Linked by Thom Holwerda on Thu 10th Aug 2006 09:56 UTC, submitted by matth
PC-BSD OSWeekly reviews PC-BSD, and concludes: "From PC-BSD's roadmap to their default installation, I honestly feel good about where these guys are headed with their take on FreeBSD. This operating system has it all: support both from the professional level as well as that of the community, the ability to install Linux software, thanks to the binary compatibility layer, and of course - speed."
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Uh, ok...
by EmmEff on Thu 10th Aug 2006 15:59 UTC
EmmEff
Member since:
2005-09-16

After reading this article, I went and downloaded the install .ISO from PC-BSD website and attempted to install into VMware.

Observation #1: Nice graphical boot screen and then dropped into a text mode interface in which I had to hit enter to continue the install. That's not user or beginner friendly to me.

Observation #2: why is a "beginner friendly" OS installing X header files? Sorry, but Grandma doesn't need to be compiling anything.

Observation #3: the install failed claiming a subdirectory did not exist (/etc/defaults, I think it was) and told me it was rebooting.

As I suspected, these claims of beginner friendly are unwarranted. Nice try, guys, but you've got some work to do.

RE: Uh, ok...
by twenex on Thu 10th Aug 2006 17:01 in reply to "Uh, ok..."
twenex Member since:
2006-04-21

Whilst your other comments are valid, if pressing "enter" is too hard for you, or for the target group you consider "beginners", then you're not looking for beginner-friendly; you're looking for moron-friendly.

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RE: Uh, ok...
by the_trapper on Thu 10th Aug 2006 17:08 in reply to "Uh, ok..."
the_trapper Member since:
2005-07-07

Observation #1: Nice graphical boot screen and then dropped into a text mode interface in which I had to hit enter to continue the install. That's not user or beginner friendly to me.

Installed Windows XP lately?

Suffice it to say you do a whole lot more than hit enter in text mode.

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RE: Uh, ok...
by lopisaur on Thu 10th Aug 2006 17:15 in reply to "Uh, ok..."
lopisaur Member since:
2006-02-27

As to #2, probably because at some point the user (probably not Grandma) will want to try some app that's not available as a PBI or binary and will give the ports system a shot. Same goes as for doing a portupgrade.
So, you need the header files as well as make, gcc, etc. etc. etc.

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RE: Uh, ok...
by Joe User on Thu 10th Aug 2006 17:57 in reply to "Uh, ok..."
Joe User Member since:
2005-06-29

It tells us that the most flawless software installation the author has ever seen was on Windows???! I mean, come on, who wants to have their package manager compared with the Windows anarchy?

There's no problem if you still install software using "emerge" or "rpm" or "apt-get". But don't blame those who prefer the dirt-easy Windows way of installing stuff. And please don't call it "anarchy" because the real anarchy is linux dependency hell.

Nice graphical boot screen and then dropped into a text mode interface in which I had to hit enter to continue the install. That's not user or beginner friendly to me.

For me it can't be more simple, they did it the right way. If it's too complicated for you, then put your computer back into its box, take it back to the store and tell the guy you're too dumb to use a computer.

why is a "beginner friendly" OS installing X header files? Sorry, but Grandma doesn't need to be compiling anything

User friendly doesn't mean it can't be used by power users. But you fail to understand that one can combine both under a single system.

As I suspected, these claims of beginner friendly are unwarranted. Nice try, guys, but you've got some work to do.

No software is perfect, and PC-BSD is still a young system. If you're unhappy, why don't you download a C++ eBook on BitTorrent and start giving them a hand?

How do these wonderful PBI packages arrive to your computer? Through Internet? DEB's do that too. From a local media (LAN, CD/DVD)? DEB's do that too.

Ok, but you don't double-click a .deb like a .exe on Windows because .debs don't include dependencies so it'll break your system, which wouldn't happen on Windows or PC-BSD. You download PBIs once for all, whereas each time you install Debian, you need to redownload all your applications again. What a waste of time and bandwidth. And this is why you need a connection to the Internet each time you want to install software and software updates. On PC-BSD no, you download just once, burns a CD-ROM and then no need for the Internet anymore. I don't know how to explain, you seem to object on purpose...

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RE[2]: Uh, ok...
by Thom_Holwerda on Thu 10th Aug 2006 18:01 in reply to "RE: Uh, ok..."
Thom_Holwerda Member since:
2005-06-29

Ok, but you don't double-click a .deb

Actually, on Ubuntu, you do. You are only screwed once one of its dependencies is not available in the activated repositories.

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