For about a decade now, the easiest way to get FreeBSD on your desktop is to install TrueOS (formerly called PC-BSD) - http://www.trueos.com http://www.trueos.

For about a decade now, the easiest way to get FreeBSD on your desktop is to install TrueOS (formerly called PC-BSD) - http://www.trueos.com http://www.trueos.com. TrueOS is FreeBSD, and the last time I installed it, you were given an option of simply installing a base FreeBSD system with a minimal package selection, exactly what you are looking for. TrueOS is run by iXsystems, the same folks who do FreeNAS.