PCBSD

[fox]

PCBSD came up last night at PLUG MUG. Bob came with a USB installer, which unfortunately doesn't boot to a live distro. He managed to install it in one of his laptops, but by blowing away what was there before. There are apparently some difficulties in installing PCBSD alongside of other distros or even Windows and getting the grub of those distros to recognize PCBSD. (I read on the net that the PCBSD grub can recognize the others, but you have to enter them manually on grub.)

Bob gave me the iso file for 10.3 and I tried installing it on a virtual machine on my Acer and my iMac. Unfortunately, I was 0 for 3. One the Acer in virt-manager it was taking over 4 hours to install before I called it quits. It installed pretty quickly on the iMac in both virt-manager and VirtualBox, but each had problems. On virt-manager I couldn't control the resolution to get the whole desktop showing in a window; not even in full screen. And in VirtualBox, the install was OK but I couldn't get it to boot to a working GUI desktop even when I tried modifying the video settings in an earlier part of the boot sequence. Perhaps it's just not made for virtual machines.

I hope that Bob will chime in and talk about his installation, and ultimately volunteer to give a talk on PCBSD at our next regular meeting.

[fox]

Update. The file Bob gave me was owned by root, and maybe that was the cause of some of the problems. I changed ownership and tried it again on VirtualBox. Although it gives errors on bootup, it now boots and I even have an expandable window. However, it's somewhat klunky; e.g. certain changes require a reboot to register, including updates and newly installed files. But that could be a virtual machine problem, not a PCBSD problem. (Bob?)

I installed the Lumina desktop. It has a menu on the panel and a right-click menu; bit of a hybrid between mate and openbox. I wanted to try Lumina, but I wouldn't say that there is anything compelling about it, other than it is lighter than the big desktop environments.

[bobf]

Further update: PC-BSD *SUX*!! <^8#

Naw, actually not so much, really, but it has some glaring obstacles to broad acceptance... Naturally (why should it be even *AS* 'popular' as Linux(s), right?!) <^8#

I'm *VERY* impressed with PC-BSD 10.3, though its first glaring inadequacy is, as Mike points out, the lack of any LIVE option, to gain *some* idea of what it is, and has to offer, without a spare hard drive and the intestinal fortitude. Further, and this has become my deal-breaker, if it doesn't like your wifi, TFB!! I spent 3 days looking for a non-"stand on your head & spit wooden nickels"-type of *nix solution, and finally gave up at the entrance to "WinXP meets NDISwrapper" tomfoolery...

So... I packed *that* device off, and tried it on my 11" Acer AO722 netbook... Same deal... *MY* main laptop... ditto. (This is getting depressing...!)

Pulled out my father-in-law's (HP) Compaq Mini CQ-10 10" netbook... *LOVED* that wifi!! Tried a spare Acer 10" netbook... Yep, loved that, too! Tried my dual-core 10" Acer HAPPY2 netbook using Intel Centrino-N? Loved it! 9" Acer netbook? 32-bit, not gonna work at all...

Now, for the uninitiated, HP, like many manufacturers, has "a way" about them... With Dell, f'rinstance, you can get a pretty darn good device for a great price - then they hose you on the "upsells" - like any shell colour other than black is a $25. premium... In HP's (and by extension, Compaq, which is now, I presume, a subsidiary, or just their "Blue Point" second line, to their regular "Snap-On" *main* product line - mechanics will get that one immediately!) case, it's a whitelist, in the BIOS, of the devices - wifi cards included - that conform to (read: were sold to you by...!) HP's "corporate vision".

Translation: "If'n we didn't sell it to you, you cain't use it." <ptooey!> Seriously, check eBay; look up wireless-N, mini-PCIe, and check the listings. You'll readily find vendors who, in their listings, say, "Contact us if you have an HP device - we can sell you a compatible wifi card..."

Anyway, I'm tired of fighting with Linux, even when I can anticipate the win after the battle. BSD, at large, is "just a half-bubble off" (ask a carpenter). Linux drivers "might" compile in BSD, and what? Can't be expected?! This really hearkens back to 2007, when I had this battle with Linux on my then-laptop; finding *any* distro that you could actually get working functionally, wifi included, was a non-trivial accomplishment - thank you PCLinuxOS!!

*THAT* was back *WELL* into the new millenium; how is this fundamental element still being overlooked in BSDs in 2016?!?!

Let me answer a question with another; what's worse? Ignorance or apathy?

"I don't know, and I don't care!" <^8#