# NetBSD 100 Hacker News commenters recommended NetBSD and 21 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 13 years (7 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** Recommended for running on almost any hardware, including old machines, with a clean, well-documented design, though support for modern hardware and drivers is weak. ## Why people recommend it - Runs on almost any architecture (7 comments): "NetBSD while working on a Dreamcast also has very interesting and it runs in unexpected places like the ISS" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49143161)) "NetBSD is a good example: it supports a wide range of hardware, has a relatively straightforward codebase" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47104385)) "NetBSD is known to support like 60 architectures - many of them low end embedded systems" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48767046)) - Clean, understandable code and design (6 comments): "NetBSD is a good example: it supports a wide range of hardware, has a relatively straightforward codebase" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47104385)) "I find it easier to understand and customize, and it keeps a lot of this stuff out of the landfill." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138413)) "I often consult NetBSD's source tree for when I want good examples that aren't as complex as GNU's" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47465646)) - Thorough documentation and man pages (4 comments): "the design is so clean and the documentation complete that I never felt the need for outside help" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49141062)) "It's a great OS for learning. The manual pages go in great depth to explain what to do and how." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50301286)) "The NetBSD developers keep a great CHANGES document up to date with what’s new overall" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49482481)) - Gives old hardware new life (4 comments): "Pre-compiled packages for i386 are still available for all versions of NetBSD including the current one" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46879839)) "I find it easier to understand and customize, and it keeps a lot of this stuff out of the landfill." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49138413)) "Yes, NetBSD and OpenBSD work fine on the 2005 T42 but as you say video performance is low." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868608)) ## What people warn about - Weak modern hardware and driver support (5 comments): "Today's hardware is much more complicated and I wouldn't expect NetBSD to work well on anything but the most basic hardware." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50275782)) "whether hardware (i.e. driver) support will be decent enough for everyday use is a completely different matter" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50284947)) "except for Ethernet card, Wi-Fi card, touchpad, ACPI suspension, external monitors via the docking station" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50280801)) - Painful install and desktop setup (3 comments): "The kernel support for Lua seems awesome but that's not the same as running a full desktop environment." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48063870)) "It's a pain to install, a pain to configure, a pain to add a proper desktop, etc." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50286993)) "It's a pain to install, a pain to configure, a pain to add a proper desktop" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50279955)) - Lower performance than alternatives (2 comments): "Yes, NetBSD and OpenBSD work fine on the 2005 T42 but as you say video performance is low." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46868608)) "years before NetBSD on their mailing list admitting that Linux outperformed" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45944741)) - Portability claims no longer hold up (2 comments): "they will keep cross-compiling for old and obscure platforms even if nobody cares enough about them to test them" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47543380)) "But NetBSD's claim as the most portable OS doesn't hold up these days." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47219689)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Windows](https://hackerapproved.com/p/windows.md): 1287 recommend - [macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/macos.md): 1041 recommend - [Linux](https://hackerapproved.com/p/linux.md): 745 recommend - [Haiku](https://hackerapproved.com/p/haiku-os.md): 115 recommend - [ChromeOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/chromeos.md): 91 recommend ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "NetBSD", https://hackerapproved.com/p/netbsd/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).