The following PBIs are now available for installation through Software Manager:

• Search and Rescue: a 3D flight simulator in which the player flies around
  the map rescuing people. The game has a selection of several different
  helicoptors and a jet airplane to choose from. The game includes
  training missions, more complete missions and a campaign mode as
  well as a free flight option for people who just want to explore.
• Gnumeric: the goal of Gnumeric is to be the best possible spreadsheet. We are not attempting to clone existing applications. However, Gnumeric can read files saved with other spreadsheets and we offer a customizable feel that attempts to minimize the costs of transition.

Thanks to Jesse Smith and Sam Lin for creating these PBIs.

The latest version of Bordeaux is now available. Bordeaux is inexpensive software that allows you to run Windows applications on a non-Windows system such as PC-BSD. This can be handy if you have recently migrated to PC-BSD and still need to use applications that you purchased for Windows or if you have a Windows application that you need to use for work or school. You can learn more about Bordeaux at their website.

Bordeaux is donating a portion of sales to FreeBSDNews and the FreeBSD Foundation. If you’ve been thinking of giving Bordeaux a try, now is a good time to do so.

You’ll find Bourdeaux in Software Manager–however, you’ll have to click on the link in order to purchase, download, and install the PBI.

How to do so has been a common topic on the #pcbsd Freenode IRC channel. We’ve  provided two ways for doing so and updated the Handbook as follows:

Submit PBI Requests

Want to request a specific application to be made available in PBI format? This is an excellent way to let PBI developers know which applications are most useful to PC-BSD users. Before requesting a PBI, please do the following:

• check in Software Manager to see if a PBI already exists. If one does but you want to request a more recent version, please say so in your request.
• search at Freshports to see if there is an existing FreeBSD package as it is much easier and quicker to make a PBI from an existing package. If a package does not already exist, please say so in your request.
• check to see if a request has already been made in the PBI Requests Forum or PBI-dev Mailing list.

You can make your request one of two ways:

• start a new thread in the PBI Requests Forum
• send an email to PBI-dev Mailing list

Whatever method you choose, please include the name of the PBI you are requesting in the thread name or email subject line. This way it is easy for PBI developers and other PC-BSD users to know which applications have already been requested.

Once a PBI developer has made a new PBI, the request will be removed from the PBI Requests Forum. Please note that it takes anywhere from 2-7 days for a new PBI to show up in Software Manager as it needs to be built and tested to make sure everything works.

If you wish to help test the resulting PBI before it has been approved, you may do so at the sites below:

• PC-BSD 7.x – i386
• PC-BSD 7.x – amd64
• PC-BSD 8.x – i386
• PC-BSD 8.x – amd64
• PC-BSD 9.x – i386
• PC-BSD 9.x – amd64

If you wish to be notified whenever a new PBI is added or an existing one is upgraded to a newer version, subscribe to the Latest PBI RSS feed.

The following PBIs were added this week and are available for installation in Software Manager:

• Workrave: Workrave is a program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit. These can be customized and it stops the counter when you stop. The program can be run distributed on one or more PCs. All connected PCs share the same timing information. When you switch computers, you will still be asked to pause on time.
• Geany: Geany is a small and lightweight integrated development environment. It was developed to provide a small and fast IDE, which has only a few dependencies on other packages. Another goal was to be as independent as possible from a special Desktop Environment like KDE or GNOME.
• R: R is an integrated suite of software facilities for data manipulation, calculation and graphical display. It includes an effective data handling and storage facility, a suite of operators for calculations on arrays, in particular matrices, a large, coherent, integrated collection of intermediate tools for data analysis, graphical facilities for data analysis and display either on-screen or on hardcopy, and a well-developed, simple and effective programming language which includes conditionals, loops, user-defined recursive functions and input and output facilities.

Many thanks to Jesse Smith and Sam Lin for taking the time to create these PBIs!