Best way to switch from Linux to BSD

[Paul Schmehl]

--On March 29, 2011 1:32:23 AM -0400 Jason Hsu <jhsu802701 at jasonhsu.com> 
wrote:

>
> Some questions:
> 1.  Is it possible to install KDE, GNOME, or other DE from the FreeBSD CD
> in a reasonable amount of time?  KDE and GNOME are huge programs, and
> having to download them would take too long.

I wouldn't recommend installing from the CD for two reasons.  1) The 
installation is "old", so you will have to update it anyway.  Why not just 
build it from source to begin with?  2) You don't have the same flexibility 
you do when installing it from ports.  There you can pick and choose what 
is installed.

Although you think of KDE as huge, it's actually made up of lots of little 
pieces and parts, each of which get installed separately when you build 
from source.  So, you aren't downloading a monolith.  You're fetching this 
and building it, then that and building it until the entire thing is done.

What it *is* is time consuming.

> 3.  How do I triple-boot Puppy Linux, antiX/Swift
> Linux, and DragonflyBSD?  I already use a Puppy Linux/Swift Linux dual
> boot.  For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what to put in the
> menu.lst file to allow DragonflyBSD to boot.  (By contrast, antiX Linux
> and Swift Linux automatically add the appropriate entries in menu.lst.)

Why triple boot when you can run VMs?  When you triple boot you only have 
access to one OS at a time.  When you run VMs, you have access to all your 
OSes all the time.  Much handier and more useful, I think.

> 4.  What are the Linux Mint and Puppy Linux of the BSD universe?  I
> consider these two distros to set the standard in the Linux universe,
> because they're so user-friendly.  These are the distros I've set out to
> compete against in developing Swift Linux.

FreeBSD is first and foremost a server OS.  Desktop support is lacking when 
compared to the other major OSes (Windows, Mac and Linux).  You can make it 
work, if you want to, but that's not what its primary function is.

If you want a user friendly desktop OS, FreeBSD is probably not your best 
choice.

-- 
Paul Schmehl, Senior Infosec Analyst
As if it wasn't already obvious, my opinions
are my own and not those of my employer.
*******************************************
"It is as useless to argue with those who have
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