PC-BSD: a desktop-focused BSD

By Chris Duckett January 30, 2012, 1:17 PM PST

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The boot panel

ntThe customised and improved PC-BSD experience begins with the boot panel. The flaming ball in the background of the image is PC-BSD’s logo.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: GDM with KDE?

ntFor a BSD that chooses to base itself primarily around the KDE desktop, being presented with a GDM log-in is a curious choice.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: initial display set-up

ntAfter logging in to the system for the first time, PC-BSD prompts the user to set their display settings. This isn’t the usual text/cli configuration that we know BSDs like!

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: KDE welcome

ntA useful welcome message; AppCafe is where we will go next.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: AppCafe

ntAppCafe is like the utilities found in various distros of Linux to add programs to your system. PC-BSD uses pbi packages that are bundles similar to OS X application bundles.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: Control Panel

ntPC-BSD 9.0 came with a new control-panel program. A much easier alternative to text files for the novice user.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: Flash

ntFlash settings come bundled with the Control Panel.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: Portsnap UI

ntWhile the idea of a Portsnap UI is a good one, some more feedback would help. A couple of times, I had a timeout because of a bad mirror set-up, and was not aware of the timeouts. Not a pleasant use of time.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: Update Manager

ntThe Update Manager is spartan, but it gets the job done.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: Z Shell by default

ntZsh is the default shell, and will ask for the user to configure it until a ~/.zshrc file is found.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

PC-BSD: other desktops

ntThe desktop selection is not limited to KDE, GNOME, LXDE, Fluxbox, or XFCE. As shown here, there are many others to choose from, but they do not integrate into the PC-BSD Control Panel.

ntImage credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
ntCaptions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

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