From FreeBSD to PC-BSD

Even in the default configuration -- with X and the Fvwm window manager, I found that I could do a lot with OpenBSD 4.2. I added a whole bunch of packages, began customizing Fvwm and generally found OpenBSD to be a very credible desktop operating system. And the emphasis on security out of the box is something I'm very much in favor of.

I'm nowhere near getting the Gateway's noisy CPU fan managed under OpenBSD. In fact, I barely know where to begin. Same goes for NetBSD, which I've tried. It's pretty much a case of "s/he who turns the CPU fan off and on again wins."

And as far as that little corner of my wants and needs go, FreeBSD (and its derivatives PC-BSD and DesktopBSD) have the edge. While control of the CPU fan can be spotty, I'm pig-in-shit happy that FreeBSD manages it so well.

I'm also reading Dru Lavigne's book, "The Best of FreeBSD Basics," which contains updated versions of many dozen of her very helpful columns, and I need a working FreeBSD setup with which to use it. In fact, two of the chapters in the book cover why and how to install PC-BSD and DesktopBSD, both of which are a whole lot more user-friendly to put on a box than the average BSD.

But I began with FreeBSD 7. I only got the first disk, and I figured that after a couple of OpenBSD installs, I could put FreeBSD on my laptop without reading the FreeBSD FAQ or Handbook.

I was right. The text-based installer is pretty clear, and I was able to create a FreeBSD partition, properly "slice" it up, and configure a basic FreeBSD system.

"Basic" is a good word for it. While my CPU fan was under control most of the time, and I did have networking, I found the whole thing rather spartan. As part of the initial install, I did put X on the box, but all I got for a window manager was Twm. And when I quit it, X froze, and I had to ctrl-alt-backspace to get back to a console.

I did add a few ports -- my first experience with compiling massive amounts of software. My first impression: Who has the time for this kind of thing? I soon went back to packages, which is how I beefed up my OpenBSD installs. I'm happy to have the choice between packages and ports in the BSDs; I can imagine the process of updating ports becoming very tiresome -- and quickly, too.

Anyhow, I tried to bring Fluxbox into my FreeBSD install, and then I broke X the rest of the way. I was all set to do another FreeBSD install on the same box, but I figured I'd make it easy on myself and put PC-BSD or DesktopBSD on the box instead.

Since I see a whole lot happening with PC-BSD -- and I was very impressed with Matt Olander, the CTO of PC-BSD maker iXsystems, when I met him at SCALE 6X -- I decided to go with it. Also impressive is the project's PBI files, which promise easy application installation. The first time I looked at PC-BSD, many months ago, the PBIs seemed out of date, and a few didn't work. But now the PBIs are all very fresh -- the latest versions of everything, and I'm anxious to see how they run.

To make an already long story that much shorter, I had discs for PC-BSD 1.4 already burned. I used those to do the install, and I was very pleased to see my CPU fan, once again, managed very well with no intervention -- something most Linux kernels will not do without a little configuration work on my part.

And the problems I had with X configuration when previously running PC-BSD and DesktopBSD -- mainly the bouncing cursor icons looking really awful -- went away once I installed PC-BSD 1.4 and clicked a few boxes in a helpful configuration dialog box.

Again, very impressive.

The last time I installed PC-BSD, it was version 1.3, and to get to the latest 1.4 version, I needed to download either two or three PBI files and run them sequentially.

No more. Now any 1.3 or 1.4 install of PC-BSD can be upgraded to the new Version 1.5 with a single PBI file.

I downloaded it and am doing so now.

I'll have more to report in the weeks ahead, but so far PC-BSD is exceeding my expectations on the desktop.