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Old 8th May 2008
seadog109 seadog109 is offline
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Default [Help] Making the desktop in [BSD 7.0]

I currently asked at freebsdforums
Quote:
I downloaded all 3 CDs from

ftp://ftp.freebsd.org/pub/FreeBSD/re...SO-IMAGES/7.0/

Being it the official? site i figured these disks would be legit.
So i spend a couple hours finally installing FreeBSD and all of the packages that it comes with. and the GUI is a really only Apple Macintosh ****in User Interface. I have 2 login consols and a lame ass analog clock.
everything is light grey and green. there is NO GUI what so ever. no menu nothing just 3 boxes and an analog clock.

Please tell me that there is something im not installing correctly. or a package or something i missed. because the third time i did it it actually included a **** load of packages. and not a single thing changed.
I got this reply
Quote:
Freebsd by default does not install a "desktop", in actuality
typically a "window manager" running on top of "X". Both
of the latter are usually configured by user preference, and
being highly customizable, IMHO people spend so much time
on customization, that there is no time nor reason (unless
asked ) to do it for others, who might not want the same.
..............
Nevertheless, simple guides for configuration exist manyfold
on the web. Peruse maybe freebsdwiki.net or the other
similar sites... and the archives of the freebsd-questions
mailing lists for *specific* questions you may have.
...............
other distros have desktops (for instance this afternoon I booted
up a Freesbie machine (running XFCE (i think) on freebsd 5.3) )
so my question is, how do i go about making the desktop. and will it be long and hard? point me to a tutorial or some possible books.
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Old 8th May 2008
corey_james corey_james is offline
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refer to the freebsd handbook

http://www.freebsd.org/doc/en/books/...ok/x11-wm.html
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Old 8th May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by seadog109 View Post
...so my question is, how do i go about making the desktop.
An already-rolled, true freeBSD desktop distro ... http://www.pcbsd.org/, and a good one at that.

/S
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Old 8th May 2008
cajunman4life cajunman4life is offline
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I would look at either PC-BSD or DesktopBSD (personally I prefer DesktopBSD as it stays closer to FreeBSD, but that's just a personal opinion and speculative). It sounds like they are better suited for your needs.
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Old 8th May 2008
DrJ DrJ is offline
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Sound like you have the xorg window manager running. It is not much to look at. So what exactly did you install? I really doubt that you installed everything on the CDs.

What most people do is choose a window manager/desktop environment, such as Gnome, KDE, XCFE or Fluxbox. Once you do a minimal configuration of those, you get a much more complete, and pleasing, result for a desktop.
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Old 8th May 2008
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As Dr. J says, you didn't choose a window manager. (You said, please tell you you missed something).
Depending upon what you've installed, you might have some of the other window managers available, and might not. I would guess from your posts that you would like something like KDE or Gnome.

It's not uncommon for someone to do that. That question has popped up on various mailing lists and forums many times, so you're not alone.

I tend to go with the other Scott and say you might be happier starting with Dekstop or PC BSD, as they both have a nicely preconfigured desktop. You can play with either one, start to get a feel for the O/S and see if you start liking it enough to go further.

That's not an effort to discourage you, just saying it might be the best course.

A bit of advice from an old guy---I know it gets frustrating, but I noticed on bsdforums you gave it a subject like world's worst desktop or something like that. It's fun to vent sometimes, but when folks don't know you, and you start off by venting about how bad it is, it makes folks less inclined to help.
After folks know you and such, then it's fine to vent--most of us have emailed friends at one point or another with something like, "Did I ever mention that I HATE computers?"

That's just a suggestion--conversely, many of us do remember when we were newcomers and how frustrating it can be.
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Old 8th May 2008
corey_james corey_james is offline
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come on scottro, paste a link or something ....

oh .. then read this http://daemonforums.org/showpost.php?p=953&postcount=4
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Old 8th May 2008
seadog109 seadog109 is offline
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can you install Fluxbox on DesktopBSD?
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Old 8th May 2008
corey_james corey_james is offline
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course you can!
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Old 8th May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by corey_james View Post
come on scottro, paste a link or something ....

oh .. then read this http://daemonforums.org/showpost.php?p=953&postcount=4
I think scottro's title should be changed from "new user" to Tolstoy...
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Old 8th May 2008
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I agree, if (quick and easy is important) PC-BSD or DesktopBSD would be the best place to start. I enjoy PC-BSD because I can save time on downloading several things I need (kde, qt, various langs).

I've never sued DesktopBSD, PC-BSDs 1.0RC1 was based on FreeBSD 6.0-Release while DesktopBSDs release was based on 5.x, and I already had CDs for FreeBSD 6.0-Release which shows my reasoning :-). But I'm sure modern DesktopBSD is a great system.



FreeBSD is fully capable as a desktop, but unlike Windows or Mac OSX it is a desktop of your own creation.


When I set up a FreeBSD Desktop (with X), I install FreeBSD plus X.Org plus source code (where possible). Get the system prepped and configured so I can get it on the network (I don't use more pkgs from CD2+ then I have to).


I've always got a list of software prepared before installation of what needs to be set up. Window Maker, MPlayer, Vim, and so on -- so all I need to do is spend time installing the necessary items, then configuring them once the system is up. Not trying to figure out what the heck I'm doing.


In my opinion planning ahead beats making like a blonde without a clue ;-)
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Old 8th May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryP View Post
FreeBSD is fully capable as a desktop, but unlike Windows or Mac OSX it is a desktop of your own creation.
...well put.
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Old 8th May 2008
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I was going to argue about my posts with Corey_James--then I saw the other Scott's sig, and decided against it. <OK, scottro FTW>
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Old 9th May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottro View Post
I was going to argue about my posts with Corey_James--then I saw the other Scott's sig, and decided against it. <OK, scottro FTW>
This is what I do with my installs (gnome2-lite, I do more but getting to a workable desktop is the first step if you're new to FreeBSD).

1. portsnap fetch
2. portsnap extract (after this, you only need to use portsnap fetch;portsnap update to update the ports tree.)
3. Xorg -configure
4. Xorg -config /root/xorg.conf.new (IIRC that's the line to launch Xorg with the auto detected settings.
5. cp /root/xorg.conf.new /etc/X11/xorg.conf
6. cd /usr/ports/x11/gnome2-lite;make install clean (this will "break" a few times, press scroll lock and use arrow keys to move back into the build then make deinstall clean;make install clean to update the "broken" port)
7. cd /usr/ports/x11/gdm;make install clean
8. add gnome_enable to your /etc/rc.conf file.
9. restart and enjoy .
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Old 9th May 2008
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That's basically right, but I use "script" to record the session. You can then go back to see the entire history of what went right and wrong. I also usually update the kernel and world before I start all this nonsense. Of course, I recycle a very custom xorg.conf that is probably four years old, and so can skip a few steps. There are a few other things that are personal preference that I won't get into here.
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Old 9th May 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryP View Post
FreeBSD is fully capable as a desktop, but unlike Windows or Mac OSX it is a desktop of your own creation.
True, very true
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