Of course, there are. I don't mean to criticize their work.
The problem is that most graphical applications come from a linux-focused world, and linux is moving, fast, with dozens of time the manpower that BSD projects have.
As for the number of packages, two things: 1/ I'm talking very specifically about FreeBSD, which has imo a real problem when it comes to managing binary packages. I have little experience of OpenBSD, and, as was discussed[0] the other day, it seems to be better than FreeBSD in that domain. 2/ The raw number of packages between linux and FreeBSD isn't comparable, but you can compare a FreeBSD desktop and a FreeBSD server. And I stand by my words, speaking of experience: maintaining a typical FreeBSD server with about 100 installed packages is much easier than a typical (a bit fat, actually) desktop with 600 or 700 packages.
This is just what I get from my experience of trying, repeatedly, to build and maintain a FreeBSD desktop over quite some time. Yes, it's possible, you can more or less make things work, but it's clunky, and I don't think it's worth it, unless you already use FreeBSD everywhere.
The problem is that most graphical applications come from a linux-focused world, and linux is moving, fast, with dozens of time the manpower that BSD projects have.
As for the number of packages, two things: 1/ I'm talking very specifically about FreeBSD, which has imo a real problem when it comes to managing binary packages. I have little experience of OpenBSD, and, as was discussed[0] the other day, it seems to be better than FreeBSD in that domain. 2/ The raw number of packages between linux and FreeBSD isn't comparable, but you can compare a FreeBSD desktop and a FreeBSD server. And I stand by my words, speaking of experience: maintaining a typical FreeBSD server with about 100 installed packages is much easier than a typical (a bit fat, actually) desktop with 600 or 700 packages.
This is just what I get from my experience of trying, repeatedly, to build and maintain a FreeBSD desktop over quite some time. Yes, it's possible, you can more or less make things work, but it's clunky, and I don't think it's worth it, unless you already use FreeBSD everywhere.
[0] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4375273