DesktopBSD is a

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

-derivative,

desktop A desktop traditionally refers to: * The surface of a desk (often to distinguish office appliances that fit on a desk, such as photocopiers and printers, from larger equipment covering its own area on the floor) Desktop may refer to various compu ...

-oriented

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...

based on FreeBSD. Its goal is to combine the stability of FreeBSD with the ease-of-use of

K Desktop Environment 3 K Desktop Environment 3 is the third series of releases of the K Desktop Environment (after that called ''KDE Software Compilation''). There are six major releases in this series. After the release of KDE 4, version 3.5 was forked into the Trinit ...

, which is the default

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...

History and development

DesktopBSD is essentially a customized installation of FreeBSD and is not a

fork In cutlery or kitchenware, a fork (from la, furca 'pitchfork') is a utensil, now usually made of metal, whose long handle terminates in a head that branches into several narrow and often slightly curved tine (structural), tines with which one ...

of FreeBSD. DesktopBSD is always based on FreeBSD's latest stable branch but incorporates certain customized, pre-installed software such as KDE and DesktopBSD utilities and configuration files. A common misconception about DesktopBSD is that it is intended as a rival to

TrueOS TrueOS (formerly PC-BSD or PCBSD) is a discontinued Unix-like, server-oriented operating system built upon the most recent releases of FreeBSD-CURRENT. Up to 2018 it aimed to be easy to install by using a graphical installation program, and ea ...

as a BSD-based desktop distribution, since they are similar in structure and goals. However, the DesktopBSD project was started approximately one year before the PC-BSD project, despite the fact that the first PC-BSD release came out before DesktopBSD's. Neither the DesktopBSD nor PC-BSD projects intend to rival each other and are completely independent projects with distinctive features and intended outcomes: for example, DesktopBSD uses ports and packages for additional software installation, whereas PC-BSD introduced PBIs. The current release is 1.7 which was made available on September 7, 2009. The release announcement stated "This is ''the last and final release'' of the DesktopBSD project" because the lead developer could no longer contribute the time required to maintain it. As of May 2010 development of DesktopBSD has been restarted under new leadership. Development and announcements stopped soon afterwards, leading to speculation that the project had been dropped again. However, on 10 March 2013, a forum post appeared announcing that the project was "in the process of being revived." The roadmap for DesktopBSD 2.0 was announced in September 2015 on the DesktopBSD site, along with posted screenshots of a

GNOME3 GNOME 3 is the third major release of the GNOME desktop environment. A major departure from technologies implemented by its predecessors, GNOME 3 introduced a dramatically different user interface. It was the first GNOME release to utilize a unifi ...

-based desktop.

Graphical features

* Installer allowing to partition disks and create users * Tool for managing, installing and updating software using FreeBSD ports system * Management of network interfaces and mounting/unmounting drives

1.7 release

The 1.7 release includes * FreeBSD 7.2 as base system * OpenOffice.org 3.1.1 as feature-rich office suite * Pre-installed

Java SE 6 The Java language has undergone several changes since JDK 1.0 as well as numerous additions of classes and packages to the standard library. Since J2SE 1.4, the evolution of the Java language has been governed by the Java Community ...

environment * X.Org release 7.4 with extensive graphics support * Large number of enhancements, fixes and minor software updates * Supports

GRUB Grub can refer to Grub (larva), of the beetle superfamily Scarabaeoidea, or as a slang term for food. It can also refer to: Places * Grub, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Switzerland * Grub, St. Gallen, Switzerland * Grub (Amerang), a hamlet in Bavar ...

bootloader on i386 and includes a graphical configuration tool On 7 September 2009 DesktopBSD 1.7 was made available on the project site.

References

External links

*
BSDTalk
Interview with Peter Hofer (DesktopBSD developer/mp3)
DesktopBSD flyer
Info fro
AllBSD.de
(pdf/English)

Dru Lavigne Dru Lavigne is a network and systems administrator, IT instructor, technical writer and director at FreeBSD Foundation. She has been using FreeBSD since 1996, has authored several BSD books, and spent over 10 years developing training material ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Desktopbsd FreeBSD KDE

History and development

Graphical features

1.7 release

See also

References

External links