Do you actually use PC-BSD

[lazyilmaz]

I'm using it in VMware, but i will install it as my second os very soon.

[dean_fry]

i've installed pcbsd on my desktop-pc and my samsung x20 laptop (see the hardware compatibilty topic from valio).

also i have it running in vmware on my laptop so i can quickly try something out.

but i am NOT really using it. i won't till it has an updater so i can update to the newest pc-bsd release (i think 0.9 will come with it). a fresh installation for each version is not good if you get productive with your system...

so just testing and "playing" with it in my spare time...so release quicker point releases to test :D *hihi*

[Weixiong]

I've been using PC-BSD as my main OS for the past couple weeks. If it's the only OS I use I'm more likely to learn something.

I dualboot XP/PC-BSD on my laptop and have PC-BSD as the only OS on my PC.

[dean_fry]

I've been using PC-BSD as my main OS for the past couple weeks. If it's the only OS I use I'm more likely to learn something.

I dualboot XP/PC-BSD on my laptop and have PC-BSD as the only OS on my PC.

but with the next release you have to erase everything and do all the config again...doesn't that bother you?

[scottro]

It's the best way to learn. :)

Actually, I used to be quite a distro slut, but these days, use FreeBSD almost exclusively. At work, my boss made me choose a server O/S and stopped letting me change it at whim--gee, I wonder why--well, I guess the users complaining about their home directories being unavailable might have been a factor.

I have PCBSD on a box, but until the hardware recognition issue is fixed (I can only install and boot in safe mode, which drops everything down to PIO mode, slowing it down considerably) I can't really use it. Not sure why it's happening, it doesn't happen with FreeBSD-5.4 on the same boxes.

Weixong made a very wise comment, that it's the best way to learn. There is quite a bit to learn about Unix, and if you keep switching from say, Free to Net to Open to various Linux's, you have to learn the idiosyncrasies of each O/S in addition to learning the basic Unix stuff. My advice to people is find one you like and stick with it--play with others if you like, but as each has its own method of dealing with 3rd party programs, in some ways, you're just wasting time.

In other words, install Debian and you have to learn about apt-get. Install SimplyMepis and though it's newcomer friendly, you still have to learn its ins and outs. Install FreeBSD and you have to learn about ports, install NetBSD and you have to learn about pkgsrc, install DragonFly and you have to learn both, though they are gradually going to be changing over completely to pkgsrc.

RedHat you have to learn yum and rpms, not to mention that every O/S has its own little tools--for instance FreeBSD has an adduser script, but NetBSD sticks to the traditional useradd. Etc. etc

[Weixiong]

but with the next release you have to erase everything and do all the config again...doesn't that bother you?

I've got quite a bit of time and effort into this installation of PC-BSD. (The first time I used it was 0.70. I had HD problems and ended up wiping everything after using it for only a couple weeks.) I've installed a ton of ports and have quite a bit of documentation saved up with no easy way of transferring it since I haven't been able to get my zip drives working yet, but it's nothing I can't do without or do over.

I considered going back to Fedora on my laptop due to some hardware problems I haven't been able to work out (wireless WEP key not being accepted and no sound on my ESS Allegro), but PC-BSD is the only other OS besides Window I've tried that will recognize my flatpanel and give me a screen.

I can do everything on BSD that I did on Windows at this point but still have a lot to learn about the details. I used Linux for about a year, but that was a couple years ago. I'm about as fluent in BSD as Linux so I might as well tough it out. ;)

I am using OpenBSD on a wide scale at our company. As a desktop solution I have been using and installing both Fedora Core and Ubuntu GNU/Linux.

As a desktop the solution at our office just has to work without much setup due to time. For that reason we run GNU/Linux. I don't think eigther BSD's is suitable as a desktop until PCBSD.

PCBSD looks very promising as a desktop and it is for FreeBSD what Ubuntu is for Debian.

There are som important features still lacking for us to use it, KDE printing and device detecting in K3B is failing. But other than that it's great!

In my opinion nothing beats OpenBSD. But as a desktop it's not really a choise.

We hope PCBSD will soon have all the features needed and then it will be our desktop solution! We love the minimalist aproach too which is the same on OpenBSD.

[Charles]

I like OpenBSD too!!

[TheBman]

I gave PCBSD my entire drive after a couple of days. I am still running .7 and have had very few troubles. I am not a "power" user so maybe thats where I have experienced less trouble. I do have all my hardware working with it and it is doing what I need and am enjoying the learning experience of it all.

[rds_correia]

Yep, voted for using it only under VMWare because I can't use cordless keyb+mouse from Logitech or Microsoft under PC-BSD 0.7 or 0.75.
Actually it seems to be a problem with FreeBSD because I tried 5.3 and 5.4 and it also doesn't work :(.
Otherwise I would have already gone a step forward and had a small 5GB partition for M$ XP and all the rest 65GB for PC-BSD :twisted:.
Not exactly the above :lol: but at least I would be dual booting both :lol:.
May I say that appart from the problem mentioned above I love PC-BSD :D.
Cheers

[munkymonkjr]

none of the answers really almost apply to me at this point.

as of right now, i am NOT using it. i did use it as the main and only OS on my desktop last week, but then i went to linux, just couldn't get the damn printer to work. I test ran it on my laptop, but with lack of BSD ati drivers, i had to go back to linux (i have ati 9700 in my laptop). I will surely revisit at version 1.0.

[berVi]

none of the answers really almost apply to me at this point.

as of right now, i am NOT using it. i did use it as the main and only OS on my desktop last week, but then i went to linux, just couldn't get the damn printer to work. I test ran it on my laptop, but with lack of BSD ati drivers, i had to go back to linux (i have ati 9700 in my laptop). I will surely revisit at version 1.0.
it's a big trouble with everything but windows to get drivers for ati cards (i mean with hw 3d acceleration), its coz of ati's lousy support for other os's :(

[DrJ]

I didn't submit my vote, but that's only because it would be a bit misleading. I don't use PC-BSD, but have used a FreeBSD desktop as my main system for quite some time. I'm pretty wedded to Gnome at the moment, and having gone through all of the bother to get a proper desktop set up, I don't see the need to install PC-BSD. That said, I do consider PC-BSD as a very good means to raise the BSD desktop user base, which can only bring good things.

DrJ

[blind javelin thrower]

Like others who've posted here, I'm primarily a FreeBSD user. I installed the last two releases of PC-BSD -- both worked satisfactorily on my hardware, BTW -- and used them a bit to familiarize myself with the project, my thinking being very much along the same lines as DrJ's; to wit:

... I do consider PC-BSD as a very good means to raise the BSD desktop user base, which can only bring good things.


To expand on this a bit ... the BSD desktop, IMO, is just a few good ports/packages away from being extremely competent. A growing user base is the incentive needed for developers to provide better applications, and improve the user-friendliness of installing and maintaining a BSD system.

Makes sense I'd have an enlightened self-interest in the success of PC-BSD. :-)

Regards, -bjt

I try every new beta release that comes out and then usually uninstall it and wait for a new version. Sound and wireless internet aren't supported right now for my computer so I can't use it as my main OS.

[antik]

PCBSD is my primary os right now on Athlon64 and I`m curious about 64 bit version of PCBSD.

[unix_chix]

PC-BSD is my main OS and has been for about 2 weeks now. I found out about it through http://www.distrowatch.com & found it to be the only one that interested me.
It's pretty good to be in beta. I actually like it a bit better than the other unix-based OSs I have tried out (mostly linux distros).
Its on my laptop right now (Inspirion 1150) and I'm still new to the whole unix community & I am definitely enjoying the learning experience :arrow:

[munkymonkjr]

it's a big trouble with everything but windows to get drivers for ati cards (i mean with hw 3d acceleration), its coz of ati's lousy support for other os's :(

actually ATi has pretty good support for Linux. They recently released a version of drivers that gives you better 3D performance as well as a nice little graphical installer to get em working. Granted they are not on par with windows drivers, they allow me to play games like CS1.6 (via Cadega), Soldier of Fortune, Enemy Terriory and America's Army just fine and dandy under linux.

on top of all that, don't forget that that system is after all a LAPTOP and i need some features a desktop can live without:
Hibernation/Stand-by support
Wireless (i have atheros chipset wireless...there are open source drivers for it..should be easy enough to include in teh next PC-BSD realease)
built-in microphone support
media card reader support (MMC/SD cards)
AUTOMOUNT (useful for everyone and everything)
Hardware button support (wifi on/off toggle, email, web)