From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Mar 29 11:03:20 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id BF34C106566C for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:03:20 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from m.e.sanliturk@gmail.com) Received: from mail-qy0-f182.google.com (mail-qy0-f182.google.com [209.85.216.182]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7036B8FC0C for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:03:20 +0000 (UTC) Received: by qyk27 with SMTP id 27so27529qyk.13 for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:03:19 -0700 (PDT) DKIM-Signature: v=1; a=rsa-sha256; c=relaxed/relaxed; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=domainkey-signature:mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date :message-id:subject:from:to:cc:content-type; bh=aeT/OVPhznubhRk2D5/P4ih3XgcLqGKPH+wSCMPAlaw=; b=vUkB/cBPyRsgsRgZ3yKbYtGvlXqjJduxXec2C64yMcXjFSKpkqz9DAgvYUAjJGxb5c HsVKl2BFDRw8hS41gPzUIZJuOcDzITWlZIBvrI97ylgpCuuUJT859I6mER3Me8EfX2OA XjBAuCiKxRnlGhfJWWJ96lCABpnkV1EpT5vDY= DomainKey-Signature: a=rsa-sha1; c=nofws; d=gmail.com; s=gamma; h=mime-version:in-reply-to:references:date:message-id:subject:from:to :cc:content-type; b=Nn4+cCw3aRkSD2aqutbH7xrU38/s8rIaQPiyCD2C9Fm7sGoxCQGDE6PE8oCEayvnyN RyF5G3HZ4mLLvplWJmiEEU7jvnPBmMy56MhU3NgqKy55Xu6BrABJvdm0ajxfE09aQl7p Kb1uNpPMJUhHpz+dXfE8uFEOAQmzi+B28VYLI= MIME-Version: 1.0 Received: by 10.224.173.141 with SMTP id p13mr4490006qaz.67.1301396599607; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:03:19 -0700 (PDT) Received: by 10.224.67.21 with HTTP; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 04:03:19 -0700 (PDT) In-Reply-To: <20110329013223.ddca7453.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> References: <20110329013223.ddca7453.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 07:03:19 -0400 Message-ID: From: Mehmet Erol Sanliturk To: Jason Hsu Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 X-Content-Filtered-By: Mailman/MimeDel 2.1.5 Cc: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Best way to switch from Linux to BSD X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: Production branch of FreeBSD source code List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:03:20 -0000 On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 1:32 AM, Jason Hsu wrote: > I've been trying to switch from Linux to BSD for my everyday computing > (email, word processing, spreadsheets, etc.), but I couldn't get things to > work properly. I've been so spoiled by the quickness and user-friendliness > of antiX/Swift Linux and Puppy Linux for so long. I have a backlog of stuff > to do, so I'm sticking to Linux for now as my main OS. However, I might try > BSD in VirtualBox and on my laptop. > > Are there any good tutorials for using BSD on the desktop? I'm having much > more difficulty finding good information on BSD than was the case for Linux. > In retrospect, this shouldn't be a surprise given that Linux is relatively > mainstream while BSD is very obscure. > > Some questions: > > 1. Is it possible to install KDE, GNOME, or other DE from the FreeBSD CD > in a reasonable amount of time? KDE and GNOME are huge programs, and having > to download them would take too long. > > 2. What's lighter than PCBSD and GhostBSD? I tried the live DVDs on my > laptop (1.4 GHz processor, 1.25 GB of RAM) and found both BSD distros to be > very sluggish. Ubuntu and Mint were faster and fit on a CD, and these two > distros have been criticized as bloatware. Also, the keyboard didn't work > in GhostBSD. > > 3. How do I triple-boot Puppy Linux, antiX/Swift Linux, and DragonflyBSD? > I already use a Puppy Linux/Swift Linux dual boot. For the life of me, I > couldn't figure out what to put in the menu.lst file to allow DragonflyBSD > to boot. (By contrast, antiX Linux and Swift Linux automatically add the > appropriate entries in menu.lst.) > > 4. What are the Linux Mint and Puppy Linux of the BSD universe? I > consider these two distros to set the standard in the Linux universe, > because they're so user-friendly. These are the distros I've set out to > compete against in developing Swift Linux. > > -- > Jason Hsu > 1. Within FreeBSD RELEASE 8.2 DVD , there are GNOME , and KDE . Therefore , it is not necessary to download them . During install , both of them may be installed . After installation , it is possible to select either GNOME or KDE by specifying them in rc.conf , or .xinitrc files . All of these steps are explained very well in the Handbook . There is NO need to compile FreeBSD for installation , but if it is necessary to customize some of its features , it can be compiled by using information given in the Handbook . 2. I am experiencing very slow behavior in amd 64 Release 8.2 ( I could NOT be able to understand the reason , FreeBSD base is very fast but problem is GNOME and KDE ) , but i386 Release 8.2 is sufficiently fast . I am using Intel DG965WH main board which may be the cause of slowness , but I do not know , because I do not have any other main board to check apart from the fact that other distributions ( other than than BSD based ) on the same main board are not exhibiting such a slow behavior . I think , this is a temporary problem and in the new stable releases , this problem will not be present . 3. Personally I never use any hard disk for multiple operating systems . 4. PC-BSD is very user-friendly with respect to installation and usage . Most parameters are set in the distribution . It comes with GNOME , KDE ( default ) , XFCE . Any one of them selectable in any time during boot . PC-BSD is completely based on FreeBSD with added ready made GNOME , KDE , XFCE and others as pre-installed . It is possible to install FreeBSD ( ignoring PC-BSD added features ) during installation of PC-BSD as an alternative . FreeBSD is not worse than PC-BSD but it requires very well knowledge of the Handbook , because all of the settings should be specified by the user in configuration files . FreeBSD is a well-designed and important operating system and it is a complex software to perform significant processing in servers . Single user desktop side is a little weak with respect to parameter settings . Instead of being permissively set defaults , they are set restrictively . This feature is causing very big difficulty for the beginners and preventing wide adoption ( with respect to my opinion ) . For example , my need is to use USB stick and DVD/CD auto-mount frequently . I have set all of the parameters with respect to the information given in the Handbook . Even I studied PC-BSD to complete possible missing parts . As a root , auto mount is possible in GNOME or KDE as when they are inserted , it is possible to see their contents by the file manages ( Nautilus or Dolphin ) . When I login as a user , a very ridiculous feature called PolicyKit , is saying that mount is NOT permitted although all of the parameters are set by the root permitting user mounts of these media . Why ? I do not know . In PC-BSD , this is possible . This shows that , I am missing some settings , but I could not be able to find which ones . This very small difficulty is preventing my daily use of FreeBSD and it is diverting me to Linux x86_64 . ( GNOME and KDE in PC-BSD Release 8.2 are very slow in amd64 , means they are unusable ) . My suggestion is to use another computer for installing and working on FreeBSD , PC-BSD to properly learn their structure instead of trying to install them in existing hard disk with actually used for other operating systems . If your laptop/computer allows USB boots , it is also possible to use external hard disks for installations and using them . Even they can be installed on USB sticks having sufficient capacity . I prefer external hard disks because their prices are not very higher than USB sticks ( for example , 32 GB USB sticks ranges from $ 55 to $ 110 , whereas external 500 GB HDD prices ranges from $ 68 to $ 100 given in an internet site of a computer shop with the advantage that HDD is much and much faster than USB sticks . ) If your need is daily use of FreeBSD or PC-BSD , PC-BSD is easier to use . Its additional package system is PBI but it is possible to install any port or package from FreeBSD by using pkg_add , pkg_delete , pkg_info , etc. , in an ( administrative terminal window selected from menus ) . Thank you very much . Mehmet Erol Sanliturk