Sadly, my tinker-time has run out....

[Andrew Gould]

On 9/2/07, Mike Jeays <mike.jeays at rogers.com> wrote:
>
> On Sunday 02 September 2007 02:22, Michael Hauber wrote:
> > Hey, all...
> >
> > I've been a user of FreeBSD and OpenBSD for quite a while now.
> > Unfortunatly, I haven't had much time to tinker lately, and that's
> unlikely
> > to change in the near future.  Sadly, I need to get an OS that my wife
> > would be more comfortable using and that wouldn't be as time-comsuming
> to
> > make it more comfortable for her.
> >
> > I downloaded the uberyl live CD and found that ubuntu seems to pick up
> on
> > everything I have on the laptop (as well as all the attachments), so I'm
> > downloading it now.
> >
> > Because I've put so much time into getting this FreeBSD install where it
> is
> > now (and because I favor the BSDs), I'm still a bit hesitant...  Has
> anyone
> > here had much experience with ubunu as a desktop?  Negatives/positives?
> >
> > Kind of OT, I guess...  I'd just rather hear it from someone in this
> group
> > rather than the inevitable, "Oh yeah.  You won't be sorry." from the
> ubuntu
> > folk (salespitches == fingernails on a chalkboard :) ).
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Mike
> >
> >
> > PS.  Yes, I've played with PC-BSD.  Unfortunately, that's still more
> work
> > than I have time for.
>
> I am one of those sad cases who used FreeBSD for many years as my primary
> desktop at home, and then switched to Ubuntu about 6 months ago.  I still
> run
> FreeBSD on an older server, that runs round the clock and is 100%
> reliable.
>
> I was only slightly frustrated by FreeBSD, mainly because of my inability
> to
> get a Hauuppage TV card to work, even after a few queries on this list.  I
> also found that other multimedia software seemed more available and easier
> to
> set up - I not saying they were impossible, just that I seemed to be
> spending
> more time trying to get them to work than I wanted.
>
> Ubuntu works very well 'out of the box', and their Synaptic tool for
> finding
> and installing software is excellent. I am now running VirtualBox under
> Ubuntu, and it works extremely well; I can run W2K and XP for occasional
> use
> as guests, and what seems like full speed. (Much faster than QEMU, which I
> used before.)  Both KDE and GNOME work fine, and for basic work with
> Firefox,
> Thunderbird, OpenOffice and Postgresql, there is nothing much to choose
> between FreeBSD and Ubuntu from an office user's point of view.  Both work
> great.  Both seem rock solid, and recover well from the occasional power
> outages I get at my new home.  (Ought to get a battery backup before
> disaster
> hits one day, I suppose).  All the development tools are a few
> mouse-clicks
> away.
>
> I may switch back one day, as I like FreeBSD very much for its sound
> design
> and underlying philosophy.  I feel 'guilty' about having changed!
>
> --
> Mike Jeays
> http://www.jeays.ca
> _______________________________________________
>

I moved from Linux to FreeBSD in 2000.  Two years ago, at the request of my
IT department, I started looking to move a database server back to Linux.
Unfortunately(?), I found that each Linux distribution came with either
problems or limitations.  Several distros worked well out of the box; but I
still had problems getting the applications I wanted working either because
of bugs or license politics.  I never made the move.

Don't kid yourself, even open source applications and operating systems go
through occasional periods where technical know-how is needed, even
*Ubuntu.  If you don't believe me, browse through the email lists of any
*BSD or Linux operating system.

This month's edition of Linux Format has an article documenting an
experiment where 3 newbies are asked to perform various tasks in Linux.  You
may find this article useful.

If the original poster is leaving FreeBSD to save time and make his wife's
computing experience a pleasant one, I recommend Mac OS X.  It comes with
all of the advantages of Apple's understanding of users and user
interfaces.  Also, you can install your favorite unix apps via macports.

In my home, I use Mac OS X for photo editing and creating slideshow DVDs.  I
use FreeBSD as my desktop and a database server.

Good luck,

Andrew