Enterprise Software

PC-BSD: a desktop-focused BSD

By · January 30, 2012, 2:19 PM PST

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  • The boot panel

    The 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.

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: GDM with KDE?

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

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: initial display set-up

    After 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!

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: KDE welcome

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

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: AppCafe

    AppCafe 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.

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: Control Panel

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

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: Flash

    Flash settings come bundled with the Control Panel.

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: Portsnap UI

    While 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.

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: Update Manager

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

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: Z Shell by default

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

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

  • PC-BSD: other desktops

    The 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.

    Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
    Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

The boot panel

The 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.

Image credit: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic
Captions: Chris Duckett/TechRepublic

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