DesktopBSD 1.0 review

DesktopBSD aims at being a stable and powerful operating system for desktop users. DesktopBSD combines the stability of FreeBSD, t

License: BSD License File size: 702556K Developer: Peter H.

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DesktopBSD aims at being a stable and powerful operating system for desktop users.

DesktopBSD combines the stability of FreeBSD, the usability and functionality of KDE and the simplicity of specially developed software to provide a system that's easy to use and install.

The main goal of the DesktopBSD project is to provide a desktop operating system that's easy to use, but still has all the functionality and power of BSD.

In the long term, DesktopBSD wants to build an operating system that meets most requirements desktop users have, like installing software, configuring power management or sharing an internet connection.

To be better able to fulfill this goal, we strongly rely on users that send in feature requests, ideas for improvements or participate in development.

DesktopBSD is free software, which means it is free of charge. Also, if you're a developer and want to find out how DesktopBSD works or modify it to fit your needs, you can download the full source code.

Here are some key features of "DesktopBSD":
Stability

DesktopBSD is based on FreeBSD, which is one of the most reliable and robust operating systems in the world.

Usability

The KDE Desktop Environment and specially developed tools provide a maximum of usability to our users. KDE features such as KIO slaves or remote desktop sharing and DesktopBSD features like network profiles, easy mount procedures and many other convenience features make life easier and increase productivity.

Performance

The development of FreeBSD (and therefore DesktopBSD) is highly focused on performance. The system manages resources efficiently and reacts fast even when many processes are running simultaneously. This also affects networking, so DesktopBSD tries to optimally use the available bandwidth.

Security

Concerning security, the BSD operating systems are world-class. For example, OpenBSD had only one remote in the default install in more than eight years. DesktopBSD benefits from the work of other BSDs such as OpenBSD and passes that advantage on to you.

Known Issues

Software installation probably doesn't work correctly because a required directory (/usr/ports/packages/All) doesn't exist, which prevents identification of dependencies. Create it or use the following script:
package-patch.sh (Download the file to your hard-disk and tag it executable by right-clicking on the file in Konqueror: Properties - Permissions - Is executable, then double-click on it)
The console window of the software module looks weird due to font problems. (fixed for release)
Mounted CD and DVD drives don't show up as mounted in the KDE Control Center module. (fixed for release)
Mounting disks can fail under very specific circumstances (still being investigated).
Connecting to networks doesn't work when a gateway is specified (fixed for release).
There seems to be some problem with certain processor types, especially AMD models. This problem causes the Xorg server to exit with the message Illegal instruction (core dumped).