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PC-BSD From the beginning - Part 1

I am starting a journey in to the unknown with a new operating system and as it turned out, a new desktop environment. Follow my first tottering steps in to the world of BSD. Will my Linux knowledge help me here or like my Windows knowledge when I started my Linux journey will it prove a hindrance?

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Part 1: Installation, updation and first impressation!

• Installation and first boot.
• Initial configuration.
• The learning begins.
• First Impressions.
• What's next?

Installation and first boot.

I set up a virtual machine to install PC BSD 7.1.1, mounted the ISO and booted. Installation was very easy. As simple as Ubuntu Linux and easier than any Windows version I have tried, as this is a virtual machine I chose to use only one partition so it may have been more complicated had I chosen otherwise. Please note I have not tried Windows 7 so I can't compare the process to that. Several simple questions and it is ready to install. It is no way as pretty as the Ubuntu installer but in terms of looks it is streets ahead of Slackware!

I chose everything except the kids games and virtual box after which the installation took about thirty minutes and the system was ready for a reboot.

After said reboot, the X configuration screen popped up. I accepted the defaults as they looked OK for the virtual machine and it restarted X in 800 x 600. What The Fuck? I didn't keep the settings and the second time skipped the configuration and PC BSD started in a more reasonable 1024 x 768. This is probably due to the virtual machine but it doesn't make a good impression!

Initial configuration.

Well, it's KDE 4. Which is a big black mark. I hope I can install Gnome as an alternative. I may leave KDE 4 on for a while; this is supposed to be a learning exercise that takes me out of my comfort zone after all. But then it is just so damn slow!

The first thing to do was turn the desktop back to folder view which is the traditional way of viewing it. This was simple when I found it. Right click on the desktop and select Appearance Settings and switch to folder view. You then have to turn off that widget thing.

It was then time to find and run the update process. I'm not keen on the default menu of KDE 4 although I seem to remember something similar in KDE 3 but I eventually find my way to an Add / Remove Software option that allows me to run the update. Firefox alone seems to be 78 MB which is huge!

The learning begins.

Given how big Firefox is, I assumed something was wrong so I hit the Internet to see what was going on. Firefox is bigger than I have seen it before but it does include all the required libraries as well. PC BSD and for all I know other BSD type operating systems installs any software in a directory called /programs. Each piece of software has the required libraries. This means that if two pieces of software require different versions of the same library, there is no problem.

This is so logical and simple that I think Windows and Linux could learn a lesson based on this. As the Apple Mac's operating system is a BSD in a lot of make up, it probably does it this way already. The only disadvantage is that there is more to download for each piece of software.

First Impressions.

If only it came with Gnome. I like the way you install software and it doesn't seem any harder to use than any other operating system. So far anyway. But KDE is a turn off. Although I do like Dolphin, the new KDE 4 file manager. I'm not yet sure if it is better than Nautilus.

Maybe KDE will grow on me. It certainly looks OK out of the box with the panel looking especially swish. But I doubt it.

This is fun. I'm so far away from knowing what I am doing and yet it is somehow less scary than Slackware was!

What's next?

• Decide if I am going to stick with and configure KDE or install Gnome which entails a mere 404MB download.
• Configure a BAMP development environment. That's BSD, Apache, MySQL and PHP for those who didn't get it.
• At the very least I want something like Geany and Cssed installed but the ideal would be to get Komodo Edit installed and working.
• I also want a basic understanding of the file system.