From owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Wed Jul 19 12:29:46 2017 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@mailman.ysv.freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) by mailman.ysv.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 8087EC7C521 for ; Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:29:46 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mailrelay15.qsc.de (mailrelay15.qsc.de [212.99.187.254]) (using TLSv1.2 with cipher ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 (256/256 bits)) (Client CN "*.antispameurope.com", Issuer "TeleSec ServerPass DE-2" (verified OK)) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id E7CB57D5DC for ; Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:29:45 +0000 (UTC) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Received: from mx01.qsc.de ([213.148.129.14]) by mailrelay15.qsc.de; Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:29:36 +0200 Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-112-241.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.112.241]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx01.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 5CF993CBF9; Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:29:35 +0200 (CEST) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id v6JCTYCW002086; Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:29:34 +0200 (CEST) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2017 14:29:34 +0200 From: Polytropon To: SOUL_OF_ROOT 55 Cc: "freebsd-questions@freebsd.org" Subject: Re: Can I use FreeBSD as a desktop system? Message-Id: <20170719142934.3fe4b9d6.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: Reply-To: Polytropon Organization: EDVAX X-Mailer: Sylpheed 3.1.1 (GTK+ 2.24.5; i386-portbld-freebsd8.2) Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-cloud-security-sender: freebsd@edvax.de X-cloud-security-recipient: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-cloud-security-Virusscan: CLEAN X-cloud-security-disclaimer: This E-Mail was scanned by E-Mailservice on mailrelay15.qsc.de with A20BE6835DD X-cloud-security-connect: mx01.qsc.de[213.148.129.14], TLS=1, IP=213.148.129.14 X-cloud-security: scantime:.1310 X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.23 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Wed, 19 Jul 2017 12:29:46 -0000 On Tue, 18 Jul 2017 23:32:43 -0300, SOUL_OF_ROOT 55 wrote: > Can I use FreeBSD as a desktop system? Definitely. I'm doing this since FreeBSD 4, as my home PC is what the "desktop" metaphor implies. There are several desktop environments to choose from, versatile window managers, plenty of application programs for web browsing, e-mail, office, gaming, multimedia, software development, web design, print, photo & imaging, and so on. Installation and updating is easy with the "pkg" tool. I'm running FreeBSD desktops in various environments, such as home use, "home office" and "real office", and laptops. The ability to select the right set of tools for the task at hand, and being able to perform tasks that often require system compatibility, interoperability and operations safety is a great key advantage of FreeBSD. Adding non-desktop functionality to an existing desktop system is also possible, in case you should need it (for example, an office desktop running a web server for a small in-house web solution). However, specific domains might be lacking functionality as they are in a "locked market" where no software (or no sufficient software) might exist outside of a closed ecosystem. In that case, emulation or virtualization of the target system sometimes can bring the required functionality to FreeBSD, but there are still niches where it just does not work as expected. It all depends on _what_ you're _actually_ going to do. ;-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...