PC-BSD
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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 "Personal computing, served up BSD style!" |
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| Website: | www.pcbsd.org |
| Company/ developer: |
PC-BSD Software |
| OS family: | BSD |
| Source model: | Open source |
| Latest stable release: | 1.3.3 / February 12, 2007 |
| Package manager: | PBI & FreeBSD Ports/Packages |
| Supported platforms: | i386 |
| Kernel type: | Monolithic kernel |
| Default user interface: | KDE |
| License: | BSD license |
| Working state: | Current |
PC-BSD is a Unix-like, desktop-oriented operating system based on FreeBSD similar to DesktopBSD. It aims to be easy to install by using a graphical installation program, and easy- and ready-to-use immediately by providing KDE as the default, pre-installed graphical user interface. The PC-BSD project is currently developing a graphical software installation program which will install pre-built software packages. In August 2006 it was voted the most beginner friendly operating system by OSWeekly.com.[1] Since October 10, 2006 PC-BSD is supported by the enterprise-class hardware solution provider iXsystems.[1]
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[edit] History
- PC-BSD 1.3.3 was released on February 12, 2007
- PC-BSD 1.3.2 was released on January 19, 2007
- PC-BSD 1.3 was released on December 31, 2006
- PC-BSD 1.2 was released on July 12, 2006 [2]
- PC-BSD 1.11 was released on June 19, 2006
- PC-BSD 1.1 was released on May 29,2006
- PC-BSD 1.0 was released on April 29, 2006
[edit] Package management
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of utilizing FreeBSD's ports or packages system (although it is optionally available), PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi filename extension which, when double-clicked, brings up an installation wizard program.
All software packages and libraries are installed in their own self-contained directories in /Programs, decreasing confusion about where the binary programs reside and reducing the possibility of breaking a package if system libraries are upgraded or changed. The PC-BSD package manager also takes care of creating links in the KDE menu and on the KDE desktop.
The PC-BSD project claims its style of package management, which is similar to that of major operating systems such as Microsoft Windows, is one which most other Unix-like systems struggle with.
[edit] License
Since many claim that the GNU General Public License (GPL) conflicts with BSD license ideology, a common point of criticism from the *BSD community about PC-BSD originally was that its code was licensed under the GPL—while most open source BSD descendants license exclusively under the BSD license. The GPL was originally used because the PC-BSD project uses the Qt toolkit for its interface development and the developers were under the impression that applications using the Qt toolkit must be licensed under the GPL or the QPL. This is however untrue and the PC-BSD project later relicensed its code under a BSD-like license.
[edit] References
- Kerner, Sean Michael. "FreeBSD based PC-BSD Gets 'Acquired'", internetnews.com, Oct 12, 2006.
- Kerner, Sean Michael. "New Year, New Look For PC-BSD", internetnews.com, January 2, 2007.
- ^ The Most Beginner Friendly OS. Retrieved on August 10, 2006.
- ^ PC-BSD 1.2 Released!. Retrieved on July 12, 2006.
