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What are the desktop GUI environments or window managers available on OpenBSD that are comparable to those on Linux? I see a mention of running X as a user, but

by wtmt 8y ago

What are the desktop GUI environments or window managers available on OpenBSD that are comparable to those on Linux? I see a mention of running X as a user, but nothing more. What about desktop hardware support? Does it have working drivers for different WiFi chipsets, video cards, trackpad, etc. (referring only to x86 based systems)?

dijit 8y ago
>What are the desktop GUI environments or window managers available on OpenBSD that are comparable to those on Linux? I'll answer this honestly; All of the X11 based ones until SystemD and wayland came about are essentially supported or working. Gnome created a hard dependency on systemd and thus can't be used any longer on openbsd. Wayland (and thus; Sway) is not supported by OpenBSD. But i3, xmonad, KDE4, XFCE4 and cwm are all running flawlessly and I used them before on OpenBSD myself. I think even Budgie works, but I've not tried that myself. > What about desktop hardware support? Hardware support is obviously up to whatever you have. I can only share my experiences and I had a thinkpad x201. Which was obviously very well supported. However there is a caveat to that: the drivers were indeed supporting the hardware very well BUT OpenBSD does not support bluetooth in any form (citing the fact that bluetooth is a horrible standard and implementing it simply; has never been done and would be hard/impossible). WiFi was relegated to 802.11g (not 802.11n despite my hardware supporting it). Support for N was added a couple of years ago (after it had been widely adopted for more than half a decade by other OS's) I wouldn't hold my breath for AC support given that.
- brynet 8y ago
  > Gnome created a hard dependency on systemd and thus can't be used any longer on openbsd. This isn't true, OpenBSD has GNOME 3.30.2 in ports. It maintains patches to keep it working for users, who can install it with the meta package: pkg_add gnome 6.4 has 3.28.2 in packages: https://www.openbsd.org/64.html https://www.openbsd.org/64.html Antoine Jacoutot is the maintainer.
  - dijit 8y ago
    Oh, Amazing, I stand corrected. Thank you Antione!
- msla 8y ago
  > Wayland (and thus; Sway) is not supported by OpenBSD. Is this lack of support philosophical or due to prioritization?
  - dijit 8y ago
    I highly doubt it's ideological; OpenBSD does not like X11 for the obvious reasons.
- ams6110 8y ago
  Also, perhaps crucially depending what you own and whether you're willing to change it, OpenBSD does not support Nvidia cards. So if you want a desktop with GPU acceleration, you'll need to be using Intel or AMD graphics.
zolotarev 8y ago
I use cwm: https://rgz.ee/openbsd/cwm.html https://rgz.ee/openbsd/cwm.html You can install popular desktop environment from packages: http://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/6.4/packages/amd64/ http://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/6.4/packages/amd64/ For example: # pkg_add gnome Ethernet drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=ethernet&apropos=1&sec=4 https://man.openbsd.org/?query=ethernet&apropos=1&sec=4 Wireless drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=wireless&apropos=1 https://man.openbsd.org/?query=wireless&apropos=1 Video drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=video+driver&apropos=1&sec=4&arch=default&manpath=OpenBSD-current https://man.openbsd.org/?query=video+driver&apropos=1&sec=4&...

by wtmt 8y ago

dijit 8y ago

>What are the desktop GUI environments or window managers available on OpenBSD that are comparable to those on Linux? I'll answer this honestly; All of the X11 based ones until SystemD and wayland came about are essentially supported or working. Gnome created a hard dependency on systemd and thus can't be used any longer on openbsd. Wayland (and thus; Sway) is not supported by OpenBSD. But i3, xmonad, KDE4, XFCE4 and cwm are all running flawlessly and I used them before on OpenBSD myself. I think even Budgie works, but I've not tried that myself. > What about desktop hardware support? Hardware support is obviously up to whatever you have. I can only share my experiences and I had a thinkpad x201. Which was obviously very well supported. However there is a caveat to that: the drivers were indeed supporting the hardware very well BUT OpenBSD does not support bluetooth in any form (citing the fact that bluetooth is a horrible standard and implementing it simply; has never been done and would be hard/impossible). WiFi was relegated to 802.11g (not 802.11n despite my hardware supporting it). Support for N was added a couple of years ago (after it had been widely adopted for more than half a decade by other OS's) I wouldn't hold my breath for AC support given that.

brynet 8y ago
> Gnome created a hard dependency on systemd and thus can't be used any longer on openbsd. This isn't true, OpenBSD has GNOME 3.30.2 in ports. It maintains patches to keep it working for users, who can install it with the meta package: pkg_add gnome 6.4 has 3.28.2 in packages: https://www.openbsd.org/64.html https://www.openbsd.org/64.html Antoine Jacoutot is the maintainer.
- dijit 8y ago
  Oh, Amazing, I stand corrected. Thank you Antione!
msla 8y ago
> Wayland (and thus; Sway) is not supported by OpenBSD. Is this lack of support philosophical or due to prioritization?
- dijit 8y ago
  I highly doubt it's ideological; OpenBSD does not like X11 for the obvious reasons.
ams6110 8y ago
Also, perhaps crucially depending what you own and whether you're willing to change it, OpenBSD does not support Nvidia cards. So if you want a desktop with GPU acceleration, you'll need to be using Intel or AMD graphics.

zolotarev 8y ago

I use cwm: https://rgz.ee/openbsd/cwm.html https://rgz.ee/openbsd/cwm.html You can install popular desktop environment from packages: http://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/6.4/packages/amd64/ http://cdn.openbsd.org/pub/OpenBSD/6.4/packages/amd64/ For example: # pkg_add gnome Ethernet drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=ethernet&apropos=1&sec=4 https://man.openbsd.org/?query=ethernet&apropos=1&sec=4 Wireless drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=wireless&apropos=1 https://man.openbsd.org/?query=wireless&apropos=1 Video drivers: https://man.openbsd.org/?query=video+driver&apropos=1&sec=4&arch=default&manpath=OpenBSD-current https://man.openbsd.org/?query=video+driver&apropos=1&sec=4&...