Any desktop that wants to cater to the needs and wants of end users has to be multimedia enabled or at least be enabled as easy and quickly as possible. There are Linux distributions that have solved this problem by just adding all the necessary drivers and codecs and as long as they are unchallenged by authorities, license and patent holders they appear to have the edge. The problem is that some drivers and codecs are perfectly legal in some parts of the world and illegal in others. The Ubuntu Linux community solved the problem by making them available in the various repositories, but leaving it up to the user to install them. How is PC-BSD holding up in this regard?

The test circuit

When it comes to multimedia each one has it’s own desires. I decided to make a short list of multimedia features I consider either important or which I know to be important for a larger group of users.

MP3 playback
xvid playback
DVD playback
the ability to use websites with flash. I use the Dutch website woonnet-rijnmond.nl for this
YouTube
the Dutch newssite Nu.nl, especially the video items
the Dutch site Voorleesbijbel.nl, which reads parts of the Bible out loud

The interesting thing is that solutions that work with nu.nl sometimes hinder voorleesbijbel.nl.

What works out-of-the-box?

More Here

Also: PC-BSD Day 16: Time for advocacy