freebsd-questions Digest, Vol 804, Issue 5

Fri Nov 8 14:13:54 UTC 2019

> On Nov 6, 2019, at 8:50 AM, Dave B via freebsd-questions <freebsd-questions at freebsd.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> Though personally I migrated away from Windows to Linux (I found BSD too
> clunky to use and CPU hungry for desktop use, where it could be
> installed.  Where as modern Linux's, just load and run with minimal
> effort, and are well understood, supported and stable.)  That was after
> the great W10 force-feeding saga, where they filled my C drive to the
> point that the system would not even boot.  DESPITE, their own
> compatibility trial saying that my combo' of CPU and GPU were not
> compatible with W10!.  (AMD and ATI-Rage+)
> 
> 
> But I have to say, that for most people BSD is not an option for a
> desktop "daily driver", except perhaps in the form of an Apple MAC!  
> But how much time and money did Apple invest in getting it that way?

I normally don’t answer emails that pertain to personal choices but it just annoys me to no end to hear how good all these systems are then I am hounded to solve issues pertaining to these systems.

First and foremost, there is no system out there that doesn’t require some intervention from a knowledgable person to configure so it meets the use of the user. I cannot mention how many times people abandoned hardware for no good reason because they couldn’t find a driver for it. This same hardware continued to function many years later without any issue or incidents powered by standards in the BSD or Linux community. I see people throwing good money away because they don’t understand simple configuration options in their computing environment. The simplicity of Windows and Mac have allowed me to live a very comfortable lifestyle. The fees I charge fixing these easy to use systems are never produced by FreeBSD replacements. It feels like FreeBSD fails when the hardware fails.

Don’t get me wrong. The proper tool for the proper job. Windows, Mac, Linux, *BSD and any other OS require knowledge for them to work efficiently and accordingly to our needs. IoT devices and cell phones are a prime example of everything that is wrong with this world. If for any reason you require a service from the device that the manufacturer does not believe you should have access to even though the device is capable of, you are blocked from implementing it. They are not easy to use they are limited in their functionality and designed to be broken on delivery. This is the direction Windows is going and to some extent Mac.

For me computers are a tool to accomplish tasks. I prefer a tool that I use for the intended purpose rather than something that screams bells and whistles and yet is not appropriate for it’s purposes. As an example Windows 10, it’s telemetry. Cell phones and the restriction imposed on the user such as call recording and app permissions designed more for marketing purposes rather than the owner. Mac’s abandonment of 32bit code.

Linux, I feel, is headed in the same direction. What you describe as ease of use I describe as hidden configuration options that when broken by some force are difficult to put back into place. Most of the time more difficult than systems that don’t make the claim. Many on occasion I have had to search for undocumented changes to some obscure file that isn’t quite performing as “normal” and there is no option in the settings to fix such behaviour. I have come to expect that from Windows and now it’s creeping into Linux despite the KISS adage, Linux is no longer keeping it simple. I can’t count the number of times that systemd broke a configuration that was in place because of some update. I never had that experience for the KISS text files. At least what I saw in the files was the configuration that existed in the live environment.

It is my experience that with FreeBSD and the Linux versions that don’t implement systemd a simple configuration file will last for the lifetime of the system. Systems that hide the configuration options under supposedly simple interfaces often require intervention and break just because of the convoluted desire to hide options. If you don’t believe me look at Windows 10 and Oulook email setup when the user’s account is not his email address or the convoluted way that Win10 pushes you to create a Microsoft account.

It takes me less time to load and run a FreeBSD system than Windows. God forbid I need to migrate a Windows system to new hardware. Never a problem with the *BSD’s or the Linux distributions without systemd. 

> 
> Cheers All.
> 
> Dave B.
> 
> 
> On 06/11/2019 12:00, freebsd-questions-request at freebsd.org wrote:
>> "exfat" is certainly a good choice; however, I would not rule out NTFS
>> completely. Windows 7, while not EOL until 2020, is definitely
>> comatose. I don't don't know anyone still using it, especially since
>> Microsoft offered an easy and free upgrade path.
> 
> -- 
> Created on and sent from a Unix like PC running and using free and open source software:
> 
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