Why I Ditched Linux for FreeBSD (And Why It Was Worth the Headache)

You know that feeling when you look at your server setup and think, “This is fine… but it could be so much better”? That was me a few weeks ago, staring at my Linux server that had been faithfully running Nextcloud, OnlyOffice, and WordPress for years. Sure, it worked, but I was getting that itch for something cleaner, more organized.

So I did what any reasonable person would do: I completely rebuilt everything from scratch on FreeBSD. Because apparently, I enjoy making my life complicated.

Why FreeBSD? (Or: How I Convinced Myself This Was a Good Idea)

Look, I’m not going to pretend this was a purely rational decision. FreeBSD has this reputation – it’s the server OS that the cool kids use when they want to show off. But beyond the street cred, there were real reasons I was drawn to it:

Jails. These aren’t just fancy containers – they’re like having separate apartments in the same building. Each service gets its own space, but they all share the same foundation. No more worrying about one service breaking another, no more “oops, I updated something and now everything’s broken” moments.

ZFS. It’s like having a time machine for your data. Snapshots, compression, integrity checking – all built right in.

Stability. Linux is great, don’t get me wrong, but FreeBSD feels like it was built by people who really, really don’t like surprises.

The Great Migration

Here’s what nobody tells you about migrations: they’re 20% technical work and 80% digital archaeology. Going through my old setup reminded me of all the things I’d accumulated over the years.

I decided to go full isolation mode. Each service got its own jail with its own IP address, and I set up Nginx on the host to play traffic cop. From the outside, it looks like one server. Under the hood, it’s like a perfectly organized apartment complex where everyone minds their own business.

The file moving process took time. I had to carefully organize directories, double-check permissions, and make sure all paths matched my new jail-based structure. Every time something worked, it felt like solving a puzzle. There’s something deeply satisfying about watching a service come online in its new, clean environment.

The WireGuard Bonus Round

During this migration, I also set up WireGuard for secure remote access. Having encrypted, private connectivity to the server makes managing services from anywhere much safer and more convenient. It’s one of those small upgrades that make a big difference, giving me peace of mind when working remotely.

The Aftermath (Spoiler: It Was Worth It)

I’m not going to lie – there were moments during this migration when I questioned my life choices. Like when I spent two hours troubleshooting why OnlyOffice couldn’t talk to Nextcloud, only to discover I’d fat-fingered an IP address in a config file.

But now? My server feels good. Not just functional – actually good. Each service runs in its own little world, the whole system feels rock-solid, and I’m not constantly worried about updates breaking things. It’s the same hardware, but it feels like I upgraded to a whole new machine.

What’s Next?

In the next post, I’ll cover the technical setup – how I structured the jails, configured Nginx routing, and handled the database connections. No fluff, just the actual commands and configs I used.