If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me to recommend a version of Linux to them or to answer the what version do you run question…I’d be. Well let’s just say I’d have a fist full of dollars. A very fat roll of them and probably could afford much better hosting than this. Bee that as it may I always answer the same to these questions.
“I do not recommend Linux to anyone.”
The reason is quite simple. Although I do use Linux on various projects for various clients I always opt for one of the BSD operating systems (OS) as my first choice. Typically I will lead in with FreeBSD for just about every application that I need a reliable server OS. There are scant few exceptions to this BSD first rule of mine and that would be where I need to run something that only runs on a particular OS and not one of the BSDs. In those instances I deploy the appropriate supported OS.
Be that as it may I have been test driving PC BSD 9 release candidate 1 for a while now and I am finding it becoming my desktop BSD OS of choice. I have used many flavor of Linux Debian, CENTOS, Ubuntu, Red Hat ES and SUSE to name but a few. ALL of these Linux environments have left me wanting. Of all the Linuxes the Debian based distributions have the most acceptable level stability and comfort for me. I even toyed with the idea of running Ubuntu as my desktop for a while but again there is something about FreeBSD that has always driven my systems.
As most of the longtime readers know I shifted from Windows for my desktop and even home server needs ages ago. To be honest I became “Windows free in 2k3” which was my goal throughout all of 2002. For my mainstream operating system and development needs I shifted to Mac OS X which is conveniently derived from FreeBSD. Under the hood it is very familiar to my FreeBSD servers however I decided that I wanted to try X again in a big way. This lead me through a series of Linuxes then circling right back around to PC BSD.
I had never tried PC BSD before and had always built my own X from source on top of FreeBSD which can be a long process when you think about it thank the developers for the ports is all that I can say. In any event I wanted something to test that I could deploy much easier and after reviewing the PC BSD handbook by Dru Lavigne I’d always kept this in the back of my mind as an option.
As you can see I successfully installed this RC1 and had it running well in under 30 minutes not including the download time. At this point I tested a few things namely the AppCafe which allows you to install applications from PBIs which is a PC-BSD proprietary bundle format onto the system. Considering that Hurricane IRENE was approaching I opted for installing FreeCiv so that I could have something to occupy my time when the deification hit the rotary oscillator later that evening.
In addition I played around with numerous KDE options which I found eerily similar to Mac OS X. I suppose imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Take a look at the follow two screen shots the first is the PC-BSD System Settings and the second the Mac OS X System Preferences.
In any event I have found that PC-BSD is a more than capable desktop covering all of the bases out of the gate. In addition their graphical installer was a nice addition to the system. However do not believe for a second that I have fosaken the ncurses based textual installation screen of FreeBSD. If you have ever had to install an operating system over a very slow connection this is an absolute must. I can honestly say that without the basic installer I’d have been up a serious creek without a paddle. I have had to work on servers that were on the opposite side of the globe more time than I care to admit and connectivity is not always the most reliable when you are in a foreign airport/hotel/country.
So the next time someone asks me to recommend an Operating System I am going to hand them a PC-BSD DVD and say “Enjoy.”
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mikel King has been a leader in the Information Technology Services field for over 20 years. He is currently the CEO of Olivent Technologies, a professional creative services partnership in NY. Additionally he is currently serving as the Secretary of the BSD Certification group as well as a Senior Editor for the BSD News Network and JAFDIP.
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