# FreeBSD looks really interesting...



## Lvl21nerd (Jul 9, 2009)

right now i use Ubuntu, and i would say i am still a novice. i like to think though that i am a fast learner and i really love anything computer related. my question is, does FreeBSD or any form of BSD really offer anything substantially different (or better) from Ubuntu for the average, day-to-day user? Day-to-day being surfing the web, torrents/limewire, multimedia, etc? or is FreeBSD just mainly meant for servers?


----------



## hedwards (Jul 9, 2009)

Lvl21nerd said:
			
		

> right now i use Ubuntu, and i would say i am still a novice. i like to think though that i am a fast learner and i really love anything computer related. my question is, does FreeBSD or any form of BSD really offer anything substantially different (or better) from Ubuntu for the average, day-to-day user? Day-to-day being surfing the web, torrents/limewire, multimedia, etc? or is FreeBSD just mainly meant for servers?


I'm not sure that is better for that. The main thing which we're missing is proper flash support. You didn't say what your hardware is, but if you're OK running the i386 version, you can get just run the Windows version of Firefox with flash.

Other than that, we have most of the packages you're likely to want. Definitely torrents, web browsing, multimedia and even a fair number of games available.

If you're just starting out, you might consider getting your feet wet with PC-BSD, unless you're more comfortable with hacking configuration files from tutorials.

EDIT: But we're hopefully getting closer to a proper release from Codeweavers of their products and one can always run Linux in virtualbox, which seems to work alright at present.


----------



## dennylin93 (Jul 9, 2009)

I don't know if it's better than Ubuntu, but it probably is as good as Ubuntu.

FreeBSD is also suitable as a desktop, even though it might be harder to set up compared to Ubuntu.

There are many programs that work on FreeBSD. Just to name a few, KDE, GNOME, Xfce, Mplayer, Firefox, Opera, OpenOffice.org, Pidgin, and VLC.


----------



## AngryKoala (Jul 9, 2009)

I started with Ubuntu, then as I learned more, migrated to Arch.  Then I tried FreeBSD.  FreeBSD is similar to Arch in terms of having to configure much more, but the FreeBSD documentation is amazing and very helpful.  I see little difference between my Arch install and FreeBSD install since both started from nothing and I had to build them both up from a few config files.


----------



## NZ3BSD (Jul 9, 2009)

I use a Ubuntu desktop (for the time being) and a laptop with wireless running FreeBSD 7.2. The Ubuntu gnome desktop is a dual core with 4GB RAM, the FreeBSD laptop running Openbox is an older P4 with 256MB RAM - can you guess which one runs faster 

A lot of Linux distros are just getting so overbloated now and are making an XP install look lightweight in the resources it takes to run it. If you are wanting a prebuilt desktop then you may want to try PC-BSD as suggested above, this would be a good way to join the BSD users clan.

I have used FreeBSD on/off for several years, going back to M****$**t or Linux when I have hit problems etc. FreeBSD has made great leaps forward over those years plus there seems to be stronger support community these days too.

I use MS, Linux and BSD operating systems during most days. FreeBSD is the one I enjoy. No one OS is perfect, its what suits yours needs and your values such as free, community and fun to use etc..


----------



## bb (Jul 9, 2009)

Hi!

First of all, please don't forget that Linux and FreeBSD are not graphical operating systems. X11 and the desktop systems running on top of it are separate projects.

FreeBSD on the other hand, is a full featured operating system. The idea is explicitly to not start with nothing, but with everything you need to operate a computer. Of course nowadays people think about the web and multimedia when talking about "computing", and not a text console. 

So if you ask for a difference when using a desktop system like gnome or KDE, you won't experience improvements.

Some desktop related tasks can be done in a GUI on ubuntu like installing/updating packages or system configuration like network and bluetooth. For most of the users, this is thought of as an advantage. 

On the other hand, some people prefer to have more control, and tend to dislike GUIs because of their attitude to simplify most of the details away when dealing with a problem.

For example: Having used the ifconfig(8) command on a BSD system for a while, other operating systems just feel like broken to me. Or using glob patterns and find(1), people arguing about the advantages in different graphical file managers are looking like aliens to me.

Have you used the shell on your ubuntu installation?


----------



## aragon (Jul 9, 2009)

Ubuntu is better for people who don't want to run Windows.

FreeBSD is better for people who love Unix.

There's very little that linux can do that FreeBSD can't.  You don't need WINE to have Flash - FreeBSD's linuxulator runs the linux flash just fine.

Probably the only notable things lacking in FreeBSD are certain multimedia capabilities such as webcam support and video editing software.

The old notion of FreeBSD being for servers only does not apply anymore.


----------



## estrabd (Jul 9, 2009)

aragon said:
			
		

> The old notion of FreeBSD being for servers only does not apply anymore.



I think this conception stems (or is perpetuated) from the fact that many who love FreeBSD are interested in a minimally graphical experience because they prefer the command line for most things.


----------



## avilla@ (Jul 9, 2009)

aragon said:
			
		

> Probably the only notable things lacking in FreeBSD are certain multimedia capabilities such as webcam support and *video editing software*.



you can use multimedia/kdenlive, which at the moment is the most usable video editing software on linux...


----------



## avilla@ (Jul 9, 2009)

oops
s/linux/unix/


----------



## jb_fvwm2 (Jul 9, 2009)

Not Seen in the posts above:
I initially configured the shell with .zshrc's found on the web, and
a bit of research.  That in itself *may* make desktop bsd easier:

```
!if [tab ] [enter]
!ro  [tab ] [enter]
```
Connects daily to the web. (bypassing setting it up in rc.conf).
Different, this side of simple, and interesting.
Similarly, the window manager (another .rc on the web), non-gnome,
has a small window indicating whether builds are going on in
the background (red cpu usage bar)... and how many.  

```
#myhist command # myhist is an alias
```
can uncover all the times, if setup right, say, in the past several
months one used the $command, negating the reason to reread the
manual, which might not have the specific usage you want in EXAMPLES.
........
More "easiers" I discover weekly... (it seems)
.......
Subjectively of course.


----------



## Aaron_VanAlstine (Jul 10, 2009)

I'm running FreeBSD for my server, Xubuntu on my laptap, and use a Mac for my desktop.


----------

