Knowledge Base

It is possible to use Gnome in PC-BSD, but there are considerations to take into account:

• PC-BSD is a KDE desktop, all PC-BSD tools are developed using the same libraries as KDE's. Using Gnome means using a different set of libraries aside from KDE's, which means a significant use of RAM, and reduction in speed, visible with low-end computers.
• KDE is highly patched and customized to integrate all applications (ie: launching the PBI Installer when you double-click a .pbi file, etc...). Gnome needs to be patched manually to integrate better with the rest of the system.
• KDE and Gnome applications have a different look and feel. While it is possible to have Gtk applications to look like Qt applications, using Gtk-Qt-Engine, the opposite isn't quite true. In other words, having Gtk applications such as Firefox/Thunderbird under KDE isn't weird, because they integrate well, but we can't reach the level of visual integrating having Opera or Skype under Gnome.

PC-BSD is focusing on the KDE desktop, and has currently no plan to offer variants of its system with Gnome, XFCE or Enlightenment, due to development priorities and for the sake of consistency.

However, it is still possible to install Gnome using the pkg_add tool (recommended) or from the ports. For more information, please check out the FreeBSD handbook.