Can I use FreeBSD as a desktop system?

[Polytropon]

On Tue, 18 Jul 2017 23:32:43 -0300, SOUL_OF_ROOT 55 wrote:
> Can I use FreeBSD as a desktop system?

Definitely. I'm doing this since FreeBSD 4, as my home PC
is what the "desktop" metaphor implies. There are several
desktop environments to choose from, versatile window
managers, plenty of application programs for web browsing,
e-mail, office, gaming, multimedia, software development,
web design, print, photo & imaging, and so on.

Installation and updating is easy with the "pkg" tool.

I'm running FreeBSD desktops in various environments, such
as home use, "home office" and "real office", and laptops.
The ability to select the right set of tools for the task
at hand, and being able to perform tasks that often require
system compatibility, interoperability and operations safety
is a great key advantage of FreeBSD. Adding non-desktop
functionality to an existing desktop system is also possible,
in case you should need it (for example, an office desktop
running a web server for a small in-house web solution).

However, specific domains might be lacking functionality as
they are in a "locked market" where no software (or no
sufficient software) might exist outside of a closed ecosystem.
In that case, emulation or virtualization of the target system
sometimes can bring the required functionality to FreeBSD, but
there are still niches where it just does not work as expected.

It all depends on _what_ you're _actually_ going to do. ;-)



-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...