From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Tue Jul 19 06:11:18 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 40C30106566B for ; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:11:18 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id E4ED18FC0C for ; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:11:17 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r55.edvax.de (port-92-195-103-124.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.103.124]) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTP id E74F31E0FD; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:11:16 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r55.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r55.edvax.de (8.14.2/8.14.2) with SMTP id p6J6BGAa001653; Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:11:16 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 08:11:16 +0200 From: Polytropon To: Jerome Herman Message-Id: <20110719081116.3fdf3ef1.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <4E24C416.9020207@dichotomia.fr> References: <20110717071059.25971662@scorpio> <4E22DFE9.7050007@pathscale.com> <201107172016.30727.lobo@bsd.com.br> <4E23989F.7010701@gmail.com> <4e242fab.s4vpgxxZEUq0LFDq%perryh@pluto.rain.com> <1311017168.44397.YahooMailRC@web36508.mail.mud.yahoo.com> <23159_1311031267_4E24BFE3_23159_38_1_D9B37353831173459FDAA836D3B43499C5218659@WADPMBXV0.waddell.com> <4E24C416.9020207@dichotomia.fr> Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 2.4.7 (GTK+ 2.12.1; i386-portbld-freebsd7.0) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Lennart Poettering: BSD Isn't Relevant Anymore X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Tue, 19 Jul 2011 06:11:18 -0000 On Tue, 19 Jul 2011 01:39:02 +0200, Jerome Herman wrote: > On 19/07/2011 01:21, Gary Gatten wrote: > > > > > > This may get me flamed (probably will) but I'm wondering what > > the relationship is between FreeBSD and PC-BSD? PERHAPS if > > they were to somehow join forces, share development load, etc. > > and "unify" the FreeBSD offerings under one roof; ie: PC-BSD and SERVER-BSD. > Basically, PC-BSD is just a layer of candy over an almost untouched > FreeBSD, so it is not the same at all than what you can see with Linux > distros. PC-BSD offers a new interactive installer, and comes with KDE preinstalled and preconfigured. There's also some autodetect magic under the hood. On sufficiently recent hardware, it works very well. However, its hardware requirements are _high_ above those of a "normal" FreeBSD system. > PC-BSD offers a graphical and simple installer, and an arguably easier > package system. As far as I know, the downside of the forced interactivity is now gone, as there's also a command line tool for using PBI packages. Arguing... what is easier at manually locating software using a web browser, manually downloading it and interactively holding the installer's hand while installing software? :-) > Also it installs KDE and automatically makes a few decisions. > You can actually just use the graphical installer in order to install a > standard FreeBSD, even if some tricky options won't be available from > the installer (but you can still run sysinstall later to activate them) The default installation works quite well, there's only few things you need to configure (especially if you're not comfortable with the default settings). I have some friends being long-term PC-BSD users, it's just no _my_ cup of tea as I don't like KDE much. > I personnally use it as an easy installer for Crypto-ZFS servers. The installer can even be used to install configurations that sysinstall can't. > > I believe several flavors of Linux have successfully done > > this. Perhaps for licensing reasons more than technical, > > but nonetheless there were two offerings each focused on > > either a desktop or server deployment strategy. But there are "mixed forms" of systems. Precisely differentiating between "a server" and "a PC" isn't always possible. For example, if you have a workstation that is used by more than one user, is this a PC, a _personal_ computer anymore? Or what if you use a laptop computer (maybe due to energy consumption) to act as a server, and once a week you use it as a desktop? > > Just a thought. I'm not married to any particular OS - > > it's a tool and I use what suites my needs best. I > > enjoy FreeBSD and like what it stands for - I would > > like to see it grow; both technically and in popularity. > > Well the PC-BSD layer gives a great installer, now the only thing needed > would be a great server/daemons management layer. And better german language support in KDE. :-) > A FreeBSD distro with LDAP, ACL and MAC management would be nice though. You could create a port that brings all this functionality in one rush. Remember that the ports collection is more than just about installing software - it can be used to even bring such features to the system and configure them. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...