doc/en/xfce-config.xml

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml,v 1.17 2008/02/24 09:17:47 nightmorph Exp $ -->

<guide link="/doc/en/xfce-config.xml">
<title>The Xfce Configuration Guide</title>

<author title="Author">
  <mail link="nightmorph@gentoo.org">Joshua Saddler</mail>
</author>

<abstract>
This guide provides an extensive introduction to Xfce, a fast, lightweight,
full-featured desktop environment.
</abstract>

<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
<license/>

<version>1.14</version>
<date>2009-04-24</date>

<chapter>
<title>Introduction</title>
<section>
<title>The Xfce desktop environment</title>
<body>

<p>
<uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce</uri> is a fast, lightweight desktop
environment for Unix-like operating systems. It is designed for productivity,
and is quite configurable while still adhering to the <uri
link="http://www.freedesktop.org">Freedesktop</uri> specifications.
</p>

<p>
Unlike heavier desktop environments, such as Gnome and KDE, Xfce uses far fewer
system resources. Additionally, it offers greater modularity and fewer
dependencies; it takes up less space on your hard disk and takes less time to
install.
</p>

<p>
This guide will not only show you how to install and configure a minimal Xfce
environment, but will also explore options to create a full-featured desktop in
keeping with the Xfce philosophy: light, fast, and modular.
</p>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>

<chapter>
<title>Installing Xfce</title>
<section>
<title>The basics</title>
<body>

<p>
First, make sure you've setup Xorg as shown in the <uri
link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">X Server Configuration Howto</uri>.
</p>

<p>
Next, double-check your USE flags in <path>/etc/make.conf</path>; you'll
probably at least want <c>USE="-gnome -kde -qt3 -qt4 X dbus hal startup-notification xscreensaver"</c>.
</p>

<p>
Now, let's install Xfce.
</p>

<pre caption="Installing Xfce">
# <i>emerge -avt xfce4</i>
</pre>

<p>
Next, add your regular user(s) to the <c>plugdev</c>, <c>cdrom</c>, <c>cdrw</c>,
and <c>usb</c> groups, so that they can take full advantage of <c>hal</c> and be
able to mount and use devices such as cameras, optical drives, and USB sticks.
</p>

<pre caption="Adding users to the hardware groups">
<comment>(Replace username with your actual user)</comment>
# <i>for x in plugdev cdrom cdrw usb ; do gpasswd -a username $x ; done</i>
</pre>

<p>
Next, update your environment variables:
</p>

<pre caption="Updating environment variables">
# <i>env-update &amp;&amp; source /etc/profile</i>
</pre>

<p>
Now start up <c>hald</c> and add it to the default runlevel:
</p>

<pre caption="Starting hald">
# <i>/etc/init.d/hald start</i>
# <i>rc-update add hald default</i>
</pre>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>

<chapter>
<title>Configuring Xfce</title>
<section>
<title>Starting Xfce</title>
<body>

<p>
Now that Xfce is now installed, we'll configure it to be the default desktop
environment when we issue the <c>startx</c> command. Exit your root shell and
log on as a regular user.
</p>

<pre caption="Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment">
$ <i>echo "exec startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc</i>
</pre>

<p>
Now start your graphical environment by typing <c>startx</c>:
</p>

<pre caption="Starting Xfce">
$ <i>startx</i>
</pre>

<p>
Congratulations, and welcome to your new Xfce desktop environment. Go ahead,
explore it a bit. Then continue reading to learn how you can configure Xfce to
suit your needs.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Program access</title>
<body>

<p>
You might notice right-clicking on the desktop shows you the menu of all your
applications. It's useful, but your desktop can easily be completely obscured by
open windows, making it hard to to launch a new program. So, one of the first
things you may wish to do is give yourself a handy application menu on your
panel. Right click on this panel, and choose "Add New Item". Scroll through the
list of choices and select "Xfce Menu". You can choose where you want it to be
displayed on your panel. When clicked, it displays the application/preferences
menu, providing a nicely categorized list of your installed programs.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Sessions &amp; startup</title>
<body>

<p>
If you've installed (or plan to install) popular Gnome or KDE applications such
as <c>k3b</c>, <c>nautilus</c>, <c>kmail</c>, <c>evolution</c>, etc. then you
should make sure that Xfce launches the appropriate services for these at
startup. Navigate to Menu --> Settings --> Sessions &amp; Startup. On the
"Advanced" tab, select the appropriate checkbox. This might slightly increase
Xfce startup times, but it decreases load times for KDE and Gnome applications.
</p>

<p>
Xfce has the ability to save your session settings and running programs from the
"General" tab in the Sessions &amp; Startup menu. They can be automatically
saved when you logout, or Xfce can ask you each time. This feature is
particularly useful for undoing configuration mistakes. Accidentally killed a
panel? Just select "No" when prompted to save your current session, and the next
time you start Xfce, your old desktop is restored. Want to automatically launch
your open webbrowser, terminal, and email client the next time you login? Just
save your session before logging out.
</p>

<p>
You've now got a basic working environment installed and configured. But if
you're interested in doing more, then continue reading!
</p>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>

<chapter>
<title>Additional Applications</title>
<section>
<title>Panel plugins</title>
<body>

<p>
In this chapter, we'll discuss some useful plugins and applications for everyday
use within Xfce.
</p>

<p>
There are many plugins for the panel available in Portage; see for yourself with
<c>emerge --search xfce</c>. Though for the most part their names are self
explanatory, a few deserve some attention, as they are quite helpful. To use
them, simply <c>emerge</c> them. They'll be added to the list of available items
in the "Add New Item" menu shown when you right-click on the panel.
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    <c>xfce4-mount</c> gives you a handy method of mounting devices listed in
    <path>/etc/fstab</path> just by clicking your mouse
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>xfce4-battery</c> is perfect for laptop users. It displays battery
    percentage, time remaining, power source (AC or battery), fan status,
    warnings, and can even be configured to execute commands at certain power
    levels. This feature can be used to put the laptop into hibernate mode when
    the battery is almost exhausted.
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>xfce4-verve</c> is a small command line embedded into the panel. It's
    quicker than opening up another terminal when you want to run a command.
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>xfce4-mixer</c> is a volume control. It works with both ALSA and OSS
    sound applications.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
If you can't find what you're looking for in the plugins specifically made for
Xfce, try searching through the list of Gnome panel applets! That's right, by
first emerging <c>xfce4-xfapplet</c>, you can install and run any applet made
for Gnome.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Useful programs</title>
<body>

<p>
Xfce bundles a few useful applications, including <c>thunar</c>,
<c>terminal</c>, <c>orage</c>, and <c>mousepad</c>. Note that the last three
will not be installed if you built <c>xfce4</c> with the <c>minimal</c> USE
flag. However, these are all very small, yet terrific applications, so they're
well worth installing.
</p>

<p>
<c>orage</c> is a simple, handy calendar. <c>mousepad</c> is a barebones text
editor that starts up extremely quickly. <c>terminal</c> is far more
configurable and useful than xterm, and supports Unicode text,
pseudo-transparency and accelerated transparency via Xfce's built-in
compositor, all out-of-the-box. Just make sure that the default action on the
terminal launcher of your panel runs <path>/usr/bin/Terminal</path> instead of
xterm. Right click the launcher and choose "Properties" to change the command.
</p>

<p>
<c>thunar</c> is Xfce's built-in graphical file manager. It's fast yet quite
powerful, can support a few plugins for even more functionality; just install
them with <c>emerge</c>. Let's take a look:
</p>

<ul>
  <li>
    <c>thunar-archive</c> lets you create and extract archive files using the
    right-click menu. It works even better when paired with the new graphical
    archiving <uri
    link="http://www.foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-archive-plugin/">tool</uri>
    developed for Xfce, <c>xarchiver</c>.
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>thunar-media-tags</c> lets you intelligently rename multiple media files
    at once, and lets you <uri
    link="http://thunar.xfce.org/pwiki/projects/thunar-media-tags-plugin">edit</uri>
    their information tags, such as id3 tags.
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>thunar-thumbnailers</c> lets you <uri
    link="http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/thunar-plugins/thunar-thumbnailers">preview</uri>
    certain types of files from within Thunar, such as images and fonts.
  </li>
  <li>
    <c>thunar-volman</c> automatically <uri
    link="http://foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-volman/">manages</uri>
    removable media and drives.
  </li>
</ul>

<p>
Next, let's see about adding some useful but lightweight desktop applications,
in keeping with Xfce's philosophy.
</p>

<p>
Though <c>mousepad</c> is nice enough as a quick text editor, if you need a
full-featured word processor but don't want the bloat of OpenOffice, try
emerging <c>abiword</c>.  <uri link="http://www.abisource.com">AbiWord</uri> is
lighter, faster, and is completely interoperable with industry-standard document
types. It can also be further extended with <c>abiword-plugins</c>.
</p>

<p>
Need a nice email client/newsreader that isn't as demanding as
<c>mozilla-thunderbird</c> or <c>evolution</c>? Try emerging <c>claws-mail</c>.
</p>

<p>
For your internet chat needs, <c>irssi</c> is an excellent, tiny, incredibly
configurable IRC client that runs in your terminal. If you prefer a compact
all-in-one client that handles nearly all chat protocols, you may want to
<c>emerge pidgin</c>.
</p>

<p>
If you need movie and music players, look no further than <c>mplayer</c> and
<c>audacious</c>. They can play most every media format available quite nicely,
and have a wealth of additional plugins available for additional functionality.
</p>

<p>
Finally, you'll need a webbrowser. Nearly all graphical webbrowsers require more
resources than most of your other desktop applications. Still,
<c>mozilla-firefox</c> (or <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c>) is always a good choice.
Alternatively, you may find <c>opera</c> to be quite fast. However, <c>opera</c>
is not available on as many processor architectures as <c>mozilla-firefox</c>,
and it has more dependencies unless you override them with a USE flag.
</p>

<pre caption="Adding a webbrowser">
<comment>(Installing Mozilla Firefox)</comment>
# <i>emerge mozilla-firefox</i>
<comment>(Installing Opera)</comment>
# <i>echo "www-client/opera qt-static" >> /etc/portage/package.use</i>
# <i>emerge opera</i>
</pre>

<p>
Now that we've explored some good suggestions for rounding out your desktop
applications, let's see what else we can do to enhance your Xfce experience.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Graphical login</title>
<body>

<p>
Remember when we added <c>startxfce4</c> to our <path>~/.xinitrc</path>? All you
have to do to get into your desktop is type <c>startx</c> after logging in. This
is fine if you prefer a completely text-based boot and login, but let's use a
display manager that will automatically start Xfce after booting (so that you
can login graphically).
</p>

<p>
First, let's make sure Xfce loads at boot:
</p>

<pre caption="Adding xdm to the default runlevel">
# <i>rc-update add xdm default</i>
</pre>

<p>
We aren't quite finished yet. We have to pick a display manager and set the
appropriate variable. Though there are a few choices available in Portage, for
this guide, we'll stick with <uri link="http://slim.berlios.de">SLiM</uri>, the
Simple Login Manager.
</p>

<p>
<c>slim</c> is speedy and lightweight, with minimal dependencies. Perfect for
Xfce!
</p>

<pre caption="Installing SLiM">
# <i>emerge -avt slim</i>
</pre>

<p>
Then edit the DISPLAYMANAGER variable in <path>/etc/conf.d/xdm</path>:
</p>

<pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm">
DISPLAYMANAGER="slim"
</pre>

<p>
SLiM can automatically start your Xfce session if you add
<c>XSESSION="Xfce4"</c> to <path>/etc/rc.conf</path>.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Beautifying your desktop</title>
<body>

<p>
A little customization of your desktop's appearance can go a long way. Xfce has
all the options you'd expect from a modern desktop environment, font
antialiasing settings, color schemes, dozens of window decorations, themes, and
more. If these aren't enough, it's easy to install third-party themes, icon
sets, mouse cursor themes, and wallpapers.
</p>

<p>
A selection of nice Gentoo wallpapers in a variety of resolutions are hosted on
the <uri link="/main/en/graphics.xml">Gentoo website</uri>.  If you're looking
for icon sets and complete Xfce themes, <uri
link="http://www.xfce-look.org/">Xfce-Look</uri> has a huge collection. The
important thing to remember about any third-party eyecandy you download is that
it will usually first need to be unpacked and then installed to the proper
directory. Icon sets go in <path>/usr/share/icons/</path>, and themes go to
<path>/usr/share/themes/</path>; use these directories when you want all users
to be able to access themes and icon sets. Individual users can install themes
and icon sets to <path>~/.themes/</path> and <path>~/.icons/</path>.
</p>

<p>
If you installed SLiM as your display manager, there are lots of themes in the
<c>slim-themes</c> package available in Portage. Also, be sure to check the SLiM
<uri link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes01.php">themes page</uri> for more
themes. Creating your own SLiM theme is fairly easy; just read the <uri
link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes_howto.php">Themes HowTo</uri>.
</p>

<p>
Finally, Xfce has its own built-in compositor to manage window transparency.
This option can be found in Menu --> Settings --> Window Manager. For best
performance, you will need to be running a graphics card with drivers that
support hardware-accelerated rendering. Make sure you emerged <c>xfwm4</c> with
the <c>xcomposite</c> USE flag. Next, you will need to enable compositing in
<path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> by adding the following section:
</p>

<pre caption="Enabling composite in xorg.conf">
Section "Extensions"
    Option  "Composite"  "Enable"
EndSection
</pre>

<p>
This is the bare minimum configuration required for Xfce and Xorg-X11. However,
setting up hardware-accelerated rendering depends on your individual graphics
card, and is beyond the scope of this guide. Please see the other guides in the
<uri link="/doc/en/index.xml?catid=desktop">Desktop Documentation
Resources</uri> list to learn about configuring hardware-accelerated rendering
for your graphics card.
</p>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>

<chapter>
<title>Summary</title>
<section>
<body>

<p>
Congratulations on making it this far! You've installed and configured a speedy
desktop environment with a solid suite of applications for your computing
needs.
</p>

</body>
</section>
<section>
<title>Resources</title>
<body>

<p>
Need additional help on configuring and using Xfce? Need more lightweight
application suggestions? Try checking out:
</p>

<ul>
  <li><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org">The Gentoo forums</uri></li>
  <li>#xfce on irc.freenode.net</li>
  <li>
    The installed help files and other documentation provided by Xfce:
    <path>/usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/index.html</path>. Just point your browser at
    it and start reading. There are even a lot of "hidden" configuration options
    detailed in the help files.
  </li>
  <li><uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce's home page</uri></li>
</ul>

</body>
</section>
</chapter>
</guide>
1	nightmorph	1.1	<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
2			<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd">
3	nightmorph	1.18	<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml,v 1.17 2008/02/24 09:17:47 nightmorph Exp $ -->
4	nightmorph	1.1
5			<guide link="/doc/en/xfce-config.xml">
6			<title>The Xfce Configuration Guide</title>
7
8			<author title="Author">
9			<mail link="nightmorph@gentoo.org">Joshua Saddler</mail>
10			</author>
11
12			<abstract>
13			This guide provides an extensive introduction to Xfce, a fast, lightweight,
14			full-featured desktop environment.
15			</abstract>
16
17			<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license -->
18			<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 -->
19			<license/>
20
21	nightmorph	1.18	<version>1.14</version>
22			<date>2009-04-24</date>
23	nightmorph	1.1
24			<chapter>
25			<title>Introduction</title>
26			<section>
27			<title>The Xfce desktop environment</title>
28			<body>
29
30			<p>
31			<uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce</uri> is a fast, lightweight desktop
32			environment for Unix-like operating systems. It is designed for productivity,
33			and is quite configurable while still adhering to the <uri
34			link="http://www.freedesktop.org">Freedesktop</uri> specifications.
35			</p>
36
37			<p>
38			Unlike heavier desktop environments, such as Gnome and KDE, Xfce uses far fewer
39			system resources. Additionally, it offers greater modularity and fewer
40			dependencies; it takes up less space on your hard disk and takes less time to
41			install.
42			</p>
43
44			<p>
45			This guide will not only show you how to install and configure a minimal Xfce
46			environment, but will also explore options to create a full-featured desktop in
47			keeping with the Xfce philosophy: light, fast, and modular.
48			</p>
49
50			</body>
51			</section>
52			</chapter>
53
54			<chapter>
55			<title>Installing Xfce</title>
56			<section>
57			<title>The basics</title>
58			<body>
59
60			<p>
61	nightmorph	1.8	First, make sure you've setup Xorg as shown in the <uri
62			link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">X Server Configuration Howto</uri>.
63			</p>
64
65			<p>
66	nightmorph	1.12	Next, double-check your USE flags in <path>/etc/make.conf</path>; you'll
67	nightmorph	1.14	probably at least want <c>USE="-gnome -kde -qt3 -qt4 X dbus hal startup-notification xscreensaver"</c>.
68	nightmorph	1.4	</p>
69
70			<p>
71			Now, let's install Xfce.
72	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
73
74			<pre caption="Installing Xfce">
75	nightmorph	1.12	# <i>emerge -avt xfce4</i>
76	nightmorph	1.1	</pre>
77
78			<p>
79	nightmorph	1.3	Next, add your regular user(s) to the <c>plugdev</c>, <c>cdrom</c>, <c>cdrw</c>,
80			and <c>usb</c> groups, so that they can take full advantage of <c>hal</c> and be
81			able to mount and use devices such as cameras, optical drives, and USB sticks.
82	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
83
84			<pre caption="Adding users to the hardware groups">
85	nightmorph	1.3	<comment>(Replace username with your actual user)</comment>
86			# <i>for x in plugdev cdrom cdrw usb ; do gpasswd -a username $x ; done</i>
87	nightmorph	1.1	</pre>
88
89			<p>
90			Next, update your environment variables:
91			</p>
92
93			<pre caption="Updating environment variables">
94			# <i>env-update && source /etc/profile</i>
95			</pre>
96
97			<p>
98			Now start up <c>hald</c> and add it to the default runlevel:
99			</p>
100
101			<pre caption="Starting hald">
102			# <i>/etc/init.d/hald start</i>
103			# <i>rc-update add hald default</i>
104			</pre>
105
106			</body>
107			</section>
108			</chapter>
109
110			<chapter>
111			<title>Configuring Xfce</title>
112			<section>
113			<title>Starting Xfce</title>
114			<body>
115
116			<p>
117			Now that Xfce is now installed, we'll configure it to be the default desktop
118			environment when we issue the <c>startx</c> command. Exit your root shell and
119			log on as a regular user.
120			</p>
121
122			<pre caption="Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment">
123			$ <i>echo "exec startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc</i>
124			</pre>
125
126			<p>
127			Now start your graphical environment by typing <c>startx</c>:
128			</p>
129
130			<pre caption="Starting Xfce">
131			$ <i>startx</i>
132			</pre>
133
134			<p>
135			Congratulations, and welcome to your new Xfce desktop environment. Go ahead,
136			explore it a bit. Then continue reading to learn how you can configure Xfce to
137			suit your needs.
138			</p>
139
140			</body>
141			</section>
142			<section>
143			<title>Program access</title>
144			<body>
145
146			<p>
147			You might notice right-clicking on the desktop shows you the menu of all your
148			applications. It's useful, but your desktop can easily be completely obscured by
149			open windows, making it hard to to launch a new program. So, one of the first
150			things you may wish to do is give yourself a handy application menu on your
151			panel. Right click on this panel, and choose "Add New Item". Scroll through the
152			list of choices and select "Xfce Menu". You can choose where you want it to be
153			displayed on your panel. When clicked, it displays the application/preferences
154			menu, providing a nicely categorized list of your installed programs.
155			</p>
156
157			</body>
158			</section>
159			<section>
160			<title>Sessions & startup</title>
161			<body>
162
163			<p>
164			If you've installed (or plan to install) popular Gnome or KDE applications such
165			as <c>k3b</c>, <c>nautilus</c>, <c>kmail</c>, <c>evolution</c>, etc. then you
166			should make sure that Xfce launches the appropriate services for these at
167			startup. Navigate to Menu --> Settings --> Sessions & Startup. On the
168			"Advanced" tab, select the appropriate checkbox. This might slightly increase
169			Xfce startup times, but it decreases load times for KDE and Gnome applications.
170			</p>
171
172			<p>
173			Xfce has the ability to save your session settings and running programs from the
174			"General" tab in the Sessions & Startup menu. They can be automatically
175			saved when you logout, or Xfce can ask you each time. This feature is
176			particularly useful for undoing configuration mistakes. Accidentally killed a
177			panel? Just select "No" when prompted to save your current session, and the next
178			time you start Xfce, your old desktop is restored. Want to automatically launch
179			your open webbrowser, terminal, and email client the next time you login? Just
180			save your session before logging out.
181			</p>
182
183			<p>
184			You've now got a basic working environment installed and configured. But if
185			you're interested in doing more, then continue reading!
186			</p>
187
188			</body>
189			</section>
190			</chapter>
191
192			<chapter>
193			<title>Additional Applications</title>
194			<section>
195			<title>Panel plugins</title>
196			<body>
197
198			<p>
199			In this chapter, we'll discuss some useful plugins and applications for everyday
200			use within Xfce.
201			</p>
202
203			<p>
204			There are many plugins for the panel available in Portage; see for yourself with
205			<c>emerge --search xfce</c>. Though for the most part their names are self
206			explanatory, a few deserve some attention, as they are quite helpful. To use
207			them, simply <c>emerge</c> them. They'll be added to the list of available items
208	nightmorph	1.4	in the "Add New Item" menu shown when you right-click on the panel.
209	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
210
211			<ul>
212			<li>
213			<c>xfce4-mount</c> gives you a handy method of mounting devices listed in
214			<path>/etc/fstab</path> just by clicking your mouse
215			</li>
216			<li>
217			<c>xfce4-battery</c> is perfect for laptop users. It displays battery
218			percentage, time remaining, power source (AC or battery), fan status,
219			warnings, and can even be configured to execute commands at certain power
220			levels. This feature can be used to put the laptop into hibernate mode when
221			the battery is almost exhausted.
222			</li>
223			<li>
224	nightmorph	1.18	<c>xfce4-verve</c> is a small command line embedded into the panel. It's
225			quicker than opening up another terminal when you want to run a command.
226	nightmorph	1.4	</li>
227			<li>
228			<c>xfce4-mixer</c> is a volume control. It works with both ALSA and OSS
229			sound applications.
230	nightmorph	1.1	</li>
231			</ul>
232
233	nightmorph	1.4	<p>
234			If you can't find what you're looking for in the plugins specifically made for
235			Xfce, try searching through the list of Gnome panel applets! That's right, by
236			first emerging <c>xfce4-xfapplet</c>, you can install and run any applet made
237			for Gnome.
238			</p>
239
240	nightmorph	1.1	</body>
241			</section>
242			<section>
243			<title>Useful programs</title>
244			<body>
245
246			<p>
247	nightmorph	1.4	Xfce bundles a few useful applications, including <c>thunar</c>,
248			<c>terminal</c>, <c>orage</c>, and <c>mousepad</c>. Note that the last three
249			will not be installed if you built <c>xfce4</c> with the <c>minimal</c> USE
250			flag. However, these are all very small, yet terrific applications, so they're
251			well worth installing.
252	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
253
254			<p>
255	nightmorph	1.4	<c>orage</c> is a simple, handy calendar. <c>mousepad</c> is a barebones text
256			editor that starts up extremely quickly. <c>terminal</c> is far more
257			configurable and useful than xterm, and supports Unicode text,
258			pseudo-transparency and accelerated transparency via Xfce's built-in
259			compositor, all out-of-the-box. Just make sure that the default action on the
260			terminal launcher of your panel runs <path>/usr/bin/Terminal</path> instead of
261			xterm. Right click the launcher and choose "Properties" to change the command.
262	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
263
264			<p>
265	nightmorph	1.4	<c>thunar</c> is Xfce's built-in graphical file manager. It's fast yet quite
266			powerful, can support a few plugins for even more functionality; just install
267			them with <c>emerge</c>. Let's take a look:
268	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
269
270	nightmorph	1.4	<ul>
271			<li>
272			<c>thunar-archive</c> lets you create and extract archive files using the
273			right-click menu. It works even better when paired with the new graphical
274			archiving <uri
275			link="http://www.foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-archive-plugin/">tool</uri>
276			developed for Xfce, <c>xarchiver</c>.
277			</li>
278			<li>
279			<c>thunar-media-tags</c> lets you intelligently rename multiple media files
280			at once, and lets you <uri
281			link="http://thunar.xfce.org/pwiki/projects/thunar-media-tags-plugin">edit</uri>
282			their information tags, such as id3 tags.
283			</li>
284			<li>
285			<c>thunar-thumbnailers</c> lets you <uri
286			link="http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/thunar-plugins/thunar-thumbnailers">preview</uri>
287			certain types of files from within Thunar, such as images and fonts.
288			</li>
289			<li>
290			<c>thunar-volman</c> automatically <uri
291			link="http://foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-volman/">manages</uri>
292			removable media and drives.
293			</li>
294			</ul>
295	nightmorph	1.1
296			<p>
297	nightmorph	1.4	Next, let's see about adding some useful but lightweight desktop applications,
298			in keeping with Xfce's philosophy.
299	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
300
301			<p>
302	nightmorph	1.17	Though <c>mousepad</c> is nice enough as a quick text editor, if you need a
303			full-featured word processor but don't want the bloat of OpenOffice, try
304			emerging <c>abiword</c>. <uri link="http://www.abisource.com">AbiWord</uri> is
305			lighter, faster, and is completely interoperable with industry-standard document
306			types. It can also be further extended with <c>abiword-plugins</c>.
307	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
308
309			<p>
310			Need a nice email client/newsreader that isn't as demanding as
311	nightmorph	1.9	<c>mozilla-thunderbird</c> or <c>evolution</c>? Try emerging <c>claws-mail</c>.
312	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
313
314			<p>
315			For your internet chat needs, <c>irssi</c> is an excellent, tiny, incredibly
316			configurable IRC client that runs in your terminal. If you prefer a compact
317			all-in-one client that handles nearly all chat protocols, you may want to
318	nightmorph	1.10	<c>emerge pidgin</c>.
319	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
320
321			<p>
322			If you need movie and music players, look no further than <c>mplayer</c> and
323			<c>audacious</c>. They can play most every media format available quite nicely,
324			and have a wealth of additional plugins available for additional functionality.
325			</p>
326
327			<p>
328			Finally, you'll need a webbrowser. Nearly all graphical webbrowsers require more
329			resources than most of your other desktop applications. Still,
330			<c>mozilla-firefox</c> (or <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c>) is always a good choice.
331			Alternatively, you may find <c>opera</c> to be quite fast. However, <c>opera</c>
332			is not available on as many processor architectures as <c>mozilla-firefox</c>,
333			and it has more dependencies unless you override them with a USE flag.
334			</p>
335
336			<pre caption="Adding a webbrowser">
337			<comment>(Installing Mozilla Firefox)</comment>
338			# <i>emerge mozilla-firefox</i>
339			<comment>(Installing Opera)</comment>
340			# <i>echo "www-client/opera qt-static" >> /etc/portage/package.use</i>
341			# <i>emerge opera</i>
342			</pre>
343
344			<p>
345			Now that we've explored some good suggestions for rounding out your desktop
346			applications, let's see what else we can do to enhance your Xfce experience.
347			</p>
348
349			</body>
350			</section>
351			<section>
352			<title>Graphical login</title>
353			<body>
354
355			<p>
356			Remember when we added <c>startxfce4</c> to our <path>~/.xinitrc</path>? All you
357			have to do to get into your desktop is type <c>startx</c> after logging in. This
358			is fine if you prefer a completely text-based boot and login, but let's use a
359			display manager that will automatically start Xfce after booting (so that you
360			can login graphically).
361			</p>
362
363			<p>
364			First, let's make sure Xfce loads at boot:
365			</p>
366
367			<pre caption="Adding xdm to the default runlevel">
368			# <i>rc-update add xdm default</i>
369			</pre>
370
371			<p>
372			We aren't quite finished yet. We have to pick a display manager and set the
373			appropriate variable. Though there are a few choices available in Portage, for
374	nightmorph	1.16	this guide, we'll stick with <uri link="http://slim.berlios.de">SLiM</uri>, the
375			Simple Login Manager.
376	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
377
378			<p>
379	nightmorph	1.16	<c>slim</c> is speedy and lightweight, with minimal dependencies. Perfect for
380			Xfce!
381	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
382
383	nightmorph	1.16	<pre caption="Installing SLiM">
384			# <i>emerge -avt slim</i>
385	nightmorph	1.1	</pre>
386
387			<p>
388			Then edit the DISPLAYMANAGER variable in <path>/etc/conf.d/xdm</path>:
389			</p>
390
391			<pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm">
392	nightmorph	1.16	DISPLAYMANAGER="slim"
393	nightmorph	1.1	</pre>
394
395			<p>
396	nightmorph	1.16	SLiM can automatically start your Xfce session if you add
397			<c>XSESSION="Xfce4"</c> to <path>/etc/rc.conf</path>.
398	nightmorph	1.4	</p>
399
400	nightmorph	1.1	</body>
401			</section>
402			<section>
403			<title>Beautifying your desktop</title>
404			<body>
405
406			<p>
407			A little customization of your desktop's appearance can go a long way. Xfce has
408			all the options you'd expect from a modern desktop environment, font
409			antialiasing settings, color schemes, dozens of window decorations, themes, and
410			more. If these aren't enough, it's easy to install third-party themes, icon
411			sets, mouse cursor themes, and wallpapers.
412			</p>
413
414			<p>
415			A selection of nice Gentoo wallpapers in a variety of resolutions are hosted on
416	nightmorph	1.2	the <uri link="/main/en/graphics.xml">Gentoo website</uri>. If you're looking
417			for icon sets and complete Xfce themes, <uri
418	nightmorph	1.1	link="http://www.xfce-look.org/">Xfce-Look</uri> has a huge collection. The
419			important thing to remember about any third-party eyecandy you download is that
420			it will usually first need to be unpacked and then installed to the proper
421			directory. Icon sets go in <path>/usr/share/icons/</path>, and themes go to
422	nightmorph	1.2	<path>/usr/share/themes/</path>; use these directories when you want all users
423			to be able to access themes and icon sets. Individual users can install themes
424			and icon sets to <path>~/.themes/</path> and <path>~/.icons/</path>.
425	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
426
427			<p>
428	nightmorph	1.16	If you installed SLiM as your display manager, there are lots of themes in the
429			<c>slim-themes</c> package available in Portage. Also, be sure to check the SLiM
430			<uri link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes01.php">themes page</uri> for more
431			themes. Creating your own SLiM theme is fairly easy; just read the <uri
432			link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes_howto.php">Themes HowTo</uri>.
433	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
434
435			<p>
436			Finally, Xfce has its own built-in compositor to manage window transparency.
437			This option can be found in Menu --> Settings --> Window Manager. For best
438			performance, you will need to be running a graphics card with drivers that
439	nightmorph	1.4	support hardware-accelerated rendering. Make sure you emerged <c>xfwm4</c> with
440			the <c>xcomposite</c> USE flag. Next, you will need to enable compositing in
441			<path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> by adding the following section:
442	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
443
444			<pre caption="Enabling composite in xorg.conf">
445			Section "Extensions"
446			Option "Composite" "Enable"
447			EndSection
448			</pre>
449
450			<p>
451			This is the bare minimum configuration required for Xfce and Xorg-X11. However,
452			setting up hardware-accelerated rendering depends on your individual graphics
453			card, and is beyond the scope of this guide. Please see the other guides in the
454			<uri link="/doc/en/index.xml?catid=desktop">Desktop Documentation
455			Resources</uri> list to learn about configuring hardware-accelerated rendering
456			for your graphics card.
457			</p>
458
459			</body>
460			</section>
461			</chapter>
462
463			<chapter>
464			<title>Summary</title>
465			<section>
466			<body>
467
468			<p>
469			Congratulations on making it this far! You've installed and configured a speedy
470			desktop environment with a solid suite of applications for your computing
471			needs.
472			</p>
473
474			</body>
475			</section>
476			<section>
477			<title>Resources</title>
478			<body>
479
480			<p>
481			Need additional help on configuring and using Xfce? Need more lightweight
482	nightmorph	1.4	application suggestions? Try checking out:
483	nightmorph	1.1	</p>
484
485			<ul>
486			<li><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org">The Gentoo forums</uri></li>
487			<li>#xfce on irc.freenode.net</li>
488	nightmorph	1.7	<li>
489			The installed help files and other documentation provided by Xfce:
490			<path>/usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/index.html</path>. Just point your browser at
491			it and start reading. There are even a lot of "hidden" configuration options
492			detailed in the help files.
493			</li>
494	nightmorph	1.4	<li><uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce's home page</uri></li>
495	nightmorph	1.1	</ul>
496
497			</body>
498			</section>
499			</chapter>
500			</guide>