Soma-notes - User contributions [en]

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-18T16:29:03Z

Qliu1: /* Usage Evaluation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE. http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

* '''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

* '''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

* '''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabetic order. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed itself automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information from it. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-18T16:26:23Z

Qliu1: /* Basic Operation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE. http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

* '''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

* '''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

* '''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabetic order. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed itself automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:19:21Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as shown in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After that it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It satisfies PC-BSD's goal.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which provides desktop environment for PC-BSD.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system. It is UNIX shell, and PC-BSD is based on UNIX. So that's the reason why we need bash.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Then multi-threads is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the KDE graphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is completed after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is completed when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:16:13Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as shown in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After that it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It satisfies PC-BSD's goal.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which provides desktop environment for PC-BSD.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system. It is UNIX shell, and PC-BSD is based on UNIX. So that's the reason why we need bash.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Then multi-threads is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the KDE graphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:15:48Z

Qliu1: /* Major package versions */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as shown in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After that it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. It satisfies PC-BSD's goal.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which provides desktop environment for PC-BSD.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system. It is UNIX shell, and PC-BSD is based on UNIX. So that's the reason why we need bash.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Then multi-threads is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the KDE graphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:04:53Z

Qliu1: /* Software Management */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as shown in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After that it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:03:11Z

Qliu1: /* Software Catelog */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as shown in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-18T16:00:28Z

Qliu1: /* Software Packaging */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to install software from many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T07:02:08Z

Qliu1: /* Major package versions */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T06:50:11Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T06:49:31Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a user-space program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - This is Wacom input driver. It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings. It functions as a pointer input device. There is two function in scripts: do_start() to start service by /sbin/kldload and boot/modules/uwacom.ko, and do_stop() to stop service by /sbin/kldunload /boot/modules/uwacom.ko.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T06:33:20Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - Open Sound System (OSS) is the first attempt in unifying the digital audio architecture for UNIX. It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. It is started by function oss_start() and stopped by function oss_stop(). The two function will call system calls: /usr/local/sbin/soundon and /usr/local/sbin/soundoff.

* '''netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-available open source AFP fileserver. It also provides a kernel level implementation of the AppleTalk Protocol Suite. It makes *NIX/BSD system to be capable of serving many Macintosh clients simultaneously as an AppleShare file server (AFP), AppleTalk router, *NIX/*BSD print server, and for accessing AppleTalk printers via Printer Access Protocol (PAP). In the script, netatalk will start with netatalk_start() and stop with netatalk_stop(). It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1) atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables Macintosh computers to access printers which are connected to UNIX server <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - a file server that implements the Apple Filing Protocol, allowing clients running MacOS to access Unix file servers.<ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card. It starts with snddetect_start(), which call /usr/PCBSD/soundDetect/sound_detect, and stops with snddetect_stop().

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T06:07:07Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

The scripts provide information about how to start service or disable service. Most of services can be disabled or disabled by adding some codes to /etc/rc.conf. For example, in the following programs, fusefs shows how to disable its service.

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - pcbsdinit runs after DAEMON. It starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - gpsd is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, and devfs. It also runs before ntpd. It collects information from GPSes, differential-GPS radios, or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS, DGPS radio or AIS receiver is expected to be direct-connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device.

* '''oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Various systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T05:48:40Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file. <ref>FFserver man page. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :
fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''pcbsdinit''' - It runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T05:48:10Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file. <ref>FFserver man page. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :

fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''pcbsdinit''' - It runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T05:47:33Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are in /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file. <ref>FFserver man page. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem. To disable the fusefs service, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf :

fusefs_enable="NO"
fusefs_safe="NO"
fusefs_safe_evil="NO"

* '''pcbsdinit''' - It runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T04:38:59Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file. <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after sysctl and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - It runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T04:26:39Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It runs before NETWORKING service. FFserver is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, unless it is launched in debug mode or a NoDaemon option is specified in the configuration file. <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall and before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - It runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''gpsd''' - It runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - It runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - It is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - It runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - It runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:55:03Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds. It is streaming from files and time shifting on live feeds. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, which means it puts itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except it is launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:28:53Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds, from files and time shifting on live feed. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, meaning it outs itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:25:06Z

Qliu1: /* Part II */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information. http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586. http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News. http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds, from files and time shifting on live feed. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, meaning it outs itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html </ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:22:49Z

Qliu1: /* Software Packaging */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011.</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds, from files and time shifting on live feed. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, meaning it outs itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html </ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:22:01Z

Qliu1: /* Major package versions */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000.</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2. http://rpm.org/wiki/Releases/4.9.1.2 release. Retrieved Dec 7, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011.</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds, from files and time shifting on live feed. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, meaning it outs itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html </ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-17T03:19:21Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses a wide variety of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less" to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look back and forth in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Packages can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Packages can be deleted by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized in alphabetical order of package categories as in the following picture:

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for a desktop user, and is equipped with a utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages. In this utility, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, as in the following picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give the user a simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also very useful in finding desired software and installing them effortlessly, by clicking a specific link. Removing a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is also a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

Following the user's decision, the software can be downloaded by clicking the download link. After which it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under the "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many possible selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

The fact that there is a vast majority of packages to choose from is a great advantage. A part of the catalog information can be seen in the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through the Internet. Here are version numbers, release dates, and upstream sources of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use while FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but some differences still exist. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just used the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that are in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters such as: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again Shell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD strives to give users a better experience in desktop environments like Windows or Mac OS. Also, multi-thread is required.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system needs to manage Linux packages. It is consistent with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind the latest version is that it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Majority of Unix/Linux distributions make use of this, such as PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interactions with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD requires quality GUI and Utilities to ensure users have a pleasant desktop experience, therefore, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy way to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD uses KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD wants to provide service for daily users. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When we check the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - It is a streaming server for both audio and video which supports several live feeds, from files and time shifting on live feed. FFserver runs in daemon mode by default, meaning it outs itself in the background and detaches from its TTY, except launched in debug mode. It is Initialized thus - ffserver [options].
To configure, type the command ffserver ./configure and to disable, type the command ffserver ./n. This enables the no launch mode of the ffserver <ref>Initilization Manual page in PC-BSD. http://linux.die.net/man/1/ffserver Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>

* '''fusefs''' - It runs after syscall but before mountlate. It is used to implement a fully functional filesystem in a userspace program, with its API library as the key feature. To enable or disable fusefs, add the following line to /etc/rc.conf.local, fusefs_enable (bool) : Set to NO to disable or set to YES to enable fusefs. The filesystem works when the fuse kernel module and the fuse library communicate through a special file descriptor which is obtained by opening /dev/fuse. This file can be opened multiple times, and the obtained file descriptor is passed to the mount syscall, to match up the descriptor with the mounted filesystem.

* '''Pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON and it starts the system scripts. It is the last stage of the boot process which usually runs in automatic reboot sequence. It is a really important part of the boot operation such that if it dies, the system will reboot itself automatically

* '''Gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs and before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers. It collects information from gpses, differential -GPS radios or AIS receivers attached to the host machine. Each GPS should be connected to the host via sub or R232C serial device so that in order to disable, one would just take out the device.

* '''Oss''' - Runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system. It is the open sound system which provides support for PCM audio play and capture. Varoius systcall variables are stored in /etc/systcl.conf so it is automatically set during the boot process.

* '''Netatalk''' - Netatalk is a freely-availabe open source AFP fileserver package thats helps deal with the Appletalk protocol suite and its relatives. It can perform file and print sharing for macintosh. It comes with small utilities that help ease dealing with macintosh files from unix. To start netatalk from boot time, add these lines<ref>Initilization Netatalk in PC-BSD. http://openports.se/net/netatalk Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>./etc/rc.local:

if [ -f ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk ]; then
. ${SYSCONFDIR}/netatalk/rc.atalk
fi
It runs after DAEMON, and it implements the following major utilities while on booting :
1)atalkd - an implementation of the AppleTalk protocol <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html </ref>.
2) papd - a print server that enables macintosh computers to access printers that are connected to unix servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.
3) afpd - File server that implements the Apple filing protocol, which allows clients the run MasOs to access unix file servers <ref>Netatalk functions in PC-BSD. http://netatalk.sourceforge.net/2.2/ReleaseNotes2.2.1.html Retrieved Dec 15, 2011.</ref>.

Other less important utilities it implements are cnid_metad, timelord .
It is an appletalk daemon whose data structures must have time to stabilize before running the other processes. One must also make sure that atalkd has not started in the background before it starts running.

* '''Snddetect''' - Runs after DAEMON, and detects sound. It first removes sound flag then detects an unknown sound card.

* '''Wacom''' - Runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or removes the configuration settings. It is an input device driver for wacom devices, and it functions as a pointer input device. It is useful to define multiple devices with diferent active zones. Various entries are supported by wacom, but the most important entry or the most general entry is the OPtion "Type" entry. This entry sets the type of tool the device represents, which could be stylus, eraser, cursor, pad or touch. Note that the tool can represent more than one device. There are other options that come with wacom for pcbsd such as "device", "forceDrive", "suppress" etc, depending on what tool we are looking at.

'''End of Initialization'''

The initialization of PC-BSD is complete after all the thirty two shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been initialized. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is a loop which reads through and runs all the startup scripts. Initialization is complete when the loop is over. Then all the processes start running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T20:15:00Z

Qliu1: /* Background */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE. http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

* '''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

* '''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

* '''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T20:14:09Z

Qliu1: /* Background */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE. http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

* '''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

* '''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

* '''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T20:12:10Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop environment like Windows or Mac OS, and multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD need nice GUI and Utilities to provide user a good desktop experience, so KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provide service for daily uses. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, and it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON runs and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking DAEMON, cleanvar, devfs runs and runs before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - runs after DAEMON, and it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after DAEMON, and it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after DAEMON, and it provides sound detect. It first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T20:11:10Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop environment like Windows or Mac OS, and multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD need nice GUI and Utilities to provide user a good desktop experience, so KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provide service for daily uses. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, and it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON runs and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, and it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - runs after deamon, and it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, and it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, and it provides sound detect. It first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, and it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:50:56Z

Qliu1: /* Major package versions */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, so it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop environment like Windows or Mac OS, and multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. PC-BSD need nice GUI and Utilities to provide user a good desktop experience, so KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provide service for daily uses. Multimedia offers us music and movie needs so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:45:31Z

Qliu1: /* Software Packaging */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T17:45:07Z

Qliu1: /* Basic Operation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

* '''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

* '''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

* '''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:44:34Z

Qliu1: /* Software Packaging */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
''' Package Format and Utilities '''

PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:43:57Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

* '''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

* '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

* '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

* '''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:43:36Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

* '''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

* '''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

* '''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

* '''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

# '''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

# '''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

# '''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

########'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:40:46Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

#'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

##'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

###'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

####'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

#####'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

######'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

#######'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

########'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:40:03Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

#'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

#'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

#'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

#'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

#'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

#'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

#'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

#'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:39:47Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

#'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

#'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

#'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

#'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

#'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

#'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

#'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:39:23Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:39:08Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

'''Start Initialization'''
Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d.

'''Major Programs'''
'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

'''End of Initialization'''
In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:37:18Z

Qliu1: /* Initialization */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, the initialization of PC-BSD is done after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. The /etc/rc script describes how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop is done. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:34:23Z

Qliu1: /* Major package versions */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. Therefore the major modification is the kernel. The difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. This information is shown in the /etc/rc, which describe how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:32:03Z

Qliu1: /* Software Management */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD aims to give user simple experience of installing or removing packages, like software management in Windows or Mac OS. Software Manager is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking a specific link. Remove a package is also a simple mouse-click operation. There is a software browser inside the Software Manager and a search engine for package searching and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package you want to remove, and click "remove".

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Manager. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There are many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. So the major modification is the kernel. More difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. This information is shown in the /etc/rc, which describe how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:24:10Z

Qliu1: /* Software Management */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD is aim to give user simple install/remove package experience, like Windows or Mac OS. Software Management is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking the link. Remove is also a simply mouse click operation. There is a website browser in the Software Management and search engine for keyword search and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package needed to remove, and click remove.

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Management. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There is too many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. So the major modification is the kernel. More difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. This information is shown in the /etc/rc, which describe how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:05:56Z

Qliu1: /* Add and Remove Packages */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" is for installing packages, and "pkg_delete" is for removing packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT to specify an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many Graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD is aim to give user simple install/remove package experience, like Windows or Mac OS. Software Management is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking the link. Remove is also a simply mouse click operation. There is a website browser in the Software Management and search engine for keyword search and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package needed to remove, and click remove.

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Management. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There is too many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. So the major modification is the kernel. More difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. This information is shown in the /etc/rc, which describe how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report II:PC-BSD

2011-12-09T17:02:55Z

Qliu1: /* Package Format and Utilities */

= Part II =

== Software Packaging ==
=== Package Format and Utilities ===
PC-BSD's package management system takes a different approach to installing software than many other Unix-like operating systems. Instead of using the FreeBSD ports<ref>FreeBSD ports http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD_ports Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref> tree directly, PC-BSD uses files with the .pbi<ref>PBI Package Management. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/package-management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> file-name extension which, when double-clicked, bring up an installation wizard program. PBI (PC-BSD Installer or Push-Button Installer) is Binary Packaging format. This distribution uses lots of graphic utilities<ref>PC-BSD Utilities. http://www.pcbsd.org/about/pc-bsd-project/utilities Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> to supply a front-end to useful FreeBSD features, such as Software Management Utility, Virtual Environment Utility, Backup Utility, Ports Jails Utility and so on. In the distribution, the package management relies on pkg tool, which is also used in FreeBSD, and Software Manager.

=== List Installed Packages ===
In command line, it will use "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | less"to get a list of installed packages. The first command will print the whole list of packages at once, while the second one will print the first page of the package list and you can use keyboard to look forward or backward in the list.

=== Add and Remove Packages ===
"pkg_add" to add packages, and "pkg_delete" to remove packages. In PC-BSD 9.0, it will use PBI manager<ref>PBI Manager. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/PBI_Manager Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref>, which will use "pbi_info", "pbi_add", "pbi_delete" instead. Package can be added by using "pkg_add -r -v {pacakge-name}" or "pbi_add -r PBINAME":
# pkg_add -v -r vim or # pbi_add -r alpine
We can also set the environment variable PACKAGEROOT specifies an alternate location for pkg_add to fetch from:
# export PACKAGEROOT=ftp://ftp3.FreeBSD.org
# pkg_add -v -r vim

Package can be delete by using "pkg_delete {package-name}" or "pbi_delete {package-name}". Package name and version can be found by "pkg_info" or "pbi_info":
# pkg_info | grep ntop or # pbi_info | grep ntop
# ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # ntop-4.0.1_1-i386
# pkg_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386 # pbi_delete ntop-4.0.1_1-i386

=== Software Catelog ===
The PC-BSD repository<ref>Package Management in PC-BSD. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC-BSD#Package_management Retrieved Nov 16, 2011</ref> is http://www.pbidir.com/. The software catalog is organized by alphabet of package categories like the following picture.

[[File:software_catalog.png|300px]]

=== Software Management ===
PC-BSD offers many Graphic tools for desktop user, and there is utility called Software Management (in PC-BSD version 8.2), which can get a list of installed packages, only the packages installed after system installations will be displayed, like this picture:

[[File:software_management.png|300px]]

PC-BSD is aim to give user simple install/remove package experience, like Windows or Mac OS. Software Management is also a very useful utility to find desired software and install them by clicking the link. Remove is also a simply mouse click operation. There is a website browser in the Software Management and search engine for keyword search and different catalogs for selections.

[[File:software_browser.png|300px]]

After made decision, it can downloaded the software by clicking the download link. And it will automatically download and install the packages/software.

[[File:install_software.png|300px]]

There is also a remove button under "Installed Software" menu. Simply choose the package needed to remove, and click remove.

The software catalog for this distribution can be found in the Software Browser of Software Management. There are many selections: Archives, Astronomy, Audio, Benchmarks, Biology, CAD, Communications, Databases, Desktop Utilities, Development, E-Mail, Editors, Educational, Emulators, File Transfer & Utilities, Finance, Games, Graphics, IRC, Japanese, Java, Languages, Math, Miscellaneous, Multimedia, Network-IM, Network-Management, Network-P2P, Network-Utilities, News, Non-Port, Polish, Ports-Management, Print, Science, Security, Shells, System Utilities, Text Processing, The Warden-Inmates, Web, X11, X11-File Managers and X11-Window Managers.

There is too many packages to choose, part of catalog information can be seen from the previous picture.

== Major package versions ==

The package version information can be found by using command "pkg_info" or "pkg_info | grep {package_name}". More information about the specific package version could be found through Internet. Here are version numbers, release date, and upstream source of various major packages in PC-BSD:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Version
! Latest Official Release
! Official Source
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| 8.2-RELEASE Feb 24, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Information. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FreeBSD Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| 9.0-RELEASE Sep, 2011 <ref>FreeBSD Release Engineering Information http://www.freebsd.org/releng/ Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>
| http://www.freebsd.org/where.html
|-
| X.org
| 7.5 Oct 26, 2009 <ref>X.org 7.5 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 7.6 Dec 20, 2010 <ref>X.org 7.6 release notes. http://www.x.org/wiki/Releases/7.6 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.x.org/wiki/
|-
| Qt
| 4.7.1 Nov 9, 2010 <ref>Qt 4.7.1 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2010/11/09/qt-4-7-1-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.4 Sep 1, 2011 <ref>Qt 4.7.4 release notes. http://labs.qt.nokia.com/2011/09/01/qt-4-7-4-released/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://qt.nokia.com/
|-
| GTK+
| 2.22.1, Nov 15, 2010 <ref>GTK+ 2.22.1 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/ftp-release-list/2010-November/msg00145.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.24.8, Nov 10, 2011 <ref>GTK+ 2.24.8 overview. http://mail.gnome.org/archives/gtk-devel-list/2011-November/msg00026.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnome.org/pub/gnome/sources/gtk+/
|-
| bash
| 4.1.9 March, 2010 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.1.9. ftp://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/bash-4.1-patches/bash41-009 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.2.10 April, 2011 <ref>BASH PATH REPORT 4.2.10. ftp://ftp.cwru.edu/pub/bash/bash-4.2-patches/bash42-010 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/bash/
|-
| pth
| 2.0.7 Jun 8, 2006 <ref>GNU Portable Thread. http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| current is the latest
| http://www.gnu.org/s/pth/
|-
| rpm
| 3.0.6 15 Sep 15, 2000 <ref>RPM 3.0.6 release. http://www.redhat.com/archives/rpm-list/2000-September/msg00101.html Retrieved Dec 7, 2000</ref>
| 4.9.1.2 Sep 29, 2011 <ref>RPM 4.9.1.2 release. </ref>
| http://www.rpm.org/
|-
| ruby
| 1.8.7 June 1, 2008
| 1.9.3 Oct 30, 2011 <ref>Ruby News. http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/feeds/news.rss Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://www.ruby-lang.org/en/news/2008/05/31/ruby-1-8-7-has-been-released/
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| 4.5.5 Jan 4, 2011 <ref>KDE 4.5 Release Schedule. http://techbase.kde.org/Schedules/KDE4/4.5_Release_Schedule#January_4th.2C_2011:_Release_KDE_SC_4.5.5 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3 Nov, 2011 <ref>KDE Release News. http://www.kubuntu.org/news/by-date/201111 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://kde.org/info/4.5.5.php
|-
| Gwenview
| 1.2.92 Aug 21, 2005 <ref>gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk RPM for i586 http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 4.7.3, Oct 28, 2011 <ref>Gwenview Release list. ftp://ftp.kde.org/pub/kde/stable/latest/src/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://rpmfind.net/linux/RPM/sourceforge/g/project/gw/gwenview/gwenview/1.2.92/gwenview-1.2.92-0.1.101mdk.i586.html
|-
| amarok
| 2.3.2 Sep 20, 2010 <ref>Amarok 2.3.2 Release News http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2 Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| 2.5 Nov 6, 2011 <ref>Amarok Home. http://amarok.kde.org/ Retrieved Dec 5, 2011</ref>
| http://amarok.kde.org/en/releases/2.3.2
|}
 

'''Major Difference and Purpose'''

PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, but PC-BSD is for desktop use and FreeBSD is for server use. They are generally similar but there are still some differences. PC-BSD has added some utilities or kernel tweaks or GUI to make PC-BSD suitable for desktop use. For the KDE part, the author just use the one in FreeBSD, so there is no modification in the KDE packages. So the major modification is the kernel. More difference between PC-BSD and FreeBSD can be found [http://www.spreadbsd.org/?q=pcbsd here]. The purposes of the packages are shown below:

{| border="1"
! Package
! Purpose of Using This Package
|-
| FreeBSD Kernel
| FreeBSD is known widely for its stability and security in server environment, it can provide excellent base for PC-BSD. PC-BSD’s kernel has been recompiled with some configuration tweaks to make it better for desktop use. PC-BSD supports all the major package management systems that in FreeBSD but also has PBI package installer.
|-
| X.org
| Xorg supports several mechanisms for supplying/obtaining configuration and run-time parameters: command line options, environment variables, the xorg.conf configuration file, auto-detection, and fallback defaults. In PC-BSD, it completes distribution meta-port
|-
| Qt
| Qt SDK combines the Qt framework with tools designed to streamline the creation of applications for Symbian and Maemo, MeeGo (Nokia N9) as well as desktop platforms, such as Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. PC-BSD needs that platform.
|-
| GTK+
| Gimp toolkit for X11 GUI. It is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces, which is PC-BSD's need.
|-
| bash
| The GNU Project's Bourne Again SHell. Bash is the shell, or command language interpreter, that will appear in the GNU operating system.
|-
| pth
| Pth is a very portable POSIX/ANSI-C based library for Unix platforms which provides non-preemptive priority-based scheduling for multiple threads of execution inside event-driven applications. PC-BSD want to give user better experience in desktop like Windows or Mac OS, multi-thread is needed.
|-
| rpm
| It is the Red Hat Package Manager. There is rpm package in PC-BSD means the system need to manage Linux packages. It is consist with its goal to be compatible with Linux. The reason why the version is far behind with the latest version is it is enough for basic Linux package management.
|-
| ruby
| A dynamic, open source programming language with a focus on simplicity and productivity. Most Unix/Linux distribution will use that, so do PC-BSD. It has an elegant syntax that is natural to read and easy to write.
|-
| KDE(Konqueror web browser and KMail)
| KDE offers a full suite of user workspace applications which allow interaction with these operating systems in a modern, graphical user interface. And PC-BSD need good GUI to offer nice experience for desktop user, KDE is a good choice.
|-
| Gwenview
| Gwenview is part of the kdegraphics module. Gwenview is a fast and easy to use image viewer/browser for KDE. PC-BSD use KDE for better user experience. Gwenview is inside KDE.
|-
| amarok
| Media Player for KDE4. PC-BSD want to provider service for daily uses, and for desktop user. Multimedia is needed so that a media player like amarok will be a necessary utility.
|}
 

== Initialization ==

Because PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, the initialization will be BSD-style[1]. The init runs the initialization shell script located in /etc/rc.d, then launches a windowing system such as X on graphical terminals under the control of /etc/ttys. There are no runlevels in PC-BSD. The script file, /etc/rc, determines what programs are run by init. The configuration is read from the master configuration file /etc/rc.conf. When checked the /etc/rc.conf file, we can find that the local startup scripts are on /usr/local/etc/rc.d and /Program/rc.d. Here are some major program that runs during initialization:

'''ffserver''' - runs after the network service runs, it is a streaming server for both audio and video.

'''fusefs''' - runs after systctl runs and before mountlate is running.

'''pcbsdinit''' - runs after DAEMON is running and it starts the system scripts.

'''gpsd''' - runs after networking deamon cleanvar devfs runs and runs before ntpd, it is an interface daemon for GPS receivers.

'''oss''' - also runs after deamon, it handles the sound system.

'''netatalk''' - runs after daemon, it provides atalkd papd cnid_metad timelord afpd,

'''snddetect''' - runs after daemon, it provides sound detect, it first removes sound flag then detects if system has sound or not.

'''wacom''' - runs after filesystem, it offers setup and cleanup to configure Xorg for use of the driver or remove the configuration settings.

In the end, after all the shell scripts from /etc/rc.d have been read and run. This information is shown in the /etc/rc, which describe how system startup scripts run by init. There is loop to read through and run all the startup scripts and the initialization is done with the loop. Then all the processes end up running on this fully initialized system.

== Reference ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T16:53:14Z

Qliu1: /* Usage Evaluation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

'''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

'''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

'''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has so many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefits of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good desktop system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T16:48:35Z

Qliu1: /* Usage Evaluation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

'''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

'''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

'''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. This kind of catalog is similar to Windows so that people can easy get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does need, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefit of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T16:46:58Z

Qliu1: /* Usage Evaluation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

'''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

'''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

'''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. The feature catalog is similar to Windows so that people can get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does need, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefit of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T16:45:22Z

Qliu1: /* Basic Operation */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD has been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will be linked to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

'''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5. The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox and IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some other popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

'''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system and the software is for experiment, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and the installation worked. I checked the package information and it was installed successfully. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

'''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows Environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. The feature catalog is similar to Windows so that people can get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does need, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefit of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>

COMP 3000 2011 Report: qliu

2011-12-09T16:35:05Z

Qliu1: /* Installation/Startup */

= Part I =

== Background ==

PC-BSD is desktop-oriented Unix distribution. The founder of PC-BSD, Kris Moore, with his team developed the 1st version of PC-BSD in early 2005. They are still trying to create a better PC-BSD now. Before PC-BSD project, easy-to-use Unix distribution came to success by widespread use, and Solaris had the largest market share in 2005<ref>PC-BSD Introduction. http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Introduction . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. The market did not emphasize developing Unix for desktop market and it focused on the sever. But in Linux market, there are Linux distributions for desktop, like Ubuntu and Debian <ref name="Comparison of Linux Distribution">Comparison of Linux Distribution. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_Linux_distributions . Retrieved Dec 4, 2011</ref>. Kris wanted to create a more user-friendly Unix for desktop user. This Operating System is little configuration necessary, full-featured, free-of-charge, open-source, based on FreeBSD and anybody, from the beginner to the advanced user, could use this OS easily.

The distribution I used is PC-BSD HUBBLE, version 8.2, which could be downloaded from [http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd| here]. There are 32-bit and 64-bit versions available. The latest release is PC-BSD ISOTOPE<ref>PC-BSD ISOTOPE http://www.pcbsd.org/get-it/download-pc-bsd-isotope Retrieved Dec 7, 2011</ref>, version 9. The HUBBLE version is about 3.6GB.

The PC-BSD is based on FreeBSD, which focuses on server use, with BSD license. PC-BSD pre-configures KDE desktop environment, and uses graphic installer and some other handy tools or pre-installed packages for better desktop experiences.

== Installation/Startup ==

Environment: Mac OX Lion as host and Parallels Desktop as virtual machine.

1.Download "PCBSD8.2-x86-DVD.iso". Create a new virtual machine with Parallels Desktop. Continue and choose "other Linux".

[[File:install_1.png |300px| Parallels Desktop loaded iso file]]

2. When loading the image, there are several options for choosing to install the PC-BSD in different ways as shown in the picture below. I choose the "Boot installer [default]", which will start the program with all the standard options enabled. More information about PC-BSD installation options can be found [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Starting_the_PC-BSD_Installation here]. The whole installation does not require network access, and all it need is just installing pre-configured files from the ISO image.

[[File:install_boot.png |300px| installation options]]

3. After few seconds, it will jump into a graphic configuration view. I can set up Language, Keyboard, System, Disk, Users, Time, Components, and Summary. After these configurations, it will start installation. This will take about 25-30 minutes. Its size is about 3.5GB, so the time is acceptable.

[[File:install_2.png |300px| configuration setup]]

4.After a long wait, the installation finished and the system rebooted virtual machine. After entering a username and password, and then the PC-BSD is ready to use.

[[File:install_4.png |300px| installation finished and PC-BSD ready]]

Problem: When I first installed this Linux, after finishing installation, the system cannot be rebooted and stopped with “SCSI controller is not installed”.
Solution: I changed the configuration in the virtual machine, change the disk place from IDE 0:0 to IDE 1:0. Re-install the system, and it worked. The real issue is unknown. But it is not the SCSI problem.

There are no other issues influenced the installation. The UI of PC-BSD is friendly. It looks like other graphical system, such as Ubuntu Linux or Windows. PC-BSD has some system management tools, Konsole terminal, pre-installed applications and others software which can cut out command-based operations.

== Basic Operation ==

PC-BSD had been designed with "casual" computer user in mind. It uses the KDE desktop environment which will cover most of your daily computer needs. Also it provides many graphic tools to perform system administration tasks. After starting the system, the desktop will show four shortcut icons: PC-BSD Website and Online Wiki (they will link to specific website through Konqueror Web Browser), Ports Jail, and Software Manager. Here are some cases:

'''Web Browser: Konqueror'''

Konqueror is a web browser, file manager, universal document viewer. It is using KDE Development Platform 4.5.5.
The Konqueror starts with Konqueror introduction page. The introduction can provide basic information, tips and tutorial of this web browser. This browser is similar to our familiar web browser, such as Firefox, IE. It can create a new tab or new window to browse other website. I tried to browse the google and carleton website, and it showed the website in one second. In the "setting", we can configure the extensions, spell checking, shortcuts, toolbars and so on. There is searching engine in the tool bar. When I tried to search "carleton" from the input box, it created a new tab and searched the information from www.google.com. So the default search engine is using google.com. I created multiple tabs and when I tried to close the whole window, it popped out a confirmation window with "You have multiple tabs open in this window, are you sure to quit?". After all, the Konqueror is easy to use if you are familiar with some popular web browser, like IE or Firefox. No additional knowledge is needed to start to use this browser.

[[File:operation_browser.png|300px|start page of Konqueror and setting options]]

'''Ports Jail'''

Ports Jail provides an environment where users who are new to FreeBSD packages and ports can safely experiment and learn how to use the FreeBSD software management command line tools without affecting the software that was installed with the operating system. The above words is the definition from [http://wiki.pcbsd.org/index.php/Ports_Jail|here]. So what I did in the Ports Jail will not affect the real PC-BSD system, that's the goal of this software.

I tried to install a package called "9e" using "pkg_add -r 9e", but it failed because some operations were not permitted. Then I tried to log in as "root", and it worked. I checked the package information and it was installed. After that, I deleted the package and then the package information was not found. I also checked whether the installation will affected my real system, and the answer is no. I entered "pkg_info | grep 9e" in the terminal after I installed the 9e, but nothing found. This shows the goal of Ports Jail. The following figure shows the information I tested:

[[File:operation_port.png|300px|Ports Jail with pkg operation]]

'''Software Manager'''

Software Manager provides unique file format -- PBI (push button installer). PBI files end with the .pbi extension and are self-contained installation programs. When I ran this software, it prompted for the administrative password. Then it went to "Software Browser", where I can found many packages to be installed. The category of packages were sorted by alphabet. I found the Firefox browser under the "Web" category and after a simple click on the Download button, it started to download the software and installed it automatically. Also, if you know the software name, you can just search the name in the Search bar, as seen in the figure below. There is also information for installed software and system updates. This software does not require you to enter any commands to management software which is suitable for beginner of UNIX system.

[[File:operation_software.png|300px|Software Browser inside Software Manager]]

== Usage Evaluation ==

PC-BSD’s goal is to design a system that everybody can easy use it. It includes these features:

# Easy installation
# Automatically configure hardware: pre-configuration in the first system start-up
# Intuitive desktop interface: latest stable version of KDE desktop environment
# Easy software management: software to manage all kinds of settings
# Easy to update: like windows, has Update Manager to keep system updated
# Visually attractive
# Architecture support: i386 or x64 supported
# Laptop support: power saving, wireless connection, swap space encryption
# Secure environment: PF firewall, brute-force attack protection
# Binary compatibility: can run different kinds of software from Linux or Windows
# Easy system administration: graphical tools

This Unix System actually simplify our life with Unix. Graphical tools can do most of the tasks. PC-BSD provides many features as Windows Environment, which most of the people are familiar with.

The menu in PC-BSD can show "Favorites" application which was used most frequently，There are more in menu: Applications (All kinds of software, such as for Development, Game, and Education), Computer (Management tools of this computer/ system), Recently Used and power button. The feature catalog is similar to Windows so that people can get into this distribution. PC-BSD is very compatible with different kinds of applications in Unix, and it is also compatible with some Windows software through Compatibility Layer. There is a feature that is better than Windows's one: the clipboard management software just in the bottom tool bar. It is for managing what have been copied or pasted or cut. We can see the history of what we have copied / cut and retrieve required information. Windows has clipboard also, but it is not so clearly to show at tool bar and to see the history.

But there is a bit slow when running with PC-BSD, the operations do not seem to be so smooth. Booting the system need more than 1 minute. It has many visual elements, but it may sacrifice the speed of system.

After all, PC-BSD is free of charge and has so many features, more secure than Windows-based system, compatible with most Unix software and some Windows software. The hard drivers or partitions don’t need to be defragmented while windows does need, and user can have greater control over PC-BSD (UNIX) system than in Windows.

It has benefit of Unix and Windows, and do not have some drawbacks of Windows, such as security problem and fragments. It is a very good system for beginner and advanced users.

== References ==
<references/>