# On par with Windows finally



## ronaldlees (Nov 10, 2015)

I really hate to see binary blobs downloaded at runtime into a slot in the Firefox software running on my FreeBSD-10.2 installation, by a corporation that builds half the world's internet routers, and is certainly in a position to do almost anything they please with my traffic.

I wrote that all in one breath!

But, I have to admit, this is the first time I've ever used FreeBSD for internet browsing, and _felt that it was on par with Windows_. I just came from the NFL.com site, having watched my favorite team's game-clips in full screen action.  _Awesome_. 

Note that I did turn off all cameras, mikes, and the like, even though FIREFOX would never abuse  them (but someone else would, I hear).

So, what do other forum members think of this?

  - Edit: Oh yeah - I should tell you what I'm talking about: the H264 support via Cisco.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Nov 10, 2015)

Think of what? FreeBSD has been my sole desktop for 6 years.


----------



## ronaldlees (Nov 10, 2015)

drhowarddrfine said:


> Think of what? FreeBSD has been my sole desktop for 6 years.



I went for a long stretch using FreeBSD as my sole desktop too.  But, while the old back-flipping setup scenarios involving flash could be made to work, they were never like the "just works" _consumer way_ of windows, and didn't cover all media types.  Now, all the big name super commercial sites and media are available, so it's "on par" with Windows in that way.  My last question was ideology based, so perhaps should be forgotten anyway, to keep the thread from growing too quickly.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Nov 10, 2015)

It's hard for me to judge how others would use their desktop since I don't use mine in an average way. My wife runs Windows cause she need QuickBooks for our business cause our accountant uses it. One of my sons uses Windows for his stupid gaming. My other son has a huge Mac system and loves it. 

I'm betting I could get my wife off Windows if not for Quickbooks. When I visit my son, I'm content to do things on it cause I can run a term if needed and I can ssh into his system. My other son is a lost cause in this department.  

I wish I could watch Netflix on my desktop though I generally prefer to watch movies on my 63-inch plasma TV. I don't watch much TV beyond that. The Flash thing is something I blame Flash sites for and those issues would go away if they would ever get smart about it. Other than that, for surfing the web, it's no different looking through the browser on FreeBSD than it is on any other OS. My data is on my own servers or Google Docs where I also do my word processing and personal email. My business email is through my own server.


----------



## tankist02 (Nov 10, 2015)

Unfortunately my experience with FreeBSD as desktop is not that good. Yesterday I installed 10.2 Release amd64 on UFS following the cooltrainer guide for FreeBSD 10 desktop. I installed Mate and some other packages using pkg. I had the following problems:

- Thunderbird fails to validate my password when I want to use my existing email account with comcast.net. Something related to SSL?
- I cannot add System Monitor applet to the top panel in Mate. Maybe it is related - I get a core file from Mate panel.
- Handbrake fails with unsatisfied dependency - lame
- Firefox displays ugly jagged fonts on yahoo.com. After I opened a few additional tabs Firefox crashed. 

Today I'll try to rebuild all my packages from ports and will add more popular fonts to see if it helps. Otherwise back to Fedora 23 where everything works without hassle and looks good.


----------



## Deleted member 9563 (Nov 10, 2015)

Am I the only one who thinks these kinds of threads are tedious?

Seriously, if something works it's a blessing and if it doesn't work, either fix it, forget about it, or get someone else to do it. There is nothing in this world you truly need. Get over it.

Yes, I'm feeling trollish, but where do these threads lead. What am I to learn?


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Nov 10, 2015)

OJ Agree. It invites all the Linux trolls.


----------



## tankist02 (Nov 11, 2015)

Disclaimer: I used to run FreeBSD from version 5 to about 9 as my main home desktop. When I tried 10 I had numerous problems with desktop stuff, the most annoying were random crashes of GUI packages. I had to switch to Linux to continue my work. I keep trying new FreeBSD releases to see if there are improvements and I can return back to FreeBSD full time. Apparently mentioning problems of FreeBSD desktop makes me a Linux troll.


----------



## Deleted member 9563 (Nov 11, 2015)

tankist02 said:


> Apparently mentioning problems of FreeBSD desktop makes me a Linux troll.



Not at all, but you see every OS has multiple, and very serious for individual situations, problems. FreeBSD is not at all unique in that manner. The point is it's a boring topic because it is meaningless to anyone else except the person with the problem. Further, the problem is usually with the user not accepting what they have. I totally understand that kind of situation. I'm that way myself. But to make a thread of it on a Forum such as this would embarrass me.


----------



## gofer_touch (Nov 11, 2015)

Why not just try PC-BSD? It provides all these bells and whistles and is aimed, from the start, as a desktop/workstation OS.


----------



## drhowarddrfine (Nov 11, 2015)

tankist02 That you don't run FreeBSD and mysteriously pop up when this thread does is very curious to say the least. That you complain you can no longer get a working desktop, despite the mutltitudes of us who are running a FreeBSD desktop, is also very curious.

This isn't reddit and your post doesn't contribute to anything or improve anything.


----------



## sidetone (Nov 11, 2015)

I find much on this thread preposterous.


----------



## wblock@ (Nov 11, 2015)

Okay, thread closed.


----------

