kpedersen said:
Which is *exactly* what the OP was asking for. So was referred to PC-BSD. Problem solved.
Oh God no. Please don't give me what I ask for. Give me what I want. They're two different things. :e
When we refer, let's say a Kubuntu user to PC-BSD, he's going to try it and it's highly likely he'll be disappointed and walk away bad-mouthing *BSD in general. I say this because, from his experience, he'll be comparing it to a desktop system upon which, probably, all of his hardware worked out-of-the-box. If something doesn't work, the Linux community is more available to help him, a search engine is more likely to yield an immediate solution, etc.
But if we
BOTH point him to PC-BSD,
AND, encourage him to try configuring his own desktop under FreeBSD, then his curiosity might be aroused. He might become more willing to be enlisted in the intriguing effort to figure out HOW to do what he wants to do with *BSD. Then we can add his experiences to those of the community. The cumulative effect of having more users is solving more problems faster.
From where exactly, do we think future FreeBSD developers will come? Sorry, fluca1978, but how does an answer like ...
Code:
Please document and search before asking for such silly questions.
... reflect on FreeBSD? If you posted a question and got a response like that, how would it make you feel? Would you want to be in a classroom where an instructor answered your query in this way?
Most of the satisfaction that I get from using FreeBSD is in solving the myriad little puzzles that are involved in making it work. If I just wanted an out-of-the-box working desktop, I'd just install Xubuntu and get on with going skiing or something.
(*Again, I'm not saying that PC-BSD is bad. It's quite good and it's getting better all the time. But the expectations of my hypothetical Kubuntu user have been well established with respect to what a desktop environment should do. By the way, kpederson, I share your disdain for KDE4. I usually use XFCE or Fluxbox. XFCE is a choice in the PC-BSD installer now.)