# Can I get a few "pushes" here



## mrhobbeys (Sep 3, 2011)

I really want to install FreeBSD 8.x over my Win 7 64x on my laptop. It is a HP Pavilon dv7, it has AMD duel core, ATI HD4200 4GB ram and 2x 250GB HD. 

I am held back by the fact that I bought several games, Dreamweaver and photoshop, and several other programs most of which I don't really use...

But here is the thing. I hate t lose the software I have paid for but lets face it I have another computer and if I don't make the switch at some point I will end up paying for more/other software and will be more and more locked into the 'windows stronghold' (see sump cost effect). 

So I need to do these things so that I can make the proper justifications and 'adjustments': remote desktop access to several machine types (currently using teamviewer holding off on buying the license for my business), web editing and design (currently using DW and PS, have had much experience with GIMP so we just need to get something good for the web), full support of media (movies etc, so far VLC seems to work fine on FreeBSD, but is there any thing that will allow me to stream to my xbox 360 the same way media center does? It's not a huge deal since I have the spare computer), and I hesitate to mention this but I think it just needs to be known for what I am doing ATM a big part of my business is securing and pen testing existing computer systems I get paid for that I have several scripts and other things made via AHK (auto hot key) and python for windows that I use, I assume FreeBSD is going to be fine for this type of work but will I gain an obvious advantage if I make the change? Maybe a disadvantage?

Last Q and maybe the most important my customers....

I have gotten a fair amount of customers to change from XP computers to Win7 64x, but can I offer them more security by having them instead switch to FreeBSD? I have long thought about having them all switch to Ubuntu w/Wine, but does Wine even run on FreeBSD? This is really the longest shot for me [but if it is something that people want to see I could work to make it happen more FreeBSD users] but I need to know that it is more secure and really has something to offer my customers over windows besides the insanely long up-times and stability the truly biggest thing I have noticed so far is that people want to know they are more secure and that their data is more secure and better protected from both natural threats (via backup, other redundancy), and man-made threats (encryption, intrusion protections). 

I after reading a lot of this and that, I think FreeBSD would be the right direction to move in I could have all the needed freedoms to make changes and not feel that it would impede on my business and it seems that I could really offer something better to my customers, am I right in this thinking? [Lower costs, more security, less data loss through any means].

*side note
I have installed FreeBSD [and am using it now,] on an older laptop for a trial bases so far i like what I see but like mentioned above I need to find solutions. And most of all I need a small kick in the ass (push).


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## Beeblebrox (Sep 3, 2011)

*Please clarify*

Wow so many questions - slow down.

There are a whole bunch of posts and askers regarding "Should I switch & How?" Maybe reading through those will help answering some of the basic questions.

About your clients:  Be comfortable with what you are doing and maintain your own server/PC before you venture that way.  Offer commercial support on FreeBSD only when you can solve 80% of problems on your own.

One thing which you will probably not like: Flash is unfortunately piped through the linux emulator and standard wine is 32bit (64bit wine requires some extra work/setup).  Flash works fine and will probably have its own native FreeBSD code fairly soon, but the linux layer adds extra steps to get flash to work with the browsers.

Bottom Line:  Dust off a PC/Laptop you are not using, install PC-BSD (automated install) and play around with it; even break it (the system - not the laptop). Then you can sort through what you already know and what you need to clarify.

Good Luck...


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## ManaHime (Sep 3, 2011)

Beeblebrox said:
			
		

> Flash works fine and will probably have its own native FreeBSD code fairly soon, but the linux layer adds extra steps to get flash to work with the browsers.



Where did you here that? And how long is "fairly soon" Because last time I looked peoples were saying we might have a native flash "fairly soon" back in 2008... (which makes me sad)

As for OP, wine (32bits) works pretty well on both x86 and x64 (considering you have more steps on amd64 to install it...) Though games many games don't work specifically on FreeBSD with wine but it's still worth a shot and see if yours work.

If you're to make peoples switch to BSD for desktop I'de recommand PC-BSD

I wish you good luck =)


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## rusty (Sep 3, 2011)

There is no issue in running wine on 64bit. Having an nvidia card is beneficial (a requirement?) if 3d is required.
Grab wine from http://people.freebsd.org/~ivoras/wine/ or newer versions from the mediafire link. Install with
`# pkg_add wine-fbsd<version>`

Install the required 32bit drivers with the script also on the above page. 
`# sh patch-wine-nvidia.sh`


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## Beeblebrox (Sep 4, 2011)

@ rusty: What I meant was that 64 bit wine is not in the ports tree (at least when I installed it) and still gives "conflict" messages at update. Therefore it could be a little more confusing compared to an app in the regular port tree (I like ports better).

@D4rkSilver:


> Where did you here that? And how long is "fairly soon" Because last time I looked peoples were saying we might have a native flash "fairly soon" back in 2008.


You are right, and I have no solid information about flash for FreeBSD. Let's just say it's an educated guess, but my guess is as accurate as a gypsy palm reading.


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## kuku (Sep 4, 2011)

i would not recommend commercial/desktop switch/support until this pkg/port mess is cleaned up. Hopefully with freebsd 9.1 or 9.2 ,there was a discussion about this at freebsd-arch mailing list in august. Probably you'll want to check out comments from developers. For pcbsd i havent tried it, pbi system could be better but i have no idea.


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