Got my desktop up and running. Vim, KeepassXC, and Firefox all working with the classic (if basic) Chicago95 theme!
With XFCE 4.20 though, I do have wayland installed and could mess around with different shells and window managers if I wanted to.
At least for now for basic computer usage this is acceptable. I usually use stock GNOME on Linux tbh.
#30DayBSDChallenge #runbsd #FreeBSD #xfce #fishshell #chicago95
I downloaded the drivers from fresh ports or pkgs.org on a computer that has internet, copy to fat32 formatted flash drive. After install I picked that I wanted to switch to a shell before rebooting.
I was able to install, get internet working, then reboot with working network and accurate time.
Base install was like 2 GB which is probably one of the smallest modern OSes I have ever used.
Steps I had to take to get my Realtek Ethernet networking working.
Kemotep 
🔰goem disk list
mount -t msdos /dev/drive /mnt # select correct drive and partition
pkg -N
cd /mnt
pkg add Realtek-
# add the following 2 lines to /boot/loader.conf
if_re_load=“YES”
if_re_name=“/boot/modules/if_re.ko
sysrc ifconfig_re0=“DHCP”
sysrc ifconfig_re0_ipv6=“inet6 accept_rtadv”
sysrc ntpd_enable=“YES”
Reboot, networking should be working now!
Beats having to boot to UEFI, type in the BIOS password, go to the temporary boot override menu and select one of the ZFS pool disks.
I checked the FreeBSD forums and got grub working with the following entry:
bsd.nrw
/etc/grub.d/40_custom
menuentry “FreeBSD” {
insmod part_gpt
insmod fat
set root=(hd0,gpt1)
chainloader /efi/freebsd/loader.efi
}
# Then update grub and reboot. It worked!
update-grub
Reboot
I now have a working GRUB 2 menu supporting triple boot on my desktop. Debian 13, Windows 11, and now FreeBSD 15.
One thing that drives me a bit batty is that GRUB is not able to see the FreeBSD EFI boot partition.
But allegedly Windows’ BCD can?!?
Am I going to have to make Windows the primary boot device just to easily access FreeBSD vs jumping through the UEFI boot menu?
+ 
= ❤️
Bouncing between Sway and Gnome and KDE and now on Xfce (on FreeBSD 15.1-RC2). Due to their modular nature (a plus in itself), I've used Xfce components in the past in window managers but never spent much time before in the actual desktop.
Solid foundation, easy to customize... It makes for a happy Thinkpad and user! When FreeBSD 15.1 RELEASE arrives this month it along with Xfce are going on the desktop as well.
First week of the #30DayBSDChallenge means the first challenge.
I have successfully installed FreeBSD 15 on my desktop. 4 500 GB SSDs I saved from the trash in a ZFS1 pool. Can’t believe a full XFCE desktop and a small handful of apps only uses like 6 GB. The fresh install was like 2 GB!
My challenge this week is to customize my desktop and apps. Thinking of being a basic bitch and going with Chicago95. I need KeepassXC, a browser, and a text editor too.
Well, it seems that my efforts to wire up an ancient webcam attached to a BeagleBone Black running #OpenBSD so that the degus can have their own gopher hole (with a gemini mirror but ... fluffy rodents need gopher holes first) and thus provide the people of the internet with fresh #degucontent will likely lead to some patches in OpenBSD's uvideo driver.
Found a bug where the Logitech QuickCam Pro 5000 only attached as an audio device. With help from folks affiliated with @bsdnl and tech@ and especially Kirill Korinsky the uvideo driver bug now seems to be fixed :)
Make your pets #runbsd, it's good for everyone!
Daniel Wayne Armstrong
/home/rqm