Using FreeBSD as Desktop OS

OK... I’ve taken the plunge. I’ve completely removed MacOS and in the process of installing BSD. But, with the GUI, I would like to use KDE. But I see Plasma is not supported. Can anyone tell me which is a really good modern GUI good enough to complete with MacOS.
 
knightjp said:
Can anyone tell me which is a really good modern GUI good enough to complete with MacOS.
Click to expand...
Do not search something, that isn't there.
it silly to search Macos experience when using FreeBSD,
it reminds me people, who search Windows experience when they're trying to use GNU/Linux.

But you got few options to try, if you want full DE, try x11-wm/xfce4 or x11/mate,
personally I like lightweight WM-s (window managers), like x11-wm/fvwm2,
some people like x11-wm/fluxbox and x11-wm/openbox or x11-wm/awesome,
all other applications, like file manager (x11-fm/pcmanfm), archive manager (archivers/file-roller
built without "nautilus" option), editor (editors/vim), video player (multimedia/mpv) etc I install manually.
 
I would really like KDE. It’s is my preferred desktop for Linux installations. I really would like Plasma. I saw quite a few sites on getting it running, but it looks pretty hard for me.
 
I don't think anything is that comparable to MacOS in FreeBSD. There's several articles around about making Gnome3 look like MacOS, but I don't think the experience will be the same. They are, IMHO, two rather different target audiences. I haven't checked the whole thread, have you had experience with Linux desktops? If so, was there one you liked? In that case, you can get a very comparable experience with FreeBSD, though a few things, usually proprietary, may be lacking.

EDIT: (I think you posted as I typing)

Yes, judging from a quick google, plasma isn't yet available for FreeBSD. I personally prefer lighter weight window managers, mostly openbox and dwm, depending upon monitor size and number, so can't be that much help. I will say, though, that if you get used to the lighter weight window managers, that you can find them very satisfactory.
 
I have used Linux distros. I am currently using OpenSUSE as a file server.
You asked my fav distro, it’s OpenSUSE & Fedora.
I know that running or FreeBSD, but I’m looking for a desktop environment that gives a similar experience.
That is why I prefer to have KDE on my FreeBSD installation. But when I say KDE, I’m talking Plasma, not KDE 4.
Otherwise my next choice would be Gnome3.
 
Prepare yourself for lots of tinkering to get the desktop working for you in a way that you expect it to work. "Similar experience" is a wide field. You won't be able to find something truly similar in open source but if you're open to experimentation, you may find a lighter weight WM to your liking. And as was correctly pointed out, there's always GNOME3. As a Mac user myself, I didn't find it to my liking though. x11/mate and x11-wm/xfce4 worked out far better for me, even though they are different. I was quite intrigued by x11-wm/i3 for a completely different approach but never found the time to properly set it up with all the key bindings. It shows its strengths when you work inside the shell a lot but need graphical applications besides it.
 
knightjp said:
I would really like KDE. It’s is my preferred desktop for Linux installations. I really would like Plasma. I saw quite a few sites on getting it running, but it looks pretty hard for me.
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You probably have different needs than I do, but I've been running KDE on FreeBSD for 8 years now. I don't do anything special to set it up. Just install it like anything else.

Yes, plasma was a bit flaky for a while, but since upgrading to FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE I haven't had any problems.
 
OJ said:
You probably have different needs than I do, but I've been running KDE on FreeBSD for 8 years now. I don't do anything special to set it up. Just install it like anything else.

Yes, plasma was a bit flaky for a while, but since upgrading to FreeBSD 11.1-RELEASE I haven't had any problems.
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Are you running KDE4 or Plasma?
How did you get Plasma on your installation?
 
It is KDE 4.14. Its end-of-life was August 2015.
There is a small team working on KDE5 for FreeBSD. They probably will release it this year.
 
Let me just say that all this paints a pretty drab picture of FreeBSD as a desktop operating system. My VM trial did go okay-ish but I ran into dozens of small annoyances and I'm not prepared to continue further down that path. It's too much fuss for so very little return. To be honest, if I didn't dislike the Linux ecosystem so much, I would be using that, period. Windows is a non-starter. There's no serious desktop alternative to macOS for me. Literally none.
 
herrbischoff said:
Let me just say that all this paints a pretty drab picture of FreeBSD as a desktop operating system.
Click to expand...

I respect your feelings and thoughts about it. But wonder just why you and I have such different experiences with this. I've had a great experience with KDE on FreeBSD for 8 years now. I'm not a professional, nor that skilled for that matter, so perhaps that's why I'm happy and you aren't.
 
herrbischoff said:
Let me just say that all this paints a pretty drab picture of FreeBSD as a desktop operating system.
Click to expand...
Yes, sadly you are right.
No nouveau. No hibernate.
But instead Meltdown, Spectre and CoC, for at least 1/2 more year.

No wonder more and more users are considering systemdcide.
 
So far my install is going OK... I settled on MATE with Compiz Fusion.
I suppose most of the issues, if not all, can be resolved if we just install GhostBSD. But the whole point of this experiment and experience was to build from scratch like a Gentoo Linux install.
On one side, I do have a new found appreciation for MacOS. It’s not completely free. You can’t customize it completely. You can pick and choose parts of it. It looks like you’re trapped in an ecosystem, etc.
But, in building your own, you almost forget about the little things it does in the background... Don’t notice that stuff until they’re not there anymore. I plugged in USB, it didn’t mount automatically. I used to have two different wallpapers on my two screens. Don’t know how to do that on here. Seems to want just the one on both. Slim seems to stretch itself across both screens.
I will get there eventually... Maybe use a different login screen program.
The good thing is that I’m learning.
 
In terms of looks, I don’t need anything that completely looks like MacOS.
I would however like something that looks like the Desktop interface of Tony Stark’s garage in the 1st IronMan movie.
 
OJ said:
seems when you install KDE on FreeBSD it's the KDE4 version that we have. Plasma is part of that.
Click to expand...
I was KDE user from when it came out but the latest KDE 4 had on my system all the time some problems and I do not know about security updates...I switched to GNOME 3 and it works.
 
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