Re: Suitability question
On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 01:07:23PM +0200, Ott Köstner wrote: > On Thursday 18 December 2008 11:25:51 pm Patrick Baldwin wrote: > > > I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really > > locked-down, high security > > box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, > > and a little > > light word processing. > > > > What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? > > In this case, I would recommend to use PC-BSD. > http://www.pcbsd.org/ > > PC-BSD is full FreeBSD 7.1, with nice grapical installer, pre-configured for > desktop use. Xorg, KDE, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, flash, etc. -- all > will work out of the box... > > After installing PC-BSD, you can think of it as a standard FreeBSD -- Upgrade > ports, build kernel, etc. I think PC-BSD is a great recommendation for someone who wants an easy introduction to FreeBSD on his/her own, but if you want to provide a locked down system for someone else and that person isn't expected to learn how to use FreeBSD (i.e., that person doesn't really know how to use MS Windows, and just clicks on the blue E for Internet access), you're better off using FreeBSD itself. PC-BSD installs a whole lot of stuff that it assumes everybody wants, whereas with FreeBSD you can pretty much install nothing but the base system then add exactly the software you want to be present. Thus, you can much more easily get the system to the point where everything you want is installed, and *only* what you want, and configure it all to precise specifications, with a minimum of effort -- using FreeBSD itself. With PC-BSD, on the other hand, you won't even know what all is installed, and will have to spend a lot of time crawling through the system figuring out what to uninstall. -- Chad Perrin [ content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] Quoth Edmund Burke: "Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgement; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion." pgpjyFrhAF7CB.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Suitability question
Quoting Ott Köstner : On Thursday 18 December 2008 11:25:51 pm Patrick Baldwin wrote: I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, high security box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a little light word processing. What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? In this case, I would recommend to use PC-BSD. http://www.pcbsd.org/ PC-BSD is full FreeBSD 7.1, with nice grapical installer, pre-configured for desktop use. Xorg, KDE, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, flash, etc. -- all will work out of the box... After installing PC-BSD, you can think of it as a standard FreeBSD -- Upgrade ports, build kernel, etc. Does anyone know if Flash 9 works on pcbsd? In fact, I use current and it works but hangs probably 4 times a day and I have to kill the linux pviewer.bin processes and restart apache to continue. It is much better than nothing though. I'm still using wine with windows firefox and flash doesn't give me any problems but I have problems with character sets so I use it only for flash. ed Regards, O.K. -- Mõõda oma inteneti kiirust / Test Your Internet speed http://tallinn.speedtest.net/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org" ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thursday 18 December 2008 11:25:51 pm Patrick Baldwin wrote: > I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really > locked-down, high security > box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, > and a little > light word processing. > > What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? In this case, I would recommend to use PC-BSD. http://www.pcbsd.org/ PC-BSD is full FreeBSD 7.1, with nice grapical installer, pre-configured for desktop use. Xorg, KDE, Firefox, Thunderbird, Open Office, flash, etc. -- all will work out of the box... After installing PC-BSD, you can think of it as a standard FreeBSD -- Upgrade ports, build kernel, etc. Regards, O.K. -- Mõõda oma inteneti kiirust / Test Your Internet speed http://tallinn.speedtest.net/ ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Fri, Dec 19, 2008 at 12:25 AM, Patrick Baldwin < patrick.bald...@studsvik.com> wrote: > Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more > personal. > My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the > Internet > much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of > limited usefulness > here. > > I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, > high security > box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and > a little > light word processing. > > What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? What has he been running on? Windows XP? Give him an account without Administrative rights! Anything else will be too much work for you and him. -- Best regards, Odhiambo WASHINGTON, Nairobi,KE +254733744121/+254722743223 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ "Okay guys. This is Kenya. You pay taxes because you feel philanthropic, unlike our MPs!" -- Kenneth Marende, Speaker, 10th Parilament. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, 2008-12-18 at 16:46 -0500, Glen Barber wrote: > On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM, Patrick Baldwin > wrote: > > Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more > > personal. > > My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the > > Internet > > much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of > > limited usefulness > > here. > > > > Are you willing to maintain the machine for him? > > > I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, > > high security > > box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a > > little > > light word processing. > > > > Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash > will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. > > > What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? > > I think the idea's good, as long as you are willing to fix it when if > it breaks on him. Maybe some minor support, but I think if you're going to this extent to lock it down, install specific apps only, etc, then setting it up with some auto scripts to clean things up and fix little errors you won't need to do much at all. Overall a very good idea- something I will be doing very soon too. ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 7:32 PM, Robert Huff wrote: > > Glen Barber writes: > > > >> Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash > > >> will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. > > > > > > What -- nspluginwrapper doesn't work any longer? > > > > From personal experience, nspluginwrapper is a memory hog, and > > only supports Flash 7 (last I used it). > > Flash 9 + nsplugginwrapper works on -CURRENT starting about a > month (I think) ago. Whether the necessary changes will appear in > 7.1 I do not know. > > >Robert Huff > > > > > ___ > freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list > http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions > To unsubscribe, send any mail to " > freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org" > 7.1 works as well you just need to install a different base to get some good speed ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
Glen Barber writes: > >> Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash > >> will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. > > > > What -- nspluginwrapper doesn't work any longer? > > From personal experience, nspluginwrapper is a memory hog, and > only supports Flash 7 (last I used it). Flash 9 + nsplugginwrapper works on -CURRENT starting about a month (I think) ago. Whether the necessary changes will appear in 7.1 I do not know. Robert Huff ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 7:07 PM, Chad Perrin wrote: > On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 04:46:24PM -0500, Glen Barber wrote: >> >> Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash >> will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. > > What -- nspluginwrapper doesn't work any longer? > >From personal experience, nspluginwrapper is a memory hog, and only supports Flash 7 (last I used it). -- Glen Barber ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 04:46:24PM -0500, Glen Barber wrote: > > Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash > will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. What -- nspluginwrapper doesn't work any longer? -- Chad Perrin [ content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ] Quoth Larry Wall: "What is the sound of Perl? Is it not the sound of a wall that people have stopped banging their heads against?" pgpMvvwb7Jxb9.pgp Description: PGP signature
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, 18 Dec 2008, Patrick Baldwin wrote: Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more personal. My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the Internet much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of limited usefulness here. I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, high security box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a little light word processing. What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? A FreeBSD-based XFCE system has worked well for relatives. Firefox for web, Thunderbird for email, other stuff installed but they don't use it. Problems encountered: Proprietary stuff like Flash, Acrobat Reader, Microsoft-only "extensions" can prevent using certain web sites. Flashblock helps, doing it again I'll use evince for PDF support. Unintended user modifications, like dragging a Thunderbird bar off the screen. Naturally, not only did they not know they were doing that, they swore they didn't do it. Hard to debug over the phone when they must use dialup and have only one phone line. "I can't believe it's not Windows" syndrome: the ISP sent a "you have a Windows-only virus" email; I didn't think to have them save it for humor value. The same ISP has broken DHCP which provides the wrong addresses for DNS servers. Works somehow on Windows, had to be manually set on FreeBSD. It might be nice to have a login script that restores user settings each time. With a broadband connection, it would be pretty easy to support. -Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota USA ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Dec 18, 2008, at 4:25 PM, Patrick Baldwin wrote: Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more personal. My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the Internet much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of limited usefulness here. I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked- down, high security box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a little light word processing. What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? I like your idea of getting your father (or anyone, for that matter) off Windows, but I personally don't think Linux or FreeBSD are good desktop choices for 'normal' folk. A much better choice, in my humble opinion, is the inexpensive Apple Mac Mini. The way it works is you unplug the current cpu box and replace it with the Mini. You can use your current monitor, keyboard, printer, camera, etc. Unless some of these peripherals are ancient, it should be all plug and play (no hours of tinkering for you). Your father gets a nice computer that actually does what he wants it to do, and you get a box that you can turn into a FreeBSD *server* that you can use to learn all about running an unix box. I did this for my mom. All she wanted was Internet, email, and Word, but now she's doing all sorts of things that she would never have done with a *nix or Windows box, like getting an iPod for her morning walks, buying audio books from iTunes, taking photos and actually being able to download and print them(!), working on a family tree, etc. Best of all, it only took me a few minutes of work to set up and show her how it worked. If she wants to learn something new, she can take a lesson at the Apple Store. It's amazing how much a 'normal' person can do with a friendly computer. -- John ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 04:25:51PM -0500, Patrick Baldwin wrote:
> Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more
> personal.
> My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses
> the Internet
> much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of
> limited usefulness
> here.
>
> I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really
> locked-down, high security
> box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web,
> and a little
> light word processing.
>
> What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea?
In general, I think FreeBSD is an *excellent* choice for this. You
should consider specifics of your particular case, of course, but based
on what you said I see no reason that FreeBSD shouldn't meet your needs
exceedingly well.
--
Chad Perrin [ content licensed OWL: http://owl.apotheon.org ]
print substr("Just another Perl hacker", 0, -2);
pgpTaBYolUBZA.pgp
Description: PGP signature
Re: Suitability question
On Thursday 18 December 2008 4:25 pm, Patrick Baldwin wrote:
> Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more
> personal.
> My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses
> the Internet
> much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of
> limited usefulness
> here.
>
> I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really
> locked-down, high security
> box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web,
> and a little
> light word processing.
>
> What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea?
>
> --
> Patrick Baldwin
> Systems Administrator
> Studsvik Scandpower
> 617-965-7455
>
> ___
> freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
> http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
> To unsubscribe, send any mail to
> "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Hope everyone doesn't jump all over me ('tis the holiday season, after all),
but why not try gOS. It's mainly button driven, so not much can be messed up
(on second thought, I have some lusers who probably could mess it up :-) ).
Dimitri
--
This message has been scanned for viruses and
dangerous content by MailScanner, and is
believed to be clean.
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 16:25:51 -0500, Patrick Baldwin
wrote:
> I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really
> locked-down, high security
> box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web,
> and a little
> light word processing.
>
> What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea?
hi Patrick,
I had a similar "problem" with my parents, so I built a
system (FreeBSD 6 were the times) which is completely
suffficient for their needs, similar as you mentioned
above, and it's still running today without any problems.
basically, the system runs XFCE 4, Firefox and Opera,
Sylpheed (as a standalone mail client), OpenOffice for
the usual office stuff, and some multimedia components
including mplayer and xmms.
If your father is interested in "Flash", well... there
*may* be problems using FreeBSD. With "problem" I mean
it's a bit more work to do for *you* in order to get it
up and running (configuration), but having a look at the
improving implementations of "Flash", it will be better
and better with most of the "Flash" polluted web sites. :-)
Everything else you mentioned is definitely *not* of any
kind of problem for FreeBSD.
Before installing anything new, try to monitor a bit
what your father does and how he does it. These observations
will help you to create a system that fits his needs
perfectly. Maybe XFCE 4 is not your way to go, maybe
KDE or Gnome are better.
Keep an eye on eventually present peripherials, such as
printers, digital cameras, USB sticks or MP3 players.
They need a bit more configuration ("automated wrapper
scripts") in order not to scare the user. It's not
impossible.
Trust me, I'm doing this since 4.0. :-)
--
Polytropon
>From Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
___
freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list
http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions
To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Re: Suitability question
On Thu, Dec 18, 2008 at 4:25 PM, Patrick Baldwin wrote: > Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more > personal. > My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the > Internet > much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of > limited usefulness > here. > Are you willing to maintain the machine for him? > I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, > high security > box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a > little > light word processing. > Word processing won't be a problem, but internet 'toys' like Flash will be a problem, unless you use some wine+firefox workaround. > What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? I think the idea's good, as long as you are willing to fix it when if it breaks on him. -- Glen Barber ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
Suitability question
Usually I'm asking questions for work related things. This one is more personal. My father has this tendency to end up wrecking his computer if he uses the Internet much. Computers are basically magic boxes to him, so education is of limited usefulness here. I'm thinking I might be best of trying to built him a really locked-down, high security box, almost an Internet appliance. All he really does is use the Web, and a little light word processing. What do people think of FreeBSD as the base OS for this idea? -- Patrick Baldwin Systems Administrator Studsvik Scandpower 617-965-7455 ___ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
