From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Fri Dec 6 10:02:06 2013 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.freebsd.org (mx1.freebsd.org [IPv6:2001:1900:2254:206a::19:1]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 7C7ED269 for ; Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:02:06 +0000 (UTC) Received: from mx02.qsc.de (mx02.qsc.de [213.148.130.14]) (using TLSv1 with cipher ADH-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx1.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id 3B1411F43 for ; Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:02:06 +0000 (UTC) Received: from r56.edvax.de (port-92-195-106-241.dynamic.qsc.de [92.195.106.241]) (using TLSv1 with cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256/256 bits)) (No client certificate requested) by mx02.qsc.de (Postfix) with ESMTPS id A208E27727; Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:56:07 +0100 (CET) Received: from r56.edvax.de (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by r56.edvax.de (8.14.5/8.14.5) with SMTP id rB69tqk1001956; Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:55:52 +0100 (CET) (envelope-from freebsd@edvax.de) Date: Fri, 6 Dec 2013 10:55:52 +0100 From: Polytropon To: Luca Ferrari Subject: Re: Why FreeBSD doesn't have a Gnome3 port? Message-Id: <20131206105552.c5dcbf28.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: References: <1386221592.4385.16.camel@debian> <1386253808.8359.5.camel@debian> 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 Cc: freebsd-questions , iijima yoshino X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.17 Precedence: list Reply-To: Polytropon List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Fri, 06 Dec 2013 10:02:06 -0000 On Fri, 6 Dec 2013 09:13:26 +0100, Luca Ferrari wrote: > On Thu, Dec 5, 2013 at 3:30 PM, iijima yoshino wrote: > > > Even the OpenBSD team accepts the Gnome3 ... > > It seems the FreeBSD towards to a server-oriented way. > > > > Why server oriented, just because gnome3 is not supported? I agree with your statement. FreeBSD has been and still is a multi-purpose operating system, unlike some Linux distrubutions that _could_ be used on a server, but are heavily tailored, preinstalled and preconfigured for desktop use, and maybe even a specific desktop use case (like multimedia, pentest, office). Personally, I'm quite happy that I can use the same OS on my home desktop and on my gaming PC as I use it on my servers. :-) > Gnome3 is > only _a_ desktop among the others. So who is making FreeBSD more > "towards a server", FreeBSD itself or Gnome 3 that refuses to adopt > other non-linux facilities? This can be considered a problem, but I think it's simply a decision (that has been made) followed by its consequences. FreeBSD is not Linux. If the developers of a specific piece of software, like the Gnome 3 environment, decide to rely on what currently _only_ Linux can provide, it's fine. When they continue to extend this approach, say, only support a specific set of Linux distributions, for example "Debian-derived ones", it's also fine. It will have its implications, but that's nothing bad or wrong per se. > If other unixes have gnome3 it simply means they have manpower and > interest to port it. Not being a gnome3 user (actually, a gnome user > at all), I don't care about porting a desktop that is not interested > in being portable. As you said, it's _possible_ to make Gnome 3 run on FreeBSD, but it will probably a hard task. The Linux world is in continuous movement and development, new features ride - and decline - nearly every month. Take HAL as an example, and see it in this context: FreeBSD's desktop environments like KDE and Gnome have been able to perform auto-mounting of removable media for decades, relying on portable system services. Then HAL came along and finally became mandatory. As far as I know, it's already deprecated in Linux, but FreeBSD still has it in its ports collection, making things work that didn't need it before. Whenever something finally works, it will be replaced by something nonportable and experimental. ;-) -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...