From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Mar 29 20:41:48 2011 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:4f8:fff6::34]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id C322E106564A for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:41:48 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from mexas@bristol.ac.uk) Received: from dirj.bris.ac.uk (dirj.bris.ac.uk [137.222.10.78]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 7D4CE8FC20 for ; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:41:48 +0000 (UTC) Received: from ncsc.bris.ac.uk ([137.222.10.41]) by dirj.bris.ac.uk with esmtp (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1Q4fjW-0004MA-VR; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:41:47 +0100 Received: from mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk ([137.222.187.241]) by ncsc.bris.ac.uk with esmtpsa (TLSv1:AES256-SHA:256) (Exim 4.72) (envelope-from ) id 1Q4fjW-0000qu-HO; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:41:46 +0100 Received: from mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (8.14.4/8.14.4) with ESMTP id p2TKfkRX055144; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:41:46 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from mexas@bristol.ac.uk) Received: (from mexas@localhost) by mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk (8.14.4/8.14.4/Submit) id p2TKfkd4055143; Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:41:46 +0100 (BST) (envelope-from mexas@bristol.ac.uk) X-Authentication-Warning: mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk: mexas set sender to mexas@bristol.ac.uk using -f Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 21:41:46 +0100 From: Anton Shterenlikht To: Jason Hsu Message-ID: <20110329204146.GA55123@mech-cluster241.men.bris.ac.uk> Mail-Followup-To: Jason Hsu , freebsd-questions@freebsd.org References: <20110329144527.c009ba8b.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Disposition: inline In-Reply-To: <20110329144527.c009ba8b.jhsu802701@jasonhsu.com> User-Agent: Mutt/1.4.2.3i Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Easiest desktop BSD distro X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:41:48 -0000 On Tue, Mar 29, 2011 at 02:45:27PM -0500, Jason Hsu wrote: > I want to learn BSD. I find that the best way to familiarize myself with a distro is to adopt it as my main distro (for web browsing, email, word processing, etc.). > > But the challenge of BSD have so far proven too much for me. It would take too long to configure FreeBSD to my liking. I couldn't figure out what to enter in GRUB to multi-boot Linux and BSD. I tried PC-BSD, GhostBSD, and DragonflyBSD in VirtualBox. I've found PC-BSD agonizingly slow to install and operate, and KDE didn't even boot up when I logged in. GhostBSD has too many things that don't work, such as the keyboard on my laptop and my Internet connection on my desktop. DragonflyBSD didn't boot up in Virtualbox. > > I recommend Linux Mint as a first Linux distro. It's user-friendly, well-established, widely used, includes codecs/drivers that Ubuntu doesn't, and has a Windows-like user interface. For those with older computers, I recommend Puppy Linux or antiX Linux as a first distro. I'm looking for the analogous choice in the BSD world. > > So what do you recommend as my first desktop BSD distro? What desktop BSD distro is so easy to use that even Paris Hilton or Jessica "Chicken of the Sea" Simpson can handle it? > > Please keep in mind that I have a slow Internet connection, and these BSD distros are ENORMOUS. It took some 12-14 hours to download PC-BSD. > I'm not sure I understand the question. Have you actually installed FreeBSD? Are you familiar with FreeBSD Ports system? -- Anton Shterenlikht Room 2.6, Queen's Building Mech Eng Dept Bristol University University Walk, Bristol BS8 1TR, UK Tel: +44 (0)117 331 5944 Fax: +44 (0)117 929 4423