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Another Step Towards BSD on the Desktop

Posted by timothy on from the happy-leenux-world dept.

linuxbeta writes "DesktopBSD is the latest easy to install BSD aimed squarely at the desktop. Installation screen shots. From their site: 'DesktopBSD aims at being a stable and powerful operating system for desktop users. DesktopBSD combines the stability of FreeBSD, the usability and functionality of KDE and the simplicity of specially developed software to provide a system that's easy to use and install.' DesktopBSD joins the ranks of PC-BSD and FreeSBIE."

11 of 536 comments (clear)

  1. Easy to install? by Ossifer · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Screenshots don't look as good as the perfect openSuSE...

    1. Re:Easy to install? by TheOtherAgentM · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Yeah, anytime an install is black and white, then it's not easy enough for most people. My friends can't even install XP by themselves when it's NEXT the whole way.

  2. This is what they got right... by bogaboga · · Score: 1, Flamebait
    ...Just one thing and that is KDE! You may take this as a troll but as things stand now KDE offers a better Desktop Experience and with KDE 4.0 along the way with its superkaramba and improved performance, that experience can only get better. You have my compliments DesktopBSD.

    The DesktopBSD pot would be better if they adopted autopackage so that all those packages can be fully portable.

  3. Too bad, fragmentation of FOSS Desktop efforts by billybob2 · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    Too bad, all that developer talent could have gone into making Linux better suited for the desktop.

    Face it, Linux has a head start and is enjoying far more corporate support (due partly to the fact that Linux is licensed GPLv2, which compells big companies to share back their improvements).

    We're all on the same team -- only if we FOCUS our efforts into the OS with the best chance (Linux) can we defeat the DRM-infested, money-grabbing proprietary OSs like M$ Vista and Apple OS X.

    1. Re:Too bad, fragmentation of FOSS Desktop efforts by mwvdlee · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Same feeling I have, though it may be just a feeling...

      Linux: All kinds of groovy and funky features packed into a flashy GUI with all plethora of revolutionary "free as in freedom" tools.

      BSD: Just works.

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  4. It's the year... by crimson_alligator · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    ...of BS on the desktop!

  5. Re:Black-widow license. by Omnifarious · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    If they try to tighten up the license to disallow web-apps without distributing their source, I'll stop using that version and use the older version. But I'll never, ever license anything under a BSD license. Talk about shooting yourself in the foot...

    I don't think they will. I don't see how it increases freedom to force open the source to web applications. Now, forcing the people who have your data (like all your LJ posts or whatever) to give you a copy of it in a standard format would be great, but I don't think you can manage that one with an Open Source license.

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  6. SPWLLING ERRORS! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait

    OK, BSD Trumpeteers, learn to write INglish on your "graphical" installation screens.

  7. Re:Black-widow license. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Flamebait
    But I'll never, ever license anything under a BSD license.
    But you'll never, ever write anything signifigant enough for this to matter.
  8. *BSD = new Linux by PrayingWolf · · Score: 0, Flamebait
    I've known for a long time that BSD is going to start becoming more and more popular. We're seeing people switch from Linux to Free/Open BSD because
    1) BSD has an air of stability/professionality
    2) switching is easy
    3) Linux has become too mainstream (not geeky anymore)

    Unfortunately, just as Linux is a bloated OS, KDE is a bloated, slow, disgusting GUI. Can't they have each explorer window part of a single program (would increase startup times!).
    DesktopBSD is going to be a slow desktop, unlike Mac (or even WindoZe)

  9. Re:Been there, done that, got the T-shirt by TrekCycling · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    The killer for me was installing OpenOffice from ports. Talk about painful. Between that and the lack of Java support, I didn't last long on FreeBSD. Nice idea. Pretty nice kernel (minus the threading issues). But overall not for me.