Date: Mon, 25 Nov 2002 03:37:15 +0100 From: "Anthony Atkielski" <anthony@freebie.atkielski.com> To: "FreeBSD Advocacy" <freebsd-advocacy@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: FreeBSD on the desktop (was: TheRegister article on Hotmail) Message-ID: <046501c2942b$9185ba00$0a00000a@atkielski.com> References: <3DDF7691.22726.4FCB4F2@localhost> <02dc01c29338$320168c0$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3DDFF5A3.10708@mtbiker.net> <02ed01c2933c$e2b7c390$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3DE00F41.D5D828E9@mindspring.com> <031c01c29356$7f408300$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3DE071F3.F7D8CAAA@mindspring.com> <038501c293b4$2a6a6f90$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3DE16EFF.E1E15BFD@mindspring.com> <043901c29424$958a5680$0a00000a@atkielski.com> <3DE18817.4030201@josephguhlin.com>
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Joseph writes: > Why do I choose FreeBSD? It's free, much more > stable, and much more customizable. I'll agree on all three points, except the second point with respect to desktop use. I did not find FreeBSD to be particularly stable when configured to imitate a typical GUI desktop; so much code with so many hooks in the OS is required to accomplish that that the OS is inevitably destabilized as a result. Given that one cannot really have a GUI desktop _without_ this very extensive tweaking of the OS, I finally gave up on the experiment and returned to Windows. In other respects I am in full agreement. It wasn't absolutely free for me, but it only cost $10 or so, as I recall, which is pretty much the same as free (worth the money in exchange for a prepressed CD instead of trying to download it and burn my own). The stability is impressive, as I never see any problem at all with my server; it just runs. It's nice to be able to change and restart many things without a reboot, too. And it's nice to have access to source in case I want to customize something (and the nature of UNIX is such that source is readily understandable and easy to modify ... unlike the C++ MFC garbage that one must wade through to deal with most modern Windows applications). > It suits my needs, tastes, and runs everything > I need, which Windows does equally well. IF FreeBSD ran everything I need, I'd be far more willing to consider it on the desktop. However, out of 100 applications or so that I use regularly, virtually none exist in a UNIX version. > I am a web developer/web programmer who needs > IIS or Apache, PHP, MySQL, and a text editor. > Perl is good too, and on rare ocassions a > C/C++/Obj-C compiler. I don't do the actual text editing on my FreeBSD system, but it does all the Apache, Perl and other server stuff. I use it to prototype for my production Web site, which also runs under FreeBSD. > "minimizing the likelihood that one will be > obliged to change operating systems in order > to install new applications in the future." is > not a good reason to choose an operating system > in my opinion. It is when you have no idea what you'll be using the computer for in the future ... which is the case for most casual computer users. > The right tool for the right job is my opinion. If you don't know what job you want to do, however, it's best to think broadly. > Just because you want to try out some specific > piece of software is no reason to switch > oerating systems. That's another reason why my desktops are still Windows. Windows XP was enough of a headache to install--and I still have a great many desktop applications running on the older Windows NT system, simply because I saw no reason to move them. I did abandon IIS, however, except for interfacing with VisualDev (which I use for text editing of HTML and source code). I ran Apache on NT for a while, and it works well enough. However, when I installed FreeBSD, I moved all the Web server stuff over to FreeBSD, which to me seemed like the best "native" environment for that sort of thing. > That's no reason to limit it to servers. As I said above, I tried the desktop, and gave up pretty quickly. If I had no actual work to do on my machines, and I just could sit around idly trying to make a UNIX desktop work as well as a Windows desktop, perhaps that would be different. But I do have real work to do, so I can't afford to goof around for weeks or months at a time just to prove some obscure ideological point. FreeBSD isn't suitable for the desktop. No flavor of UNIX is suitable for the desktop, except perhaps Mac OS X, and that has been so dramatically modified from a normal UNIX system that I don't really count it anymore. > The US may be not trying to stop that but > the EU is. One wonders exactly what the EU thinks would replace Windows. > Many other people have complaints too, just > try google.com It is the nature of human beings to complain loudly, but to be contented in silence. > Remember what I told you about this list and > ponder on that. If the list were really as you say, it would serve no useful purpose. What good is a list where people who agree entirely with each other come to pat each other on the back? Isn't the idea behind advocacy to persuade _other_ people to use the OS? > You can not convince us to give up FreeBSD > on the desktop ... I've never suggested that anyone give up FreeBSD on the desktop. > There is obviously much backlash against you ... Most people have a very low tolerance for the expression of opinions different from their own, especially when they cannot effectively justify or defend their own opinions. That doesn't mean that anyone with a different opinion should be silenced or exiled. > We are all convinced you are quite stubborn and > will not listen to our reasons nor leave this list. Whereas everyone else here is supremely open-minded and more than willing to consider all viewpoints, eh? > Prove us wrong and move on, continue having your > opinions, we respect that, but do not try to > force them on others. Expressing an opinion is not _forcing_ it upon anyone. > Are you simply stubborn and unable to listen > to reason? Hmm. > Or will you bother us no more, speaking arguments > that fall on deaf ears? Wouldn't it be more productive to correct the deafness? To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-advocacy" in the body of the message
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