From the "FreeBSD is good for servers, not for Desktops"
> If even this is too much effort, PC-BSD is a full-featured desktop system built on top of FreeBSD, with an easy-to-use installer and the option of commercial support.
Seriously, it is this sort of "the user is so stupid if they can't compile their own software easily" attitude that turns me off about projects like FreeBSD. How hard is it to simply not say this stuff, and gain a lot more users into the bargain? Just say something friendly, like "If you would prefer an OS that works out of the box, PC-BSD is also available".
I don't see that attitude in what you are reading.
Any OS which the user has to install themselves has to assume a certain amount of knowledge in the user. It's completely fair to say "And there's an even easier way if you prefer" as well.
Last time I tried to use PC-BSD, updates were painfully slow. It lead me to believe that there were not enough mirrors to serve packages. This was about 5-6 years ago.
How is PC-BSD doing nowadays? Is it really worth installing and using?
> How is PC-BSD doing nowadays? Is it really worth installing and using?
Anecdotally, I installed it on a spare laptop last month and the first main hurdle was that the disk partitioner kept failing until I first manually fdisked the disk to a single partition.
The second hurdle was that when it booted to the desktop there was no system tray icon to enable wireless networking and select an SSID, despite the 4965 chipset being fully supported. Presumably it requires some messing-around with wpa_supplicant.
I haven't had time to go back to it but both would be deal-breakers for the 'common person'.
> If even this is too much effort, PC-BSD is a full-featured desktop system built on top of FreeBSD, with an easy-to-use installer and the option of commercial support.
Seriously, it is this sort of "the user is so stupid if they can't compile their own software easily" attitude that turns me off about projects like FreeBSD. How hard is it to simply not say this stuff, and gain a lot more users into the bargain? Just say something friendly, like "If you would prefer an OS that works out of the box, PC-BSD is also available".