Brilliant and very useful for FreeBSD, IMHO

[Greg 'groggy' Lehey]

On Sunday,  6 April 2003 at 19:21:11 -0700, John Martinez wrote:
> On Sunday, April 6, 2003, at 06:46  PM, Greg 'groggy' Lehey wrote:
>> If you think it can't be easier to use than Linux if it has the same
>> GUI, you're looking in the wrong place.
>
> I'm not looking for a GUI in FreeBSD. I know the greatness of FreeBSD.
> I use it every day.
>
> I'm content with using KDE on a FreeBSD desktop, where needed. But what
> about somebody who can't configure X11 if their life depended on it?
> Right now, the uninitiated shy away and go to Linux for their
> "alternative" to the big one from Redmond. It's mainly because the GUI
> starts up at the beginning.

This is definitely a thing we can work on.  It's pretty trivial to
install the system with xdm, but we don't make it clear enough to the
category of people who want it like that.

>>> I prefer BSD myself, and that's one of the reasons I went with a Mac
>>> with OS X.
>>
>> This is probably a good way to go if you like eye candy.
>
> And a whole bunch of other reasons besides.
>
> I'm not saying that FreeBSD doesn't make a good desktop. I'm just
> saying that certain aspects of it need to be changed in order for it
> to get broader acceptance. If the FreeBSD powers don't want that,
> then so be it. I'll still continue to use it (and its cousins)
> because I prefer it to Linux for many of my applications and needs.

FreeBSD can definitely be improved for newcomers, no doubt.  Don't
misunderstand what I said before: I make my viewpoint clearer in the
Daemon's Advocate columns, for example
http://ezine.daemonnews.org/200208/dadvocate.html.  Yes, we need
better desktop support.  No, I don't think we should repeat the
mistakes that Microsoft made.  If you want a Microsoft-like
environment, you probably can't do better than Microsoft.  My issue is
how to make things easier for people who come from Microsoft, not to
copy the environment from which they have come.

Greg
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