The command startx will start XFree86. You will see a desktop and several XTerms. This is the default window manager, twm, managing several terminal windows.
A window manager is a program designed to handle window decorations and behavior in XFree86. The basic window manager in XFree86, twm, is sufficient to manage a number of simple windows, but there are many more choices available.
Most desktops use a program suite that includes a window manager. Some of the more common choices as ports are x11/kde3, and x11/gnome2. These are complete application sets and also contain a large quantity of desktop software. Installing one of these two is recommended if you are relatively new to XFree86 or DragonFlyBSD. Other more basic window managers are available in ports.
XFree86, when started, will read from a file named .xinitrc in your home directory, if it exists. If you wish to run something other than the default window manager, you run it using .xinitrc. exec startkde will start KDE3 if you have installed x11/kde3.
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