What OS shall I use?

At the new job, I have a new desktop. It came with XP pro installed on it. To quote a coworker, I need the following:

  • an email client
  • an ssh client
  • a web browser
  • an office suite
  • a CVS client

In short, I an allowed to use whatever OS I’m comfortable with and can support.

My choice: PC-BSD

Why? It is based on FreeBSD, an OS I’ve been using for nearly 10 years. Using PC-BSD will be easier for upgrades, installing various applications, and general system maintainence. Yet, I’ll be able to do everything I’m used to doing when using FreeBSD.

The desktop in question can best be described as:

  1. Dell Optiplex 755
  2. Intel Core2 Duo CPU, 2.66GHz
  3. 2GB RAM
  4. 219GB free disk space. 13GB used
  5. Intel 82566DM-2 Gigabit NIC

I will partition the drive, and dual boot. Watch this space.

Website Pin Facebook Twitter Myspace Friendfeed Technorati del.icio.us Digg Google StumbleUpon Premium Responsive

1 thought on “What OS shall I use?”

  1. David Quattlebaum

    I have the same computer at work. I’m also planning on installing PCBSD 1.4.1 on it (I’ve used it for months now and love it at home). Each time I boot the CD, it hangs during the PCI scan it seems. Have you seen this too? How did you get past it?

    FreeBSD is the way to go.

Leave a Comment

Scroll to Top