Is KDE on FreeBSD a good general purpose desktop?

M

MattP

I am drawn to using FreeBSD with KDE as a desktop PC (rather than Linux). I accept therefore that answers here may be biased towards that!

Is KDE on FreeBSD a solid desktop solution?

I am a software developer so would be looking to run PostgreSQL, VirtualBox (or other for Windows specific apps), support for Python, Go, Rust. I have browsed packages online so I'm happy it has what I use.

I am not overly experienced in either BSD or Linux, dabbled in both and can navigate a console screen and vi.

Are there any reasons against FreeBSD for Desktop? I guess the real question is, is KDE on FreeBSD as stable as on any other OS? Are there any compromises due to FreeBSD not specifically targeted towards Desktop?

Thanks.
 
I believe that KDE is in a better state than Gnome 3. Typically things that are a bit broken or missing are in the administrative tools (i.e adding / removing users or network configuration via GUI).

We have a number of KDE fans on these forums, they might be able to share their experiences.

Are there any compromises due to FreeBSD not specifically targeted towards Desktop?
Click to expand...
To be fair, many Linux distributions aren't specifically targeted towards desktop use either. You will find your experience similar to the ones that provide a CLI out of the box (Arch, Gentoo, Alpine, etc). You also have a fairly vanilla experience (no ubuntu-style customizations, desktops, themes and things).
 
Kde works but is much too heavy, self indulgent and difficult to configure (in my opinion).

I find xfce4 does everything and is much easier to use. Second choice would be mate.
 
I'm a HUGE fan of KDE on FreeBSD. I can say that FreeBSD is a perfectly solid base, and KDE runs quite happily on top of FreeBSD. However, I'd say it's a bit misguided to look at that as 'FreeBSD being targeted to running a desktop'. It would be more accurate to look at it as 'Desktop environments targeted to run on top of FreeBSD'. There is a big difference between the two ideas, and it's not just the phrasing.

KDE is a huge and complex project that runs really well when installed on a FreeBSD base. Having said that, one minor paper-cut (not a deal-breaker for me) is that kdesu doesn't work that well on FreeBSD. My personal workaround for that is to use Konsole for admin tasks.

FreeBSD can run anything that Linux can. For me, the reason to switch went beyond that - I like how FreeBSD organizes the software - just the fundamental design is different, and consistent. For example, the init system and rc scripts - that hasn't changed in an awfully long time, while Linux frustrated me to no end with variety in places where I'd expect consistency. I can go on and on. And the ports system - FreeBSD was there first, and Gentoo's Portage was inspired by that.
 
MattP said:
I accept therefore that answers here may be biased towards that!
Click to expand...
I've never seen a man without bias, and that's a good thing IMHO.

MattP said:
Is KDE on FreeBSD a solid desktop solution?
Click to expand...
I hate KDE, but it is the best DE. Everything works fine. A lot of FreeBSD users are using KDE. It's stable enough here and upstream.
If I want to present FreeBSD to someone, for the first time, I'll use KDE as my presentation. I won't use my favourite WM, i.e. DWM.

MattP said:
I am a software developer so would be looking to run PostgreSQL, VirtualBox (or other for Windows specific apps), support for Python, Go, Rust. I have browsed packages online so I'm happy it has what I use.
Click to expand...
You can find all those packages in nearly all OSes, but the key point is VMM. If using VMM is essential -- vbox in your case, I'll say either use FreeBSD or Windows.

MattP said:
Are there any reasons against FreeBSD for Desktop? I guess the real question is, is KDE on FreeBSD as stable as on any other OS? Are there any compromises due to FreeBSD not specifically targeted towards Desktop?
Click to expand...
There are two:
I. Look at your dmesg. If the kernel is unable to recognise a device, then you have four options:

1. Wait till someone write a driver.
2. Write a driver.
3. Buy new device.
4. Use another OS.

II. You need a very specific and essential program which doesn't run on FreeBSD, e.g. Adobe Audition.
Then you have no choice but to use another OS.
 
I've installed KDE on FreeBSD twice using the handbook, and it worked flawlessly. I'm talking from trey icon functions, to storage automounting in dolphin, to compositing, etc. IMO, it's the most stable and complete desktop available for FreeBSD. Albeit some basic I/O functions (ie. .ac Wifi, bluetooth, thunderbolt, usb3/4, etc) aren't fully working OOTB, but for the most part a mere mortal can get acquainted with it. Take a look at the screenshot I provided for an example. Unfortunately due to lacking hardware/software support for production work; I switched back to macOS. It's too graphically bloated for me too IMO.

The KDE stack seems to maintain a stable ABI/API as well; which fits well with the base system.
 
I'm using KDE Plasma on my workstation for around 2 years now and can confirm it's super stable. Never had any problems with it.
There is also the old thinking from the past that KDE is to heavy. This is not true anymore. I do have very standard hardware.
Core I5 4 core 8GB and a PCI SSD. It response quick and is fast. Hardware approx 6 years old.
As to the handbook. I would replace the kde package named there with plasma5-plasma as this one comes without any bloat.
Go for it and try.
 
I know the OP is specifically asking about KDE, but I'll echo what a few others have said:
FreeBSD in general, makes a good platform for developing software. If your tools of choice are make and vi, you can do just fine on the console. If you like more integrated tools, emacs works very nicely and there are other IDE tools that folks use just fine.
VirtualBox works just fine, other tools are available to create and run VMs.
The languages you've mentioned are available as native packages so you should be good there.

As noted, the "biggest" potential issue is the graphics, but FreeBSD-13.x works just fine for me on a variety of hardware. Most issues seem to crop up if you are trying to run very latest hardware.
 
Abraham79 said:
… what is an alternate to Gnome desktop in FreeBSD? …
Click to expand...

Please see above and below.

MattP said:
Is KDE on FreeBSD a good general purpose desktop?
Click to expand...

Yes.

Are there any reasons against FreeBSD for Desktop?
Click to expand...

In my experience, in no particular order:
  1. the latest RELEASE of FreeBSD can not boot a range of hardware
  2. sleep, or wake from sleep, might not work, depending on hardware
  3. no user-friendly GUI for Bluetooth
  4. attempting to work with audio can be unexpectedly frustrating, this is particularly true for USB.

… is KDE on FreeBSD as stable as on any other OS?
Click to expand...

As stable: yes.

As well-integrated: no.

Are there any compromises due to FreeBSD not specifically targeted towards Desktop?
Click to expand...

Yes and no. Things do improve.

forums.freebsd.org

Technology Roadmap

https://freebsdfoundation.org/blog/technology-roadmap/ Enjoy.
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org

forums.freebsd.org

Solved - FreeBSD 14.0 planning

… Do you have an idea when version 14.0 will be available? 14.0-RELEASE some time in 2023, I guess. https://github.com/bsdjhb/devsummit/blob/main/14.0/planning.md June 2021 FreeBSD Developer Summit: 14 0 Planning - YouTube
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org


I see your posts and topics:

<https://forums.freebsd.org/posts/543910>

I'm a UK based software engineer. …
Click to expand...

<https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/83070/post-543497>

<https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/80991/post-543499>

forums.freebsd.org

Intel UHD Graphics 750

My new motherboard has Intel UHD Graphics 750. Using FreeBSD 13.0-RELEASE there doesn't appear to be support for it and I am just getting a generic VGA display. I installed xorg and startx fails due to Framebuffer mode. I have installed drm-kmod and set to "i915kms" but no change. I do got...
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org

MattP FreeBSD 14.0-CURRENT might be most appealing to you. If you haven't already seen it:

forums.freebsd.org

Topics about unsupported FreeBSD versions

The FreeBSD Forums cater primarily to end-users and systems administrators. As such, the Forums focus almost exclusively on FreeBSD versions that are officially supported according to the official FreeBSD website. Since resources are scarce, the FreeBSD Forums strongly suggest that anyone asking...
forums.freebsd.org forums.freebsd.org
 
mer said:
… VirtualBox works just fine, …
Click to expand...

True, although beware of FreeBSD guests crashing (kernel panic) repeatedly at startup if more than one virtual CPU is given.

astyle said:
… FreeBSD can run anything that Linux can. …
Click to expand...

Possibly, although for some applications for Linux I simply can't be bothered – it's too bloody much to think about on FreeBSD.

I choose that word carefully. FreeBSD -CURRENT is sometimes described as bleeding edge but as my everyday system (my preferred basis for KDE Plasma), it's not bloody. -CURRENT is not too much to think about.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top