# Beginner Questions (X/Desktop)



## hadem (Jan 13, 2012)

To start with, sorry for the complete noobie questions. I have been using Ubuntu for a while now and for the most part, been pretty happy with it. I upgraded recently and was switched to Unity. To keep it short, I hate Unity. I switched to XFCE. I am much happier with that but I have come across some of the screenshots in this forum and am really interested in learning more about FreeBSD.

I downloaded and installed FreeBSD as a virtual machine using VirtualBox on my MacBook Pro. I would really like to try and setup a system like Daisuke Aramaki has in the link above. So, I have a few questions.


Do I need to use something like Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc. or can I use Xmonad?
Do I need to install Xorg? I was reading through the handbook last night and tried to install it but it took hours to build and eventually stopped with an error. I feel like I did something wrong.
How do I get to a desktop environment? I just have the command line. I think this is related to my second question. By default, a desktop environment isn't installed? I remember installing X years ago on a different machine.

If someone could walk a new guy through FreeBSD so I could enjoy it just as much, that would be greatly appreciated!


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## DutchDaemon (Jan 13, 2012)

The Handbook is really the place to start, e.g. Installing X11, which tells you can use either ports or packages.


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## SirDice (Jan 13, 2012)

hadem said:
			
		

> Do I need to use something like Gnome, KDE, XFCE, etc. or can I use Xmonad?


You don't _need_ to use anything. You can choose to run whatever you like.



> Do I need to install Xorg? I was reading through the handbook last night and tried to install it but it took hours to build and eventually stopped with an error. I feel like I did something wrong.


If you want a GUI then yes, you'll need Xorg.



> How do I get to a desktop environment? I just have the command line. I think this is related to my second question. By default, a desktop environment isn't installed? I remember installing X years ago on a different machine.


There's nothing installed by default. Just read the, already mentioned, handbook.


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## hadrons123 (Jan 13, 2012)

Maybe he is looking for something like this.


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## hadem (Jan 14, 2012)

Can someone give me an idea of how long the install should take? I have tried to start the install with [cmd=]pkg_add -r xorg[/cmd] a couple times now but it seems to freeze or stall after a couple of minutes.


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## hadrons123 (Jan 14, 2012)

hadem said:
			
		

> Can someone give me an idea of how long the install should take? I have tried to start the install with [cmd=]pkg_add -r xorg"[/cmd] a couple times now but it seems to freeze or stall after a couple of minutes.



It normally doesn't take very long, but that depends on what installation source (broadband speed) you are using and your hardware specifications.

What do you mean by freeze?
Do you not get any output at all?
Are you able to switch to other terminals?


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## pkubaj (Jan 14, 2012)

If you completely don't care about the OS you use and just want to have the setup Daisuke has, then you can as well use Ubuntu for that. I think it would be much easier for you.


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