From owner-freebsd-stable@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Mar 29 17:12:35 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 3889E1065679 for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:12:35 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from prvs=0623c498d=pschmehl_lists@tx.rr.com) Received: from ip-002.utdallas.edu (ip-002.utdallas.edu [129.110.20.108]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 09D298FC17 for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 17:12:34 +0000 (UTC) X-Group: None X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Filtered: true X-IronPort-Anti-Spam-Result: AhoMAPkKkk2BbgogVmdsb2JhbAClWAEhAiSJHrtbhWoEhTw X-IronPort-AV: E=Sophos;i="4.63,263,1299477600"; d="scan'208";a="53542676" Received: from zxtm01.utdallas.edu (HELO [129.110.200.11]) ([129.110.10.32]) by ip-002.utdallas.edu with ESMTP/TLS/DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA; 29 Mar 2011 11:43:13 -0500 Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 11:43:12 -0500 From: Paul Schmehl To: Jason Hsu , freebsd-stable@freebsd.org Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <20110329013223.ddca7453.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> References: <20110329013223.ddca7453.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> X-Mailer: Mulberry/4.0.8 (Mac OS X) MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Cc: Subject: Re: Best way to switch from Linux to BSD X-BeenThere: freebsd-stable@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Paul Schmehl 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 17:12:35 -0000 --On March 29, 2011 1:32:23 AM -0400 Jason Hsu wrote: > > 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. I wouldn't recommend installing from the CD for two reasons. 1) The installation is "old", so you will have to update it anyway. Why not just build it from source to begin with? 2) You don't have the same flexibility you do when installing it from ports. There you can pick and choose what is installed. Although you think of KDE as huge, it's actually made up of lots of little pieces and parts, each of which get installed separately when you build from source. So, you aren't downloading a monolith. You're fetching this and building it, then that and building it until the entire thing is done. What it *is* is time consuming. > 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.) Why triple boot when you can run VMs? When you triple boot you only have access to one OS at a time. When you run VMs, you have access to all your OSes all the time. Much handier and more useful, I think. > 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. FreeBSD is first and foremost a server OS. Desktop support is lacking when compared to the other major OSes (Windows, Mac and Linux). You can make it work, if you want to, but that's not what its primary function is. If you want a user friendly desktop OS, FreeBSD is probably not your best choice. -- Paul Schmehl, Senior Infosec Analyst As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions are my own and not those of my employer. ******************************************* "It is as useless to argue with those who have renounced the use of reason as to administer medication to the dead." Thomas Jefferson "There are some ideas so wrong that only a very intelligent person could believe in them." George Orwell