Convince me

[Mary Evans]

Latitude wrote:
> I'm interested in changing over to FreeBSD from Windows, but I'll
 have
> to say, you guys don't really present a forceful argument to Windows
> users of how easy the switch may be.  I get knee-deep in FreeBSD
 jargon
> the second I get to your webpage. I need to see an overwhelming
 argument
> that FreeBSD is a perfectly acceptable alternative for home desktop
> users who have previously known only Windows.
> 
> For instance, if I download and install FreeBSD, will I instantly
 have a
> desktop windowing environment that I can navigate in while I figure
 out
> what's going on?  Will I have a browser and way to setup an internet
> connection right off the bat?  How will I migrate files from other
> operating systems?
> 
> I understand you guys have been around for a while, but you don't
 seem
> to understand the monumental "fear" involved in switching operating
> systems.  You need to address those concerns head on from the start.
  I
> need to see several screenshots of apps that I can use as
 alternatives
> to what I have.

Didn't you really mean to say you need to be SOLD?

If you need to be convinced, you probably won't enjoy your
 FreeBSD experience.

As others have told you, FreeBSD people are generally 
looking to TAKE BACK CONTROL OF THEIR OWN COMPUTERS!

Sorry for shouting . . .

Case in point.  I have a Windows XP system which 
I use to access my organization's On-Line Learning system, 
and to let me surf and do stuff while I learn BSD.  

My intent is to get totally away from Windows, since more, 
and often better, software exists for almost everything 
I do. And it's free.  I also want my desktop to look and 
offer what I want, not what somebody else decided I should 
have.

With FreeBSD, I can use applications produced for 
windows - - when I LEARN HOW.  
(Though the more I learn, the less I see the need to use 
those, since comparable and even superior applications 
exist for FreeBSD.)

I just don't want any of the cutesey crap that windows 
is loaded with. When I want to find something, 
I want to find it - not click another screen with a 
lame animation that wants to confirm what I want to do.

And I certainly don't trust a firewall built by folks 
whose first response to system flaws is 
"It only affects a small group. . ."  
and who then finally offers you the fix!  

I'll build my own firewall, and I'll grab a fix for any
security problems a few days after they're known.

If windows craps out, you reboot or system restore, 
without even knowing why it crashed.  In FreeBSD, if it 
craps out, it tells you what happened, and writes to 
disk as much information as it can to help you solve 
the problem.  

You may not understand what that stuff is telling you, 
but SOMEBODY does, and you can find an answer.

I put together a computer with an 8 gig drive and 192 megs 
of ram. (I think it's a pentium 2 or 3.  It's been a while 
since I built it.) FreeBSD fits nicely, is very responsive, 
and doesn't hog either the RAM or the hard drive.  

A Windows machine would take up most of the drive, 
not to mention slow down with that amount of RAM.

Convince you?

Sorry.  I don't really care what you use.

And I take exception to the business of "helping ourselves."
Frankly, we ARE helping outselves to freedom from bloated
code, new holes for rootkits and viruses with every 
iteration, and to the expense of paying more and more every
time you look around.

I'm as new as they come to this system.  Even when I had all
working pretty well, I knew there was more to know, more to 
be done.  I broke, and took that opportunity to rebuild
everything from scratch, (didn't do my own kernel, yet, but
I will!)on the enhanced box I described above.  Before, well,
it was a plain pentium with a less than a gig of harddrive 
space, and 128 megs of RAM.

When you get sick and tired of being sick and tired of 
Windows, you won't need any convincing.

marye