It certainly is, although the machines are actually running stock FreeBSD 10.1.
PC-BSD was an option in the beginning, but because these were older computers it was easier to build a low-resource install enabling only basic services such as NFS rather than trying to pare down a PC-BSD install to suit the needs of the project (which is a basic KDE-based workstation). Most of those desktops had only one gigabyte of RAM ad PC-BSD uses a lot of resources. We learned a lot in the process and will be implementing modified libraries in the coming year using donated computer equipment. I think many underestimate the enormous value that such projects have in these communities. Just having access to books and educational material is tremendously beneficial from a development perspective. On 12/26/2014 01:12 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote: > On Fri, Dec 26, 2014 at 12:43 AM, PeerCorps Trust Fund > <[email protected]> wrote: >> Indeed in Tanzania :) we have a couple of technology initiatives taking >> place at the >> moment and *BSD is at the center in many ways. The delivery of educational >> materials and books to resource-limited communities is an important aim of >> these initiatives. >> >> We actually used FreeBSD in our first effort, but want to experiment with >> some >> of the capabilities of DragonflyBSD and HAMMER in the next one. In our >> estimation we can possibly stretch our hardware and funds a bit further with >> DragonflyBSD/HAMMER owing to its low resource requirements. > > Ah nice. Is it the same project we heard recently of with photos of a library > room running PCBSD machines with a video and document library? > > >> On 12/25/2014 11:20 PM, Carsten Mattner wrote: >>> On Thu, Dec 25, 2014 at 7:08 PM, PeerCorps Trust Fund >>> <[email protected]> wrote: >>>> I just wanted to take the opportunity update a previous post that I made >>>> to the >>>> list concerning a swap_pager concern. It isn't an issue at all but the >>>> fault of my >>>> own ignorance and hardware limits. >>>> >>>> The external drive in question was simply not pulling enough power from the >>>> USB port of the laptop. This was likely resulting in a stalled drive when >>>> anything >>>> substantial was being copied to it. >>>> >>>> This has since been solved by connecting the drive first to an externally >>>> powered >>>> USB hub. So, if there is anyone else out there having a similar issue, >>>> trying this >>>> seems to do the trick. Alternatively, just use a drive that is powered >>>> externally. >>>> >>>> Everything works beautifully now and this low cost experiment for a simple >>>> file >>>> server will find a home in a school classroom next year. >>> >>> In Tanzania? >>> >>> FreeBSD had a writeup about a set of PCBSD machines installed in Nigeria >>> IIRC. >>> >>> A blog post or other writeup to link on dragonflybsd.org would surely be >>> nice. >>> >> -- Michael L. Wilson International Project Coordinator PeerCorps Trust Fund - Tanzania
