Browse - Computer Tips - How can I get a nice graphical desktop environment for FreeBSD 10?

Date: 2014may23
OS: FreeBSD 10

Q.  How can I get a nice graphical desktop environment for FreeBSD 10?
(The docs I found out there say to use gnome2 which does seem to exist in the
packages) Including a graphical login.

A.  Gnome has been replaced with Mate.
This worked for me...

Do this as root:

pkg install mate slim xorg

 		mate = the replacement for gnome
 		slim = the login manager
 		xorg = X Windows

Its also useful to install these packages which have commonly used programs.
But I suggest installing it later since its big:

pkg install gnome2-fifth-toe firefox

 		gnome2-fifth-toe = commonly used desktop programs
 		firefox = web browser

Modify /etc/rc.conf:

dbus_enable="YES"
hald_enable="YES"
avahi_daemon_enable="YES"
avahi_dnsconfd_enable="YES"
slim_enable="YES"

Modify ~/.xinitrc for the non-root users:

exec mate-session

Add /proc to /etc/fstab:

proc /proc procfs rw 0 0

Finally, restart:

reboot

After some text you should see the slim graphical login screen.

With slim, you can enter username "halt" and the root password to shutdown cleanly.

I tried the gdm login manager but after login it displayed a wristwatch icon
for the pointer.  And I could not move windows.