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PC-BSD 1.1 Screenshot Tour
linuxbeta writes to tell us DistroWatch is reporting that PC-BSD has released version 1.1 which updates the core OS to FreeBSD 6.1, adds better driver support to the kernel and improves the overall speed on many systems. OSDir also has a screenshot tour available for general consumption.
BSD - Geek Different
Saying Java is nice because it works on all OS's is like saying that anal sex is nice because it works on all genders.
Nice screenshots I suppose, though they don't tell me all that much.
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
Some interesting screenshots, although I just skipped over the KDE ones because I've seen KDE before. It's nice to see a smooth graphical installation. Some purists always cry for text prompts, but I like the ease of a GUI. Every time I install gentoo I have to have a second machine running beside me to remind me of the steps to take in installation (I refuse to pay for inkjet cartridges, fill them on my own, or pay for a laserjet printer). Maybe it's me, but I have a horrible memory for that kind of stuff. Kuduos to PC-BSD if their installation is as smooth as it is good looking. If there's a graphical package manager and kernel manager then that's just bonus. I never liked the Linux GTK frontend (I still use make menuconfig after make oldconfig) and most of the portage frontends are too cluttered to be useful.
Why can't you troll on topic?
I am a huge fan of PC-BSD but I have found it to be very slow. On both my laptop and PC it is slow. To open firefox or openoffice or netbeans takes very long. The updates are huge and everytime I install the startup process hangs on the sendmail initiation and I have to edit a file to make that go away. I believe it has promise but it's not there yet.
http://projectleader.wordpress.com
PC-BSD has as its goals to be an easy-to-install-and-use desktop operating system, based on FreeBSD. To accomplish this, it currently has a graphical installation, which will enable even UNIX novices to easily install and get it running.
Phew, thank goodness, I was afraid PC-BSD had as its goals to be a hard-to-install-and-use desktop operating system, based on FreeBSD, and that to accomplish this, it would have a morse-code interface installation, which would enable only ham UNIX expects to get it running...
I mean come on, every desktop-oriented OS on the planet does/tries to do that, it's obvious. This sort of content-less marketting talk is usually spewed out by companies like Microsoft, so I'm always a bit disappointed to read it on open-source project pages.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
I seem to recall hearing somewhere (here maybe?) that BSD was dying. Can anyone confirm these rumors?
Yes, Netcraft can.
"A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
It's not completely meaningless. The first question that comes to mind when you hear about a new BSD distro is "what makes it different from the other BSDs?" and it answers that question -- it's like FreeBSD, but easier to install and get working on the desktop. Sure, FreeBSD also aims to be easy to install and useful as a desktop system, but it's not their main priority.
Actually, last thing I heard most BSD forks are actually undead by now, ready to become our new free-as-in-not-RMS overlords.
> every desktop-oriented OS on the planet does/tries to do that
spoken like a man that's never installed OpenBSD
There are places where the networks are not touching,and there are places where they are-Boeing's Lori Gunter
First result for "BSD vs Linux" on Google:n ux/bsd4linux1.php
http://www.over-yonder.net/~fullermd/rants/bsd4li
Wow, you really put the "lame" in "lamen"(sic).
Gentoo is easy to install. If you just follow the directions, you get there. I know this is easy for me to say, because I have lots of experience, but really anyone who doesn't have the mindset of "this is too hard" will not have problems.
Funny thing is, even ubuntu won't install properly on my laptop. It will not boot if you cross the 512 cylinder boundary, and ubuntu by default creates one big filesystem even though I'm using IDE. Thus, grub is installed past cyl 512, and the system will not boot. Ubuntu doesn't tell you about this. Gentoo does, right in the install instructions, which is what takes the place of an installer. Ubuntu: 0. Gentoo: 1.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
The BSD community is just following in the Linux footsteps on this one. I've said this before, and I'll say it again... DesktopBSD and PC-BSD are distros, nothing more.
I've been working on a new BSD variant called MidnightBSD based on FreeBSD 6 but its a real fork. The idea is to add a graphical environment that is not KDE or gnome. I did seriously consider gnome, but their lack of interest in supporting non linux systems scared me off. I've read about the crap that the freebsd gnome project has put up with. Plus I figured it would just end up being another linuxish ripoff.
The real problem with developing something new is that so many people are almost religious about their window managers and if they like full fledged desktop environments. Another problem is development. In order to have a unique system you must write a gui toolkit yourself or use a more obscure one. If I were to write a window manager in gtk for instance, I'd get flack for duplicating effort when sawfish, xfce and metacity exists. The other issue is licensing. These new bsd distros have used GPL because its easier fot them. There aren't many bsd licensed toolkits to build from or even LGPL that are worth anything. I don't care if part of the system is under gpl, but I think die hard bsd fans will. In the end, I decided that I'll be targeting a very specific audience as its a BSD with a freakish gui.
I decided to use GNUstep with WindowMaker to start the project and then see where it takes me. I definetely want to replace the window manager with something that is more usable though. Usability is something few of us open source developers care about. I did the mom test though and she actually could use window maker better than KDE. She said there was less "clutter". She's a windows user.
I'm hoping to get some help developing a new window manager and applications on top of gnustep. From a licensing perspective its weird, but its also a bit like NEXTSTEP which can't be bad.
I'm keeping freebsd ports though. I'll have to write a gui frontend for them and start my own ports collection long term.
MidnightBSD: The BSD for Everyone
Actually, it does run Linux binaries. The earlier versions required binary compatibility to be added post-install. Since PC-BSD moved to FreeBSD kernel 6.0, Linux binary compatibility is pre-configured. There is no post-installation configuration now. Just add packages, either by .pbi, pkg_add, or ports. And yes, Kim, I know you were kidding.
If you want your life to be different, live it differently.