BSD as a desktop OS

[Itchie]

I know that BSD is a great server OS, but I haven't seen anyone who doesn't run a server use it. Is there any reason BSD shouldn't be used as a desktop OS?

The reason I am interested in BSD is because I want to learn as much about Unix as possible, and BSD seems to be closer to pure Unix than any Linux dist.

I have a few more questions:

I will install BSD on a computer with no internet connection. I understand that to install new software with BSD, you have something called a port tree, and you cd into the directory of the software you want to install and type make install and it downloads the appropriate source code and compiles it and sets it up. So how do I install software on a computer with no internet connection? Can I just download the source code (on a different computer), transfer it to this computer, and compile it, like I would on linux? Or is BSD not meant to be used on computers with no internet connection?

Also, I understand BSD doesn't have as much software for it as Linux does. So if a program exists for linux but not BSD, is it possible to just compile the source code on my BSD machine, and it will run fine, or is that not possible?

[Arkaine23]

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

You can run it on the desktop and people do do that. Generally FreeBSD is the one to use for that. It's not quite as freindly or easy to find support as linux is though. But most linux forums have a BSD section, and there's also www.bsdforums.org

You can run it on machines with no net connection. Just download the CD"s that have the source code for all the ports packages. You may not have always have access to the newest software doing it like this, but it'll work fine.

BSD can emulate a linux environment and allow you to run Linux applications.

[Cúchulainn]

Originally posted by Itchie
I know that BSD is a great server OS, but I haven't seen anyone who doesn't run a server use it. Is there any reason BSD shouldn't be used as a desktop OS?

I use freebsd as my desktop and there are several others at these forums who do as well. No, there is no reason not to use it as a desktop. FreeBSD is definitely the best for this imo.

So how do I install software on a computer with no internet connection? Can I just download the source code (on a different computer), transfer it to this computer, and compile it, like I would on linux? Or is BSD not meant to be used on computers with no internet connection?

Yep. For the ports collection you would basically download the tarballs, move them to the /usr/ports/distfiles directory and run make install clean as normal. Fortunately FreeBSD has a solution for people who can't use ports directly: FreshPorts (http://www.freshports.org). You can browse the ports collection, check dependencies, and grab the appropriate source in one place. You can also just skip ports, download pre-compiled packages, and use pkg_add.

Also, I understand BSD doesn't have as much software for it as Linux does. So if a program exists for linux but not BSD, is it possible to just compile the source code on my BSD machine, and it will run fine, or is that not possible?
FreeBSD ports has more software than any linux distro I've seen and, yes, you can download tarballs and compile the old-fashioned way just fine.

FreeBSD has excellent support:

Mailing lists (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/eresources.html#ERESOURCES-MAIL). These are very active--especially the questions, stable, and current lists--and you're likely to get answers pretty quickly. They also have extensive archives (http://www.freebsd.org/search/search.html#mailinglists) to search through. Most of your questions will already be answered there.
FreeBSD Handbook (http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/index.html) which is comprehensive and east to follow.

[Itchie]

Thanks that's exactly what I wanted to know. I guess there is nothing stopping me now from downloading and installing FreeBSD.

[Arkaine23]

It's actually very easy to install too. Not quite as easy as say redhat, but very close.

[su root]

Originally posted by Itchie
I know that BSD is a great server OS, but I haven't seen anyone who doesn't run a server use it. Is there any reason BSD shouldn't be used as a desktop OS?
I used to use FreeBSD as a desktop OS, but it was a real pain sometimes (It likes to bite your head off if you do something wrong). It's not exactly a beginner OS. VERY Powerful though. Everyone I know who used it as a desktop OS have now switched to Gentoo.

The reason I am interested in BSD is because I want to learn as much about Unix as possible, and BSD seems to be closer to pure Unix than any Linux dist.

I have a few more questions:

I will install BSD on a computer with no internet connection. I understand that to install new software with BSD, you have something called a port tree, and you cd into the directory of the software you want to install and type make install and it downloads the appropriate source code and compiles it and sets it up. So how do I install software on a computer with no internet connection? Can I just download the source code (on a different computer), transfer it to this computer, and compile it, like I would on linux? Or is BSD not meant to be used on computers with no internet connection?
You would use pkg_add. If you have an internet connection, you can use pkg_add -r to download the program, and all of it's dependancies. You also have the option of installing it from tarball source. FreeBSD also has the capability to emulate linux, so you can also run any linux program on there (or RPM, etc.). FreeBSD is POSIX compliant, which means that almost any source code that you can find should be able to be compiled and run on FreeBSD. FreeBSD is great with network and internet connections.

Also, I understand BSD doesn't have as much software for it as Linux does. So if a program exists for linux but not BSD, is it possible to just compile the source code on my BSD machine, and it will run fine, or is that not possible?
FreeBSD has more. Explore the ports tree /usr/ports/*, or type pkg_add -r [program name] and watch it download it (precompiled), and install it. Because of it's compatability, there is no other *nix OS that has more software available to it.