10.6 LXQt

LXQt is a lightweight desktop environment based on Qt, formed by the merger of the LXDE-Qt and Razor-qt projects (merger announced in July 2013, first version 0.7.0 released in May 2014), designed for users who value simplicity, speed, and an intuitive interface. Unlike most desktop environments, LXQt runs well even on computers with weaker performance.

Installing the LXQt Desktop Environment

• Install via pkg:

# pkg install xorg sddm lxqt gvfs wqy-fonts xdg-user-dirs

• Or install using Ports:

# cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11-wm/lxqt/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11-fonts/wqy/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11/sddm/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/filesystems/gvfs/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/devel/xdg-user-dirs/ && make install clean

Package Description

Package	Description
xorg	X Window System
sddm	Display Manager
lxqt	LXQt Desktop Environment
gvfs	GNOME Virtual File System; LXQt requires this component to open "Computer" and "Network" locations, otherwise it shows Operation not supported
wqy-fonts	WenQuanYi Chinese Fonts
xdg-user-dirs	Manages user directories such as "Desktop" and "Downloads", and handles localization of directory names

Service Management

Set the D-Bus service to start on boot:

# service dbus enable

Set the SDDM display manager to start on boot:

# service sddm enable

Mounting the proc File System

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add the following line:

proc	/proc	procfs	rw	0	0

Mount the procfs file system to /proc in read-write mode.

Starting LXQt via startx

Write the startup command to the ~/.xinitrc file to start the LXQt desktop environment:

$ echo "exec ck-launch-session startlxqt" > ~/.xinitrc

This command should be executed as the actual logged-in user.

Setting the Chinese Environment

Setting the Chinese Environment for the SDDM Display Manager

# sysrc sddm_lang="zh_CN"

FreeBSD Install LXQt

FreeBSD Install LXQt

FreeBSD Install LXQt

Setting the Chinese Environment for the LXQt Desktop Environment

After entering LXQt, click Menu → "Preferences" → "LXQt Settings" → "Locale" → "Region", and select Chinese from the dropdown menu.

FreeBSD Install LXQt

FreeBSD Install LXQt

Troubleshooting and Outstanding Issues

Desktop Icons Not Displaying

The required icon themes must be installed first. Then: Menu → "Preferences" → "LXQt Settings" → "Appearance" → "Icons Theme", select the installed icon theme, click "Apply", and log back in.

Appendix: LXDE Desktop Environment

Note

LXDE has entered maintenance mode with essentially stalled development; the main developers have moved to LXQt. The last major version of LXDE is the 0.10 series (released around 2021), with only minimal maintenance updates since then and no new feature development. New users are advised to prioritize LXQt.

LXDE is a lightweight desktop environment focused on resource efficiency and a simple interactive experience, performing well on low-specification hardware platforms. However, with the migration to LXQt, LXDE receives increasingly less maintenance.

Installing the LXDE Desktop Environment

• Install using pkg:

# pkg install lxde-meta xorg lightdm lightdm-gtk-greeter wqy-fonts xdg-user-dirs

• Or install using Ports:

# cd /usr/ports/x11/lxde-meta/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11/xorg/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11/lightdm/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11/lightdm-gtk-greeter/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/x11-fonts/wqy/ && make install clean
# cd /usr/ports/devel/xdg-user-dirs/ && make install clean

Package Description

Package	Description
xorg	X Window System
lxde-meta	Meta package for the LXDE desktop environment
lightdm	Lightweight Display Manager LightDM
lightdm-gtk-greeter	LightDM GTK+ login screen plugin; LightDM requires at least one greeter to function properly
wqy-fonts	WenQuanYi Chinese Fonts
xdg-user-dirs	Manages user directories such as "Desktop", "Downloads", etc.

startx

Edit the ~/.xinitrc file and add the following content to start the LXDE desktop environment using the startx command:

exec startlxde

Startup Items

Set the D-Bus service to start on boot:

# service dbus enable

Set the LightDM display manager to start on boot:

# service lightdm enable

Mounting the proc File System

Edit the /etc/fstab file and add the following line:

proc           /proc       procfs  rw  0   0

Chinese Configuration

Add the following to the /etc/rc.conf file:

lightdm_env="LC_MESSAGES=zh_CN.UTF-8"

Set the LightDM environment variable to specify the system message language as Chinese.

You also need to edit the /etc/login.conf file, find the default:\ section, and change :lang=C.UTF-8 to :lang=zh_CN.UTF-8. Finally, rebuild the capability database based on the /etc/login.conf file:

# cap_mkdb /etc/login.conf

Desktop Gallery

FreeBSD Install LXDE

FreeBSD Install LXDE

FreeBSD Install LXDE

References

• FreeBSD Project. Install & Configure a Desktop Environment: LXDE[EB/OL]. [2026-03-25]. https://wiki.freebsd.org/LXDE. LXDE desktop environment installation and configuration guide.