Preferred DE of the FreeBSD users

Which is your current DE or WM? If not listed please specify!

  • Total voters
    192
When I left Windows 10, apart from picking what OS to replace it with (so to work on the same desktop's hardware), it took a while to settle to a GUI. Tested Gnome, KDE Plasma, XFCE, LXDE and they were all lacking at a good dark theme out of the box + a search based launcher (don't want to navigate with the mouse). That was some years ago.

Settled to KDE Plasma, which was very flexible and with most of the settings exposed without tinkering under the hood. Turning it into a decent dark themed desktop was always painful, impossible without tuning each program to use a dark theme.

I like Plasma, but honestly it feels heavy if not bloated. What I really want from a GUI is to:
1. - start files or programs (in a flattened hierarchy) by pressing SUPER + few letters from the name + ENTER
2. - have a dark theme where all the windows follow the same dark background + white ink
3. - have delimited windows/buttons/textboxes/etc. I can not work with borderless graphic items
4. - a taskbar that preserves the opening order for each window
5. - has graphic elements made for mouse + keyb and a high res. monitor, i.e. 4k (not for touch screens)

Preferably rounded corners, don't care about fancy effects but a little 3D look for GUI elements would be nice, but not overboard eye-candy like glassy buttons and translucent windows.

Is there any other GUI I should try for the above 5 must have, please? The simpler the better.
(apart from Gnome, Plasma, XFCE, LXDE which I've already tried)
 
RoGeorge said:
1. - start files or programs (in a flattened hierarchy) by pressing SUPER + few letters from the name + ENTER
Click to expand...

KRunner?

1643505379019.png


1643505619672.png

I can't think of any desktop environment that includes all five.

RoGeorge said:
4. - a taskbar that preserves the opening order for each window
Click to expand...

I do like the idea of that, in the same way that I like preservation of order of tabs in Firefox.
 
Yes, just like KRunner does, but isn't KRunner for Plasma only? My understanding about how the whole GUI thing works is close to zero, so I might be asking nonsense.

Though, in Linux KRunner was using baloo's database for searching/opening files. Same in FreeBSD I think, without baloo, no files appears in the search bar while typing, only programs appears, so I'm not sure if KRunner can find files without baloo. Can KRunner be configured to use other database, for example the locate database?

Baloo is one of the components that I don't like in Plasma. In Kubuntu, baloo use to hang without finishing the indexing of all files, or end with a corrupted database after a few weeks, or overwrite manually config files, make the kernel completely unresponsive (as in waiting 5 minutes for the password prompt to appear in a text only tty).

In FreeBSD, baloo only managed to make the whole box unresponsive, so far (about 5 weeks of baloo on FreeBSD) no database rebuild was needed.

That's rather amazing, only baloo is able to stop to a crawl a modern kernel, either FreeBSD or Linux. :)
 
I use DWM.

If FreeBSD has a default WM (or weirder DM) that mean the end of choice and the beginning of fork.

What you absolutely need to introduce the Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu (and others) inside FreeBSD.

You have one cli to install KDE or Gnome (or LXCE or...)
And if you are lost, there is desktop-installer.

Nevertheless your favourite DE/WM is, there is more users against your flavour.

The only acceptable compromise is to propose to run a desktop-install like tool a the end of the sysinstall tool.
The best solution for me is pointing an entry point in doc for installing desktop in the sysinstall.
 
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Reactions: mer
RoGeorge said:
… isn't KRunner for Plasma only? …
Click to expand...

Yes, in that it requires (amongst other things) x11/kf5-plasma-framework

<https://www.freshports.org/x11/kf5-krunner/#dependencies>

RoGeorge said:
… Baloo is one of the components that I don't like …
Click to expand...

<https://forums.freebsd.org/posts/553239> our conversation about Recoll as an alternative.

RoGeorge said:
… Can KRunner be configured to use other database, …
Click to expand...

Found by Google:

How to install the recoll plugin for krunner in Kubuntu 12.10 - Kubuntu Forums

– that was 2012, I have no idea whether it's still possible. I just picked one of the first search results.
 
RoGeorge said:
When I left Windows 10, apart from picking what OS to replace it with (so to work on the same desktop's hardware), it took a while to settle to a GUI. Tested Gnome, KDE Plasma, XFCE, LXDE and they were all lacking at a good dark theme out of the box + a search based launcher (don't want to navigate with the mouse). That was some years ago.

Settled to KDE Plasma, which was very flexible and with most of the settings exposed without tinkering under the hood. Turning it into a decent dark themed desktop was always painful, impossible without tuning each program to use a dark theme.

I like Plasma, but honestly it feels heavy if not bloated. What I really want from a GUI is to:
1. - start files or programs (in a flattened hierarchy) by pressing SUPER + few letters from the name + ENTER
2. - have a dark theme where all the windows follow the same dark background + white ink
3. - have delimited windows/buttons/textboxes/etc. I can not work with borderless graphic items
4. - a taskbar that preserves the opening order for each window
5. - has graphic elements made for mouse + keyb and a high res. monitor, i.e. 4k (not for touch screens)

Preferably rounded corners, don't care about fancy effects but a little 3D look for GUI elements would be nice, but not overboard eye-candy like glassy buttons and translucent windows.

Is there any other GUI I should try for the above 5 must have, please? The simpler the better.
(apart from Gnome, Plasma, XFCE, LXDE which I've already tried)
Click to expand...
You could take a look at x11-wm/enlightenment, I migrated to it from KDE. It is a lot less resource hungry than KDE, but the same level of customization. The FreeBSD port version lags a bit, the newest version of DE has, in my opinion, a lot nicer default theme. From the other side, the older theme of Enlightenment better integrates with apps written in GTK and Qt. From your requirements:

1. Is, Run Everything launcher. Keyboard shortcut is customizable. In my opinion, better thing than KDE launcher.
2. Default theme. That can be a problem for other people, Enlightenment don't have a light theme.
3. Check. Again, you can customize it too, to remove borders.
4. Is, even two versions, traditional and icons only. Both configurable.
5. Definitely no touch screen. Can't say about 4k.

Fancy things, by default enabled, but easy to disable.

Disadvantages: of course a much less popular, this mean less themes, plugins, can contain bugs etc. Also, some things are complicated to change/customize, due to a lot of possible options.
But personally I found it better suited for daily usage than KDE: to work, to browsing the net or just playing some Windows games.
 
Hi,

I use dwm with patches.

If a graphical FreeBSD edition had to exist, I would imagine, following the kiss principle, something inspired by Manjaro i3 edition, which is light, integrated and user friendly (despite being a tiling wm), and then being able to install any other DE from there.

Have a nice sunday.
 
tgl said:
Not I am not assuming this but I'd like to understand if there is an interest toward that category of users.
Click to expand...

A good portion of responses here are to new users who wanted to tweak this or edit that before they know how to fix what they've broken. What I've seen over the last 4-5 years as the biggest mistake new people make and something I've advised them not to do repeatedly.

In June 2005 I started as a beta tester for PC-BSD and stayed with them 7 years before becoming fed up with their new found love of X-Systems fundage, feckless lack of concern for their user base (knowledge a fanboi would not be privvy to) flipped them off, cat-flipping the fence and fast fled that flaccid flock for freedom in FreeBSD, Vanilla, please.
tgl said:
The reason is always related with the healthy state of desktop space. If this topic has been addressed several time across the years is unknown for me therefore I apology if I sound naive or stubborn.
Click to expand...

We've beat that dead horse mercilessly. and every so often some PETA pony soldier will come along to resurrect it.
tgl said:
The point is an easy setup of a desktop installation (I mean graphics, sound, bluetooth etc...) can make the life easier for many and therefore can be the manifestation of a vibrant interest around it.
Click to expand...

I invoked that manifestation by my commands and over 100,000 people have borne witness to my deed.
tgl said:
From what I am reading here the interest is quite cold that means there will be lesser investment in this space then.
Click to expand...
You could not be more mistaken.

forums.freebsd.org

Beginners Guide - How To Set Up A FreeBSD Desktop From Scratch

I'm going to guide you though the process of getting a fully functional FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE desktop up and running, complete with system files and security settings, step-by-step as if you've never used UNIX or the command line. Now let's get started: Insert your boot media and at the Welcome...
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org

That's had over 100k views. I'm constantly thinking of ways to improve it, with the next edit already at my fingertips. vermaden posts new things weekly and works harder at it than I do.


I haven't tracked my site visitor count and don't use cookies, scripts or ads. I only know the Russian Federation is my second largest audience. (Thanks, Vladimir. Don't forget to have someone pick me up before you nuke Yellowstone...)

If you're really that concerned, tgl, you can pay my hosting fee this year.
Because I'm in the hole on this deal in hosting alone and all my posts are Moderated here.
 
Disclaimer: my opinions, based on nothing in particular except perhaps my own experience. Feel free to agree/disagree/ignore/whatever floats your boat.

"PETA Pony Soldier" Nice. I'm not often suprised by phrases that show up, but this one has me chuckling.

I think a lot of people responding here are long term users of vanilla FreeBSD and have made mistakes (how many have done a zpool add instead of zpool attach when you wanted to create a mirror? I'll admit to this). This winds up with a lot of us having notes and eventually they wind up in informal tutorials, eventually formal tutorials. They then make these freely available in the hopes that they help someone else avoid the same mistakes.

I'm guessing the OP has a better understanding now of the stance a lot of us have against a DE/WM installed by default on an install, but that information on how to easily install a graphical user environment should be made easily available.

I think the information is there, is easily available.

If one feels very strongly about having an option to install such, they could write up a proposal, create a prototype and file an enhancement request against the installer. It may or may not get accepted.
 
mer said:
… an enhancement request against the installer. It may or may not get accepted.
Click to expand...

The installer:
  • is fast
  • is simple enough
  • should be enhanced for ease of use in situations such as dual boot.
IMHO:
  • we don't need the installer to flow into anything desktop environment-related
  • beyond installation, the FreeBSD Project needs better onboarding for the gamut of people who require a desktop environment
  • a flowchart will help.
 
Beastie7 said:
Keep in mind, all graphical components outside the base system is upstream Linux. Unless the committers are actively developing and maintaining their own graphics/desktop stack concurrently in -CURRENT. We’ll never see a graphical release of FreeBSD. This is why GhostBSD, etc exists.

The only viable alternative would be to facilitate automagic configuration of one or more desktops from bsdinstall (I’m looking at you, KDE) , which I’ve stated years ago.

helloSystem is the only FreeBSD first desktop project as far as I know. Albeit the upstream DMX stack.
Click to expand...

Looks that someone else went way more beyond Probono and Hello System: https://airyx.org/

By the way I will and would not use such solution.
 
RoGeorge said:
Is there any other GUI I should try for the above 5 must have, please? The simpler the better.
(apart from Gnome, Plasma, XFCE, LXDE which I've already tried)
Click to expand...

I am not aware about any other DE available on FreeBSD, however if you are just curious to test out another DE you may try ElementaryOS on a Virtual Machine.
 
Trihexagonal said:
You could not be more mistaken.
Click to expand...

Sorry dude, it looks that you are the only one having an interest on pushing FreeBSD in the desktop space. For the majorities that participated in this discussion is not relevant, and as a matter a fact there is anything in the installer to get even the most basic audio/video setup.

If anyone thought that I was asking about introducing/changing/modifying anything got the wrong interpretation, I was only curious to know which is the general idea here, and I think I got it.
 
mer said:
I'm guessing the OP has a better understanding now of the stance a lot of us have against a DE/WM installed by default on an install, but that information on how to easily install a graphical user environment should be made easily available.

I think the information is there, is easily available.
Click to expand...

I think there is not a real interest to have a broader adoptions, probably when things in the past were laid out easier or more close to Linux a lot of casual users or distro hoppers got here wasting the time of a lot of people and complaining why things do not work as Linux (probably Ubuntu):

As of today, FreeBSD Forums staff will actively close down (and eventually remove) topics that serve no other purpose than to complain that "FreeBSD is not (like) Linux" (or Windows, or MacOS, or any other operating system), or that "FreeBSD does not use systemd", or that "FreeBSD has no default GUI", or that "FreeBSD does not encrypt gremlins", etc. This also includes topics that devolve into that kind of debate.
Click to expand...

I am personally fine with the default installer, I haven't used the desktop-installer package but I'll give it a shot in a VM to see what benefit could add to a newer installation.

I haven't finished to setup my computer: bluetooth and scanner are still waiting, the audio mixer works because I copied a tweak that I didn't understood; these stuff on Linux generally work 99% of the time out of box, here is different but it is also educative, my issue is the lack of spare time that doesn't allow me to have more time to dedicate to learn well FreeBSD.

But I am fine with this situation, already 98% of my personal daily computing is done on FreeBSD!
 
tgl said:
Sorry dude, it looks that you are the only one having an interest on pushing FreeBSD in the desktop space.
Click to expand...

Not quite. I would like to see more competition on the desktop. OpenBSD is a pretty good desktop experience and it would be relatively easy to let FreeBSD have a similar configuration without giving up its server strength.

Then again, there are GhostBSD and MidnightBSD for that.
 
tgl said:
Sorry dude, it looks that you are the only one having an interest on pushing FreeBSD in the desktop space. For the majorities that participated in this discussion is not relevant, and as a matter a fact there is anything in the installer to get even the most basic audio/video setup.

If anyone thought that I was asking about introducing/changing/modifying anything got the wrong interpretation, I was only curious to know which is the general idea here, and I think I got it.
Click to expand...
I have plenty big interest in "pushing FreeBSD in the desktop space" as I'm sure plenty of other users quite obviously do, too.

I do however push back against having a "default DM" or "default WM" as part of FreeBSD, as you've suggested.

You're conflating these two issues. This thread started as a poll on "Which is your current DE or WM?" but somehow derailed itself into being a referendum about whether or not a default GUI front end should be part of the base. Not the same question and now we're going even further off topic.
 
Geezer said:
Xfce is creeping ahead in the vote, closely followed by kde. Gnome not getting a look in.

In the handbook section 5.7 on DEs Gnome is listed first, then kde then xfce. Maybe that should be updated to reflect usage (and usability).
Click to expand...
At the moment even Mate is ahead of Gnome. That's my horse(!) however, I have to admit, our statistical sample size is a bit too low to draw any definitive conclusions from it.
 
On my Linux Manjaro box i have Cinnamon (LightDM) as my daily driver.
Considering Cinnamon is upstream at version 5.2.7, and on Freshports at 4.8.6 (being at 2.4 (!!) some 18 months ago), i'll probably do a testrun in the next few months
 
Cthulhux said:
Then again, there are GhostBSD and MidnightBSD for that.
Click to expand...
Please, forget about MidnightBSD, it's a fork (not a FreeBSD custom setup) and it's just a one-man hobby project which is nowhere as usable as the original FreeBSD.

Cthulhux said:
OpenBSD is a pretty good desktop experience
Click to expand...
Initial setup required to get a basic desktop is somewhat more straightforward on OpenBSD, but other than that I always found it unattractive for desktop use: slower, much less software ported, no journaled filesystem, less flexible, more power-hungry on laptops, etc.
 
tgl said:
I haven't finished to setup my computer: bluetooth and scanner are still waiting, the audio mixer works because I copied a tweak that I didn't understood; these stuff on Linux generally work 99% of the time out of box, here is different but it is also educative, my issue is the lack of spare time that doesn't allow me to have more time to dedicate to learn well FreeBSD.
Click to expand...
And here we go. It looks like you read the forum policy but didn't understand it. The majority of us here really don't care how Linux works or doesn't. Use Linux if you want to, but stop telling us about it, that's off topic here. Plenty of Linux forums out there.
 
Vull said:
I have plenty big interest in "pushing FreeBSD in the desktop space" as I'm sure plenty of other users quite obviously do, too.

I do however push back against having a "default DM" or "default WM" as part of FreeBSD, as you've suggested.

You're conflating these two issues. This thread started as a poll on "Which is your current DE or WM?" but somehow derailed itself into being a referendum about whether or not a default GUI front end should be part of the base. Not the same question and now we're going even further off topic.
Click to expand...

That things can happen where in a off-topic space, I already got my answers.

I reiterate the fact that I am not asking or pushing for any changes in the default FreeBSD installer.
 
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