I figured I would start a new thread as opposed to lengthening my active thread on KDE.
I'm new to the BSD flavor of OSes. I migrated from MINT Linux to BSD for a couple reasons, mainly to try something I haven't tried before (BSD) and to -hopefully- create a rock solid system designed for performance and security. I really wanted to test out the full disk encryption, too.
Installation from DVD took fo-rev-er. It was late, I gave myself a couple hours to do this, but after a couple hours I just fell asleep when the progress was about 30% or so. I woke up to an installed system.
Problems I have encountered thus far:
- KDE Performance
- No touchpad support by default
- Sound only when using headphones / external speakers
- Bad Laptop Support
I'll elaborate on all of these in more detail:
KDE Performance
I was told that KDE is the go-to desktop manager for BSD. Something about how they ported KDE to BSD or whatever, was done with more care and preciseness than Gnome. (Or something). KDE performance (so far) has been
horrible. Right off the bat, rocking a fresh install, I log into KDE for the first time and it is using 1.1GB of RAM whereas Gnome or XFCE use 250-350MB at startup depending on what programs I have startup. I've since been linked to articles on how to get KDE to perform better, but before I had a chance I encountered further issues that made me just kind of not want to use KDE again (I was never a fan of it in the past).
Other issues with KDE that I have not experienced in other desktops include the mouse pointer freezing, only to be unlocked by me hitting the spacebar (or maybe any other key, but I always hit the spacebar to unlock it). After that, the mouse cursor just kind of... "does it's own thing". I can't control it, but it just kind of drifts around the screen ignoring any human input. Hard reboot.
Touchpad Issues
So, I can use my touchpad by default to move the mouse. Some may think that is enough, but you must understand that good touchpad support is almost necessary in this day and age. So from the start, i'm pulling my hair out and cussing under my breath. Even now, the fact that PC-BSD lacks good touchpad support from the start is driving me mad as I try to type this. Let me explain....
For starters, the most frustrating thing is not being able to disable the touchpad while typing. Any recent linux distro I have used has this ability by default. So now, as I type this I am constantly being forced to adjust my screen so the text box is highlighted and re-adjust where the text is being input due to the damn cursor bouncing around the screen from me over so softly touching the touchpad while typing. Windows has the best touchpad support, then Linux, then BSD. I haven't used a Mac in years, but as a modern OS I would assume it has modern features included by default such as touchpad support.
It's not just the inability to disable the touchpad while typing by default (hopefully some laptop users will come in here and have solutions), it's the inability to scroll with the touchpad that also drives me crazy. I like efficient machines and it takes up time to have to drag my cursor somewhere where I can click and just use the up and down keys to scroll in a browser when I should be able to simply use the touchpad.
Though I should congratulate PC-BSD on the fact it recognizes my touchpad clicks as clicks, otherwise I wouldn't of even made it this far and would of simply re-installed Linux MINT which has been rock-solid to me.
Sound Issues
At first I thought I simply had no sound. I was okay with this at first, wasn't a big issue. 5+ years ago it seemed almost any Linux distro I would install had sound issues and I would manually have to correct it at a later time, but thankfully in today's age Linux is pretty solid with their drivers and support for things. However I plugged in my headphones, possibly out of habbit, and to my surprise... sound! (But none via my laptop speakers).
Bad Laptop Support
If I close my laptop lid, I have to hard reboot my computer. I can't bring it 'back to life' after opening the lid, it's just sitting there with a black screen.
I can't use my laptop function keys to increase/decrease volume or brightness, or other common functions that have -always- worked in the large handful of Linux distros I have used over the past couple years.
.
.
.
Look, I don't want to sound like I am nagging. I would like to get these issues resolved so I can use my laptop how it's intended to be used, but I can't afford a ton of time and frustration trying to resolve these issues. Maybe it's because I am on a laptop and PC-BtSD was created with desktop machines in mind, but it's 2012 and people have places to be and go. If you think laptop support isn't a priority, think again. It's disappointing to have to do so much of this manually, especially after downloading and burning a 4+GB DVD. I would of assumed some of that data would of included common drivers and support for common devices, but I guess not.
I've spent a couple hours reading and trying to correct the touchpad issue, no go. It's still driving me mad, haha. (synaptics)
I was always told that BSD was 'better' than Linux, though it appears Linux (minus the new Gnome, hate it!) is pretty dang solid nowadays. Seriously, MINT Linux has been nothing but excellent to me in a world of being disappointed by crappy 'flashy' Linux distros. I really don't like Gnome 3+ and am not a fan of KDE. I just want a lightweight and secure OS that allows me to run XFCE with minimal issues.
Sorry for the rant. Don't take this as a negative thing. I'm still kind of a 'newb' or whatever, I understand some things may need to be done manually with any OS installation. But because I want PC-BSD to be better, take my rants into consideration for future updates. Don't ignore laptop users either, I can't believe none of my function keys work and that I can't restore my computing state after closing my laptop's lid.
Just some things to think about.
Issues with PC-BSD 9 on a laptop.
Linear Mode
