Actually, I think the desktop paradigm is going to continue to grow. This is simply because as the number of people who want an alternative to Windows grows, and as the desktop environments for *nix continue to improve, more people (and businesses especially) will make the switch.

rm -rf /bin/laden

quote: Original post by GoofProg
BTW if anyone knows how to build a NAT router.. please help me out =)
I cannot find the kernel options file.

THANKS!

http://www.muine.org/~hoang/freenat.html

Being an OpenBSD maniac myself, I''d say this is easier to do with OBSD.

I develop on FreeBSD (and OpenBSD and Linux) but not games. Anyway, since I''m posting this anonymously as always, it doesn''t really matter.

quote: Original post by CmndrM
Actually, I think the desktop paradigm is going to continue to grow. This is simply because as the number of people who want an alternative to Windows grows, and as the desktop environments for *nix continue to improve, more people (and businesses especially) will make the switch.

In the short run.

In the long run, however, the desktop is really just an inferior paradigm. For document creation and editing, wouldn''t dictation and direction of an intelligent agent be better?

"Given the propensity of users to seek forms of entertainment that can be consumed in intermittent doses and doesn''t require intense commitment... Wait, make that ''doesn''t require garden-like tending''... Resume. ...we therefore consider the persistent world model to be a niche market - at least in the interim."

Beats typing if you can say it, kinda like you would instruct a stenographer or secretary.

"Okay, show me what I have so far... Bring up the figures I collated last week... No, the other ones, the ones based on the correlation between purchases and time online.. Yeah, those. Alright, place table three on page 6... Nah, a little lower..."

If we have visual feedback, intelligent autonomous agents, voice recognition in noisy environments and all the other technologies necessary to make this a reality, then the desktop paradigm might die as there is no reason to be seated behind a desk wielding the cumbersome devices called "keyboard" and "mouse."

In fact, if there are no layout issues there wont be a need for the visual interface in the particular instance above. Say you were sending an email to Ma - a "Read it back to me" is all that would be necessary.

How about little embedded devices that keep track of what groceries you need: as you take the milk out of the fridge and don''t put it back, it gets added to your groceries list; how about telling your TiVo/VCR to record a show whenever it comes on rather than programming it to times. With a little content classification at the station''s end, your home entertainment set could know the neame of all shows currently on and stream one or more of them to storage according to your previous dictates.

So many of the things we''re accustomed to doing within the parameters of today''s interface may be revolutionized - and I see open technologies like Linux at the forefront of that revolution. Small, customizable to fit diverse situations, robust.

Ideal.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!

I do not think that your vision will come true in the near future and perhaps do I not want it..
Just give me a better desktop with better tools. I do not need a computer that controls how much milk I am drinking and TV habits.

Hello?!?!

Don''t YOU type faster than you speak? I sure do...
Okay if you came up with a-not-so-cumbersome device that''d would interact directly with your brain or nerves, then I''d buy the idea. Something that''d even make us more efficient since we wouldn''t have the delays of first sending a nerve signal and then actually perform the action.

Hey I use/love FreeBSD.

Some many months ago now, I finally got fed up with MS Windows, and I choose FreeBSD to be my primary OS. I''ve never looked back.
I think the day I installed FreeBSD was one of the greatest days in my life....wait I have no life, I love an OS

Anyways, I''m teaching myself SDL and OpenGL under FreeBSD aimed at game development. Hopefully, my FreeBSD will soon be the family gateway until I get another machine to use...

The FreeBSD handbook is great, it may seem big, but you only read the first "Getting started" type chapters then you read whatever else when you need it.

I think FreeBSD is really making a place for itself in the desktop market too. I do admit the only con I have with FreeBSD is games. All the latest flashy games are either MS ot Mac. Some of them are for Linux, but it aint easy to run Linux binaries when I don''t half the million libraries they require...more of reason to make my own games I guess

Does freebsd or any other *bsd have a package system like apt? And what desktop enviroment dose freebsd and others use (the same ones that linux uses?)?? Just wondering.

It is foolish for a wise man to be silent, but wise for a fool.

Matthew
WebMaster
www.Matt-Land.com

All your Xbox base are belong to Nintendo.

quote:





"Given the propensity of users to seek forms of entertainment that can be consumed in intermittent doses and doesn''t require intense commitment... Wait, make that ''doesn''t require garden-like tending''... Resume. ...we therefore consider the persistent world model to be a niche market - at least in the interim."

Beats typing if you can say it, kinda like you would instruct a stenographer or secretary.

I think it would be fun to write code :
"int main takes int argc and char star argv. begin statement block. int i, semicolon. int j equals 23. ..." .. although, it may be easier by hand

Seriously, though, I think that the whole Internet Appliance idea is where we''re going. Not necessarily an "Internet" appliance, but at least a home network one. Like a little screen that''s built into a desk where you can read your e-book, or when you prefer, watch TV. And (of course) it seems that the most straightforward way to do that would be to have all of your little screens be Xterms. It''d also help the age-old family problem of "Mom! Dad! Joey''s on the computer and I want to use it!!"

... or maybe that''s just *my* house

Nice to see so many replies!

quote: I''ve never had the opportunity to use FreeBSD, but I plan to be doing some significant OS research in the near future as I start messing around with homebrew embedded devices

Cool! If you don''t mind me asking, what sort of deices are you thinking of?

quote: Although it doesn''t have the huge support and packages which linux has, on the whole it seens to be a sturdy OS.

That''s it''s biggest downside, IMHO.

quote: Does freebsd or any other *bsd have a package system like apt?

It has a pretty good packaging system. For example, you can run ''pkg_add -r someCoolPackage-1.0.tgz'', and it will automatically download and install the package.

quote: And what desktop enviroment dose freebsd and others use (the same ones that linux uses?)??

KDE, Gnome, whatever. Most Linux desktop environments are available for FreeBSD.

quote: I think it would be fun to write code :
"int main takes int argc and char star argv. begin statement block. int i, semicolon. int j equals 23. ..." .. although, it may be easier by hand

Of course, by the time this comes about, our programming paradigms and languages will have changed so that coding by voice is faster than coding by hand

quote: Original post by Obelix
Just give me a better desktop with better tools. I do not need a computer that controls how much milk I am drinking and TV habits.

You may not, but the general populace may. And that''s the point - moving away from scratching merely developers'' itches and catering to the needs of casual users; that is what is necessary to make Linux a mainstream commodity, a staple feature in business and entertainment. You can''t deny that such systems would find widespread use...

quote: Original post by Anonymous Poster
Don''t YOU type faster than you speak? I sure do...

Not always. The average person speaks ~200 wpm; the average typist 35-45. An exceptional typist only averages about 60. You do the math.

Add the fact that you don''t have to backspace...

The desktop is unlikely to die entirely; there will probably still be situations in which keyboards, mice and desktops will remain the primary and only means of computing.

quote: Original post by kendallemm
I think it would be fun to write code :
"int main takes int argc and char star argv. begin statement block. int i, semicolon. int j equals 23. ..." .. although, it may be easier by hand

As Martee said, the programming paradigms are likely to have evolved as well: "compilers" will be able to generate all the entry, exit and scaffolding code.

But we agree on the networked applicance idea.

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Thanks to Kylotan for the idea!