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Old 20th July 2010
rpindy rpindy is offline
Fdisk Soldier
 
Join Date: May 2010
Posts: 59
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IMO RealityKid, another big question is which desktop environment you want to use. I prefer BSD over Linux for that reason. With Linux, you only get what they give you. There's an occasional case like with KUbuntu that uses KDE instead of GNOME, but for the most part what you get is what you get. With BSD, you can use packages/ports to get whatever you want: KDE, GNOME, Xfce, or one of the lighter-weight window managers like Fluxbox. Personally, I have been using OpenBSD with GNOME but will likely try Xfce very soon since it is a lot lighter weight. I have heard that KDE is 210 MB, GNOME is 180, and Xfce is only 15, so there is a good speed (and probably security) advantage from using Xfce.

Earlier you asked "...what BSD can do better than Linux or what BSD can do that Linux can't. " The latter half of that statement is an oft-asked but poor question. A better way of asking would be "What does BSD have (as opposed to 'can do') that Linux doesn't?" That answer is, in one word: quality. I remember first getting into Linux when a friend recommended Linux Mint. It was a pretty good distro but when new releases came out it was hindered by innumerable bugs inherited from Ubuntu. That friend that had recommended it to me spent an entire day trying to go back from Mint 8 to 7 because of that instability. There is a lot better quality control on BSD, particularly OpenBSD, since it is constantly audited for bugs and security issues. Also, when there are less bugs, there is usually a higher level of security since bugs can often be exploited.

To answer some of your other questions, PC-BSD has a good installer but only comes with KDE. Personally, I can't stand KDE, but I recommend trying at least the big three (KDE, GNOME, Xfce) to see what you like best. OpenBSD's installer is command line but is very quick and straightforward. Depending on your wireless configuration, there are good man pages for OpenBSD that give you commands to get it up and running. If you're stumped, ask in the OpenBSD section and the folks here can ask (most likely) for the output of some commands and will give you some man pages that will point you in the right direction. I and other forum members can also help you get a GUI running if you need. I prefer using packages to install them. There are a few commands that will download everything you need and install it. Just let us know what you think.
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