When it comes to free software desktop solutions, Linux tends to get most of the coverage. Now Ubuntu, Fedora, OpenSUSE etc. are all well and good, but it’s all too easy to forget that there are other operating systems out there too that can do th e job.

BSD-based operating systems have been around for a very long time, but traditionally, the big BSD distros like FreeBSD focus on the server and high-end workstation scenarios.

PC-BSD is a desktop-oriented BSD distribution which ships with a full KDE desktop and many of the packages you might be already used to from desktop Linux.

I thought I would review the new 1.5 release of PC-BSD, so, let’s dive in!

Read the rest of PC-BSD 1.5 - the FOSSwire review

One of the frustrating things about IM networks is that you can’t really choose what networks your friends use and you can end up stuck with whatever they are using. Aside from not talking to your friends on IM, there’s not a lot you can do other than grudgingly get an account on said service and bite the bullet.

It’s certainly possible to use an excellent multi-protocol IM client such as Pidgin or Kopete, but if you’re not a big IM user you might want something different that just does what it needs to do.

If your IM travels take you to the world of MSN/Windows Live Messenger, aMSN is one such client which is worth a look.

aMSN is a free open source MSN Messenger clone, with features such as:

• Display pictures
• Custom emoticons
• Multi-language support (around 40 languages currently supported)
• Webcam support
• Sign in to more than one account at once
• Full-speed File transfers
• Group support
• Normal, and animated emoticons with sounds
• Chat logs
• Timestamping
• Event alarms
• Conferencing support
• Tabbed chat windows

It runs on many different platforms, including Windows, Linux, Mac OS X and FreeBSD and the source code is, of course, also available for download. It can be downloaded from here, or Linux users should check their package manager first.

There’s only really one universally interchangeable archiving and compression format that works across all major platforms, and that’s the Zip format. Like it or not, that’s what you are stuck with using if you need to exchange files with other operating systems.

Creating a Zip archive using a GUI is usually a very simple process which involves right-clicking a group of files or a folder and choosing the relevant option.

From a command line, it’s a little more complex, but it’s still very achievable and it is always useful to know how to do it from the command line.

Unzipping is easy, simply get yourself a suitable Zip file, and do the following:

$ unzip archive.zip

Read the rest of Make a zip archive from the command line