 17 Mar 2026 in “I Love FreeBSD”
Other technical books people recommend
The four most recommended other technical books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linux From Scratchby Gerard Beekmans | 72 | 19 | 79% | 9 | 20 yrs13 owners | Approved |
| Game Engine White Papers: Commander Keen | 13 | 2 | 87% | 4 | — | Approved |
| Offline password cracking bookby Bojta | 10 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| FreeBSD Handbookby FreeBSD Documentation ProjectThis page | 9 | 1 | 90% | 4 | — | — |
| WebRTC for the Curiousby Sean DuBois | 5 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Those are both great starting points”
“On FreeBSD you get `man ` AND you get the FreeBSD handbook”
“I stand by my statement that the cited FreeBSD resources are "a gold standard" while acknowledging they are not perfect.”
“telling people to do the WRONG thing”
“FreeBSD has exceptional resources”
“exemplary in terms of what documentation should be”
“Everything is easy to find and well formatted.”
“was a great resource and I am sure it still is”
“plenty of its new exploring users dismiss the most well-intentioned advice to read its excellent Handbook as a sort of joke”
“the experience was flawless”
“the FreeBSD Handbook is the onboarding guide”
“the FreeBSD Handbook is the onboarding guide. It's been a long while since I've set something up going from the Handbook”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.