# installDesktop script (pkg, x, de, basic applications)



## broozar (Jan 6, 2018)

Hello everyone,

I am new to BSD, and - like I imagine many people do - struggled through my first X desktop setup. To make things faster for me when I have to set up other machines, as well as make the process a bit easier for other newcomers, I have written a little script: https://github.com/broozar/installDesktopFreeBSD

Feedback welcome. (For instance, why Cinnamon does not work.)


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## iSiek (Jan 8, 2018)

Quite good script which may help new users for sure 

I would replace entries

```
echo "y" | pkg install <package>
```
with

```
pkg install -y <package>
```
This is the same but looks more professional 

EDIT: Sorry, I have forgotten to add earlier, I would also put FreeBSD update process first, before starting desktop installation

`freebsd-update fetch install`
`pkg upgrade`

Regards,
Krzysztof


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## iSiek (Jan 9, 2018)

Yesterday, I had more time to review the code in details. It is really good for desktop installation if you do not want to repeat all the steps manually 
I will use it as a base for myself, I was too lazy to create one for me.

However, I have couple advices for you to the next code release.


as this script is intended for Desktop Environments installation, I would not ask if you wish to install *XOrg*
This step should be mandatory for each DEs because they would not work without XOrg.
Inexperienced users do not know if they need XOrg, they would like to have GNOME or KDE etc. 


VLC installation


```
INST_VLC=0
```
...
section

```
# ask INST_VLC
read -p "Install VLC media player (video & audio)? [y/N] " response
if echo "$response" | grep -iq "^y" ; then
[INDENT][INDENT]INST_VLC=1[/INDENT][/INDENT]
else
[INDENT][INDENT]INST_VLC=0[/INDENT][/INDENT]
fi
```

I would additionally check if you are not installing *KDE*.
If so, in this case you should not install VLC because KDE4 does have QT4 version multimedia/vlc-qt4 by default.
When you do this, QT4 version is uninstalled with KDE package itself. You are no longer able to logon to KDE.

Regards,
Krzysztof


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## broozar (Jan 11, 2018)

Thanks for the feedback! All points you brought up make sense and I will add/modify them shortly.


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## tankist02 (Jan 11, 2018)

How does it compare with the existing sysutils/desktop-installer?


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## broozar (Jan 11, 2018)

did not know sysutils/desktop-installer existed when I wrote this. how it compares (i just had a quick look over the files, did not actually test): sysutils seems more sophisticated, offers more options, more configuration, but might also overwhelm new users. even getting to the point where you can run the script requires knowledge most newcomers will probably not have (pkg, ports, name/location of the script). it also does not leave you with a basic system that you can use for web browsing, media consumption, and programming. my script in comparison is very simple to use and runs on a completely unconfigured machine with minimal knowledge required, and leaves you with a selection of desktop applications you might probably install yourself afterwards.

PS: new version on github, changed the script according to suggestions above, also added a simple network check and startup parameters.


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## aimeec1995 (Jun 11, 2018)

tankist02 said:


> How does it compare with the existing sysutils/desktop-installer?



I thought that got removed.


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## SirDice (Jun 13, 2018)

aimeec1995 said:


> I thought that got removed.


It's been around since 2010 and was recently updated to include KDE5. Maybe you were thinking of sysutils/desktopbsd-tools?


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## aimeec1995 (Jun 20, 2018)

SirDice said:


> It's been around since 2010 and was recently updated to include KDE5. Maybe you were thinking of sysutils/desktopbsd-tools?



That's cool. 
How is kde5 now..? we are quite behind with it but I am glad we finally have it.


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## broozar (Mar 29, 2019)

A new version for FreeBSD 12 is available, using SLiM, MATE and custom themeing. 

Forum: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/darkmate12-setting-up-a-clean-mate-desktop-with-slim.70196/
GitHub: https://github.com/broozar/installDesktopFreeBSD/tree/DarkMate12


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## badbrain (Apr 6, 2019)

Thank you for this script. I'm searching for something like Tribblix's kitchen-sink for months but with FreeBSD.



			Tribblix


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## zer0sig (Aug 7, 2020)

broozar,
This is a nice script. Saved me quite a bit of time. desktop-installer crashed right away.

I think I should note that the URL you have for the Eastern US is incorrect and that the script fails during installation if it is chosen. I haven't checked to see what the correct one is, but http://pkg.us-east.freebsd.org/ appears to be wrong or outdated, and the script fails when it can't reach those packages. The "world" setting seems to have worked fine, though. 

If I had a suggestion, on top of figuring out the right URL for US East (not sure if west is correct), is maybe write a construct where if a selection fails, either allow the user to select a different package location or go back to the default which appears to be just pkg.freebsd.org and worked just fine.

Thanks again, I have done FreeBSD installs of various kinds since the late 90s and this is a real time-saver.


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## Alain De Vos (Aug 7, 2020)

I use xfce4 ...


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## zer0sig (Aug 11, 2020)

I mght end up going with xfce myself, as I've had good results on many machines with it.

I got the script in this thread to run and install things, but still don't have Xorg running yet. Don't have quite as much fiddle time as I did, but I hope to work it out fairly soon.


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## teo (Aug 14, 2020)

zer0sig said:


> I mght end up going with xfce myself, as I've had good results on many machines with it.
> 
> I got the script in this thread to run and install things, but still don't have Xorg running yet. Don't have quite as much fiddle time as I did, but I hope to work it out fairly soon.


And may I know what your script link is as indicated by the author of this open thread?  We hope that you keep your scripts updated and current, as the desktop-installer automatically generates bugs in the terminal at startup and in your active activity.


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## broozar (Aug 23, 2020)

Hi everyone, just to clarify: I no longer maintain the version of the script that offers a choice of desktop environments. The idea of making (and esp. testing) a single script that accounts for every desktop environment and every eventuality was too time consuming for me. Instead, I developed it into DarkMate (links above). The original version is still available on GitHub, feel free to fork it and customize it to your needs. XFCE is a fine choice too, I just don't have enough time to make another version of the script and test it - again, feel free to fork.

PS: will look into the new PKG download server URLs.


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## kpedersen (Aug 23, 2020)

I don't know if anyone would be interested but I have a few scripts from our internal remote desktop software shown in this post: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/freebsd-screen-shots.8877/page-61#post-465663

I am happy to clean up and share the script (I think less than 50 lines) to install this desktop. The desktop environment itself doesn't really have a name, it is just a bunch of separate desktop programs running together with a number of tweaks (because we found individual desktop environments too broken).

It kind of functions like Gnome 2 because we ran a user study at the University and the results were overwhelmingly in favour of it. Interestingly the i3 tiling window manager came second beating Gnome 3 and KDE 5.

Edit:
I did have plans to fix pcmanfm and remove that stupid dependency on gvfs (just for a sodding recycle bin!?). So far that is my biggest annoyance with it. gvfs is a massive bloated dependency and is larger than everything else (even Xorg) put together.


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## broozar (Aug 24, 2020)

Looks interesting - I love high performance lightweight desktops. If it can be more easily customized than what I have to go through with Mate, I'd love to try it out.


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## outpaddling (Jan 29, 2021)

zer0sig said:


> broozar,
> This is a nice script. Saved me quite a bit of time. desktop-installer crashed right away.


Please report any issues with desktop-installer on github. It's been pretty stable for a while and all my efforts have been going into making it more robust.

Thanks,

   JB


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## delphinoob (Feb 11, 2021)

scripts like these cause more problems than they solve


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## wolffnx (Feb 12, 2021)

kpedersen said:


> I don't know if anyone would be interested but I have a few scripts from our internal remote desktop software shown in this post: https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/freebsd-screen-shots.8877/page-61#post-465663
> 
> I am happy to clean up and share the script (I think less than 50 lines) to install this desktop. The desktop environment itself doesn't really have a name, it is just a bunch of separate desktop programs running together with a number of tweaks (because we found individual desktop environments too broken).
> 
> ...


I have compiled a customized pcmanfm,(only change toolbar the icons order)
what you think about spacefm?
is not ported but seems to be the "next" pcmanfm


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## kpedersen (Feb 12, 2021)

wolffnx said:


> what you think about spacefm?
> is not ported but seems to be the "next" pcmanfm


Hmm, this looks very interesting. It looks like a cleaned up version of pcmanfm which is exactly what I was looking for.

If they do not have an insane requirement of gvfs just for the recycle bin (a bad decision from the PCManFM developer), then I am very interested in getting this one ported. A quick browse through the codebase, it looks good. I may not have time to create a formal FreeBSD port but I will certainly share any build scripts and patches if I do end up moving over to this.


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## wolffnx (Feb 12, 2021)

kpedersen said:


> Hmm, this looks very interesting. It looks like a cleaned up version of pcmanfm which is exactly what I was looking for.
> 
> If they do not have an insane requirement of gvfs just for the recycle bin (a bad decision from the PCManFM developer), then I am very interested in getting this one ported. A quick browse through the codebase, it looks good. I may not have time to create a formal FreeBSD port but I will certainly share any build scripts and patches if I do end up moving over to this.


Is there about long time,I remember some problem with one library that not exists in FreeBSD and cannot be ported,something about the notification filesystem library that only belong to Linux


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## kpedersen (Feb 12, 2021)

I see some udev, hal and the dreaded gvfs stuff and I thought these were plugins that could be stripped out but on closer inspection they look quite firmly in there (this codebase looks like it is based on pcmanfm). If they are using an annoying Linux centric filesystem notification system then that adds to the mess.

So far the best I have seen is: http://roland65.free.fr/xfe/
Not only is it far lighter than the usual ones but it also manages to have more features oddly enough.

I still feel we need a "desktop environment jam". If developers all wrote one component (text editor, file manager, image viewer, etc), we would end up with a substantial system. I am tempted to make a post on reddit to see if we can get enough interested developers and maybe some sponsorship for prizes (all I can give away is old DOS hardware .


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## wolffnx (Feb 12, 2021)

Yes, xfe faster and clean, searching for spacefm port I found this, the conflict was udev

https://twitter.com/OrangeCMS/status/1172871622996443137


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## Crivens (Feb 12, 2021)

Can we please assemble the wishlist outside of this section?
PS: nedit, xfe, xv, vlc


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## kpedersen (Feb 12, 2021)

Crivens said:


> Can we please assemble the wishlist outside of this section?
> PS: nedit, xfe, xv, vlc


Eeek, I didn't actually spot this was in a how-to thread. I am happy for my noise to be removed (I can always make more anyway ).


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