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<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> |
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<!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> |
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<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml,v 1.28 2010/06/13 12:15:07 nightmorph Exp $ --> |
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<guide> |
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<title>The Xfce Configuration Guide</title> |
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<author title="Author"> |
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<mail link="nightmorph"/> |
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</author> |
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<abstract> |
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This guide provides an extensive introduction to Xfce, a fast, lightweight, |
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full-featured desktop environment. |
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</abstract> |
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<!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> |
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<!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 --> |
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<license/> |
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<version>1.24</version> |
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<date>2010-06-13</date> |
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<chapter> |
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<title>Introduction</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>The Xfce desktop environment</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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<uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce</uri> is a fast, lightweight desktop |
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environment for Unix-like operating systems. It is designed for productivity, |
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and is quite configurable while still adhering to the <uri |
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link="http://www.freedesktop.org">Freedesktop</uri> specifications. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Unlike heavier desktop environments, such as <uri |
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link="http://www.gnome.org">Gnome</uri> and <uri |
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link="http://www.kde.org">KDE</uri>, Xfce uses far fewer system resources. |
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Additionally, it offers greater modularity and fewer dependencies; it takes up |
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less space on your hard disk and takes less time to install. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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This guide will not only show you how to install and configure a minimal Xfce |
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environment, but will also explore options to create a full-featured desktop in |
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keeping with the Xfce philosophy: light, fast, and modular. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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<chapter> |
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<title>Installing Xfce</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>The basics</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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First, make sure you've configured Xorg as shown in the <uri |
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link="/doc/en/xorg-config.xml">X Server Configuration Howto</uri>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Next, double-check your USE flags in <path>/etc/make.conf</path>; you'll |
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probably at least want <c>USE="-gnome -kde -minimal -qt4 branding dbus |
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hal jpeg lock session startup-notification thunar X"</c>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Now, let's install Xfce. |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Installing Xfce"> |
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# <i>emerge -avt xfce4-meta</i> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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Next, add your regular user(s) to the <c>plugdev</c>, <c>cdrom</c>, <c>cdrw</c>, |
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and <c>usb</c> groups, so that they can take full advantage of <c>hal</c> and be |
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able to mount and use devices such as cameras, optical drives, and USB sticks. |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Adding users to the hardware groups"> |
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<comment>(Replace username with your actual user)</comment> |
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# <i>for x in plugdev cdrom cdrw usb ; do gpasswd -a username $x ; done</i> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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Next, update your environment variables: |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Updating environment variables"> |
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# <i>env-update && source /etc/profile</i> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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Now start up <c>hald</c> and add it to the default runlevel: |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Starting hald"> |
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# <i>/etc/init.d/hald start</i> |
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# <i>rc-update add hald default</i> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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You'll also need a graphical terminal so that you can continue working with your |
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new desktop environment. <c>x11-terms/terminal</c> is a good choice, as it's |
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made specifically for Xfce. Install Terminal as shown: |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Installing Terminal"> |
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# <i>emerge x11-terms/terminal</i> |
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</pre> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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<chapter> |
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<title>Configuring Xfce</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>Starting Xfce</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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Now that Xfce is now installed, we'll configure it to be the default desktop |
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environment when we issue the <c>startx</c> command. Exit your root shell and |
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log on as a regular user. |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment"> |
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$ <i>echo "exec startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc</i> |
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</pre> |
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<note> |
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If you have ConsoleKit installed, your <path>~/.xinitrc</path> should instead |
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contain <c>exec ck-launch-session startxfce4</c>. Otherwise, some of your |
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applications may stop working. You'll also need to add consolekit to the |
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default runlevel by running the following command as root: <c>rc-update add |
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consolekit default</c>. |
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</note> |
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<p> |
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Now start your graphical environment by typing <c>startx</c>: |
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</p> |
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<pre caption="Starting Xfce"> |
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$ <i>startx</i> |
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</pre> |
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<p> |
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Congratulations, and welcome to your new Xfce desktop environment. Go ahead, |
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explore it a bit. Then continue reading to learn how you can configure Xfce to |
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suit your needs. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Program access</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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You might notice right-clicking on the desktop shows you the menu of all your |
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applications. It's useful, but your desktop can easily be completely obscured by |
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open windows, making it hard to to launch a new program. So, one of the first |
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things you may wish to do is give yourself a handy application menu on your |
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panel. Right click on this panel, and choose "Add New Item". Scroll through the |
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list of choices and select "Xfce Menu". You can choose where you want it to be |
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displayed on your panel. When clicked, it displays the application/preferences |
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menu, providing a nicely categorized list of your installed programs. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Sessions & startup</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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If you've installed (or plan to install) popular Gnome or KDE applications such |
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as <c>k3b</c>, <c>nautilus</c>, <c>kmail</c>, <c>evolution</c>, etc. then you |
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should make sure that Xfce launches the appropriate services for these at |
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startup. Navigate to Menu --> Settings --> Sessions & Startup. On the |
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"Advanced" tab, select the appropriate checkbox. This might slightly increase |
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Xfce startup times, but it decreases load times for KDE and Gnome applications. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Xfce has the ability to save your session settings and running programs from the |
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"General" tab in the Sessions & Startup menu. They can be automatically |
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saved when you logout, or Xfce can ask you each time. This feature is |
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particularly useful for undoing configuration mistakes. Accidentally killed a |
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panel? Just select "No" when prompted to save your current session, and the next |
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time you start Xfce, your old desktop is restored. Want to automatically launch |
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your open webbrowser, terminal, and email client the next time you login? Just |
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save your session before logging out. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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You've now got a basic working environment installed and configured. But if |
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you're interested in doing more, then continue reading! |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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<chapter> |
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<title>Additional Applications</title> |
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<section> |
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<title>Panel plugins</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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In this chapter, we'll discuss some useful plugins and applications for everyday |
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use within Xfce. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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There are many plugins for the panel available in Portage; see for yourself with |
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<c>emerge --search xfce</c>. Though for the most part their names are self |
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explanatory, a few deserve some attention, as they are quite helpful. To use |
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them, simply <c>emerge</c> them. They'll be added to the list of available items |
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in the "Add New Item" menu shown when you right-click on the panel. |
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</p> |
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<ul> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-battery-plugin</c> is perfect for laptop users. It displays battery |
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percentage, time remaining, power source (AC or battery), fan status, |
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warnings, and can even be configured to execute commands at certain power |
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levels. This feature can be used to put the laptop into hibernate mode when |
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the battery is almost exhausted. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-verve-plugin</c> is a small command line embedded into the panel. |
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It's quicker than opening up another terminal when you want to run a |
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command. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-mount-plugin</c> gives you a handy method of mounting devices |
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listed in <path>/etc/fstab</path> just by clicking your mouse |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-sensors-plugin</c> lets you monitor your hardware sensors, such as |
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CPU temperature, fan RPM, hard drive temp, motherboard voltage, and more |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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<p> |
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If you can't find what you're looking for in the plugins specifically made for |
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Xfce, try searching through the list of Gnome panel applets! That's right, by |
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first emerging <c>xfce4-xfapplet-plugin</c>, you can install and run any applet |
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made for Gnome. |
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</p> |
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Useful programs</title> |
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<body> |
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<p> |
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We should now <c>emerge</c> some useful applications and utilities: |
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<c>xfce4-mixer</c>, <c>xfprint</c>, <c>xfce4-taskmanager</c>, |
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<c>xfwm4-themes</c>, <c>orage</c>, <c>mousepad</c>, <c>x11-terms/terminal</c>, |
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and <c>thunar</c>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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<c>xfce4-mixer</c> is a volume control for your sound card. It can also be run |
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as a panel applet, giving you fast access to playback volume. <c>xfprint</c> |
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provides easy printer management and job control; it's a must if you intend to |
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do any printing from your desktop. <c>xfce4-taskmanager</c> displays a list of |
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all running programs, and the CPU and memory consumption each one takes up. By |
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right-clicking an item, you can kill a misbehaving application, pause and |
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restart it, or even alter its runtime priority, which lets you fine-tune how |
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much of a demand it puts on your system's resources. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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<c>xfwm4-themes</c> adds several window manager themes. You may want to add a |
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more full-coverage icon theme such as <c>tango-icon-theme</c> just to round out |
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your desktop. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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<c>orage</c> is a simple, handy calendar. <c>mousepad</c> is a barebones text |
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editor that starts up extremely quickly. <c>x11-terms/terminal</c> is an X11 |
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terminal emulator, far more configurable and useful than the barebones |
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<c>xterm</c>. <c>terminal</c> supports Unicode text, color schemes, |
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pseudo-transparency and hardware-accelerated transparency via Xfce's built-in |
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compositor, all out-of-the-box. Just make sure that the default action on the |
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terminal launcher of your panel runs <path>/usr/bin/Terminal</path> instead of |
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<path>xterm</path>. Right-click the launcher and choose "Properties" to change |
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the command. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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<c>thunar</c> is Xfce's default graphical file manager. It's fast yet quite |
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powerful, can support several plugins for even more functionality; just install |
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them with <c>emerge</c>. Let's take a look: |
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</p> |
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<ul> |
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<li> |
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1.21 |
<c>thunar-archive-plugin</c> lets you create and extract archive files using |
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the right-click menu. It provides a handy <uri |
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link="http://www.foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-archive-plugin">front-end</uri> |
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for graphical archiving applications such as <c>xarchiver</c>, |
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<c>squeeze</c>, and <c>file-roller</c>. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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1.21 |
<c>thunar-media-tags-plugin</c> lets you intelligently rename multiple media |
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files at once, and lets you <uri |
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link="http://thunar.xfce.org/pwiki/projects/thunar-media-tags-plugin">edit</uri> |
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their information tags, such as id3 and ogg tags. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>thunar-thumbnailers</c> lets you <uri |
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link="http://goodies.xfce.org/projects/thunar-plugins/thunar-thumbnailers">preview</uri> |
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certain types of files from within Thunar, such as images and fonts. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>thunar-volman</c> automatically <uri |
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link="http://foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-volman/">manages</uri> |
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removable media and drives. |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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|
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<p> |
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1.4 |
Next, let's see about adding some useful but lightweight desktop applications, |
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in keeping with Xfce's philosophy. |
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1.1 |
</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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1.21 |
Though <c>mousepad</c> is nice enough as a basic text editor, if you need a |
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1.17 |
full-featured word processor but don't want the bloat of OpenOffice, try |
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1.19 |
emerging <c>abiword</c>. <uri link="http://www.abisource.com">AbiWord</uri> is |
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1.17 |
lighter, faster, and is completely interoperable with industry-standard document |
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types. It can also be further extended with <c>abiword-plugins</c>. |
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</p> |
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<p> |
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Need a nice email client/newsreader that isn't as demanding as |
350 |
nightmorph |
1.28 |
<c>thunderbird</c> or <c>evolution</c>? Try emerging <c>claws-mail</c>. |
351 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
352 |
|
|
|
353 |
|
|
<p> |
354 |
|
|
For your internet chat needs, <c>irssi</c> is an excellent, tiny, incredibly |
355 |
|
|
configurable IRC client that runs in your terminal. If you prefer a compact |
356 |
|
|
all-in-one client that handles nearly all chat protocols, you may want to |
357 |
nightmorph |
1.10 |
<c>emerge pidgin</c>. |
358 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
359 |
|
|
|
360 |
|
|
<p> |
361 |
|
|
If you need movie and music players, look no further than <c>mplayer</c> and |
362 |
nightmorph |
1.19 |
<uri link="/proj/en/desktop/sound/decibel.xml">decibel-audio-player</uri>. They |
363 |
|
|
can play most every media format available quite nicely. |
364 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
365 |
|
|
|
366 |
|
|
<p> |
367 |
|
|
Finally, you'll need a webbrowser. Nearly all graphical webbrowsers require more |
368 |
|
|
resources than most of your other desktop applications. Still, |
369 |
|
|
<c>mozilla-firefox</c> (or <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c>) is always a good choice. |
370 |
|
|
Alternatively, you may find <c>opera</c> to be quite fast. However, <c>opera</c> |
371 |
|
|
is not available on as many processor architectures as <c>mozilla-firefox</c>, |
372 |
|
|
and it has more dependencies unless you override them with a USE flag. |
373 |
|
|
</p> |
374 |
|
|
|
375 |
|
|
<pre caption="Adding a webbrowser"> |
376 |
|
|
<comment>(Installing Mozilla Firefox)</comment> |
377 |
|
|
# <i>emerge mozilla-firefox</i> |
378 |
|
|
<comment>(Installing Opera)</comment> |
379 |
|
|
# <i>echo "www-client/opera qt-static" >> /etc/portage/package.use</i> |
380 |
|
|
# <i>emerge opera</i> |
381 |
|
|
</pre> |
382 |
|
|
|
383 |
|
|
<p> |
384 |
|
|
Now that we've explored some good suggestions for rounding out your desktop |
385 |
|
|
applications, let's see what else we can do to enhance your Xfce experience. |
386 |
|
|
</p> |
387 |
|
|
|
388 |
|
|
</body> |
389 |
|
|
</section> |
390 |
|
|
<section> |
391 |
|
|
<title>Graphical login</title> |
392 |
|
|
<body> |
393 |
|
|
|
394 |
|
|
<p> |
395 |
|
|
Remember when we added <c>startxfce4</c> to our <path>~/.xinitrc</path>? All you |
396 |
|
|
have to do to get into your desktop is type <c>startx</c> after logging in. This |
397 |
|
|
is fine if you prefer a completely text-based boot and login, but let's use a |
398 |
|
|
display manager that will automatically start Xfce after booting (so that you |
399 |
|
|
can login graphically). |
400 |
|
|
</p> |
401 |
|
|
|
402 |
|
|
<p> |
403 |
|
|
First, let's make sure Xfce loads at boot: |
404 |
|
|
</p> |
405 |
|
|
|
406 |
|
|
<pre caption="Adding xdm to the default runlevel"> |
407 |
|
|
# <i>rc-update add xdm default</i> |
408 |
|
|
</pre> |
409 |
|
|
|
410 |
|
|
<p> |
411 |
|
|
We aren't quite finished yet. We have to pick a display manager and set the |
412 |
|
|
appropriate variable. Though there are a few choices available in Portage, for |
413 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
this guide, we'll stick with <uri link="http://slim.berlios.de">SLiM</uri>, the |
414 |
|
|
Simple Login Manager. |
415 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
416 |
|
|
|
417 |
|
|
<p> |
418 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
<c>slim</c> is speedy and lightweight, with minimal dependencies. Perfect for |
419 |
|
|
Xfce! |
420 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
421 |
|
|
|
422 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
<pre caption="Installing SLiM"> |
423 |
|
|
# <i>emerge -avt slim</i> |
424 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</pre> |
425 |
|
|
|
426 |
nightmorph |
1.19 |
<note> |
427 |
|
|
The <c>branding</c> USE flag will pull in the <c>slim-themes</c> package, which |
428 |
|
|
will give you an assortment of login themes, including a Gentoo Linux theme. |
429 |
|
|
</note> |
430 |
|
|
|
431 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
<p> |
432 |
|
|
Then edit the DISPLAYMANAGER variable in <path>/etc/conf.d/xdm</path>: |
433 |
|
|
</p> |
434 |
|
|
|
435 |
|
|
<pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm"> |
436 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
DISPLAYMANAGER="slim" |
437 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</pre> |
438 |
|
|
|
439 |
|
|
<p> |
440 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
SLiM can automatically start your Xfce session if you add |
441 |
nightmorph |
1.25 |
<c>XSESSION="Xfce4"</c> to <path>/etc/env.d/90xsession</path>: |
442 |
nightmorph |
1.4 |
</p> |
443 |
|
|
|
444 |
nightmorph |
1.25 |
<pre caption="Setting XSESSION"> |
445 |
|
|
# <i>echo XSESSION=\"Xfce4\" > /etc/env.d/90xsession</i> |
446 |
|
|
# <i>env-update && source /etc/profile</i> |
447 |
|
|
</pre> |
448 |
|
|
|
449 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</body> |
450 |
|
|
</section> |
451 |
|
|
<section> |
452 |
|
|
<title>Beautifying your desktop</title> |
453 |
|
|
<body> |
454 |
|
|
|
455 |
|
|
<p> |
456 |
|
|
A little customization of your desktop's appearance can go a long way. Xfce has |
457 |
|
|
all the options you'd expect from a modern desktop environment, font |
458 |
|
|
antialiasing settings, color schemes, dozens of window decorations, themes, and |
459 |
|
|
more. If these aren't enough, it's easy to install third-party themes, icon |
460 |
|
|
sets, mouse cursor themes, and wallpapers. |
461 |
|
|
</p> |
462 |
|
|
|
463 |
|
|
<p> |
464 |
|
|
A selection of nice Gentoo wallpapers in a variety of resolutions are hosted on |
465 |
nightmorph |
1.2 |
the <uri link="/main/en/graphics.xml">Gentoo website</uri>. If you're looking |
466 |
|
|
for icon sets and complete Xfce themes, <uri |
467 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
link="http://www.xfce-look.org/">Xfce-Look</uri> has a huge collection. The |
468 |
|
|
important thing to remember about any third-party eyecandy you download is that |
469 |
|
|
it will usually first need to be unpacked and then installed to the proper |
470 |
|
|
directory. Icon sets go in <path>/usr/share/icons/</path>, and themes go to |
471 |
nightmorph |
1.2 |
<path>/usr/share/themes/</path>; use these directories when you want all users |
472 |
|
|
to be able to access themes and icon sets. Individual users can install themes |
473 |
|
|
and icon sets to <path>~/.themes/</path> and <path>~/.icons/</path>. |
474 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
475 |
|
|
|
476 |
|
|
<p> |
477 |
nightmorph |
1.16 |
If you installed SLiM as your display manager, there are lots of themes in the |
478 |
|
|
<c>slim-themes</c> package available in Portage. Also, be sure to check the SLiM |
479 |
|
|
<uri link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes01.php">themes page</uri> for more |
480 |
|
|
themes. Creating your own SLiM theme is fairly easy; just read the <uri |
481 |
nightmorph |
1.19 |
link="http://slim.berlios.de/themes_howto.php">Themes HowTo</uri>. Gentoo also |
482 |
|
|
ships a <c>slim-themes</c> package that you can <c>emerge</c>. |
483 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
484 |
|
|
|
485 |
|
|
<p> |
486 |
|
|
Finally, Xfce has its own built-in compositor to manage window transparency. |
487 |
|
|
This option can be found in Menu --> Settings --> Window Manager. For best |
488 |
|
|
performance, you will need to be running a graphics card with drivers that |
489 |
nightmorph |
1.4 |
support hardware-accelerated rendering. Make sure you emerged <c>xfwm4</c> with |
490 |
|
|
the <c>xcomposite</c> USE flag. Next, you will need to enable compositing in |
491 |
|
|
<path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> by adding the following section: |
492 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
493 |
|
|
|
494 |
|
|
<pre caption="Enabling composite in xorg.conf"> |
495 |
|
|
Section "Extensions" |
496 |
|
|
Option "Composite" "Enable" |
497 |
|
|
EndSection |
498 |
|
|
</pre> |
499 |
|
|
|
500 |
|
|
<p> |
501 |
|
|
This is the bare minimum configuration required for Xfce and Xorg-X11. However, |
502 |
|
|
setting up hardware-accelerated rendering depends on your individual graphics |
503 |
|
|
card, and is beyond the scope of this guide. Please see the other guides in the |
504 |
|
|
<uri link="/doc/en/index.xml?catid=desktop">Desktop Documentation |
505 |
|
|
Resources</uri> list to learn about configuring hardware-accelerated rendering |
506 |
|
|
for your graphics card. |
507 |
|
|
</p> |
508 |
|
|
|
509 |
nightmorph |
1.21 |
<p> |
510 |
|
|
Once you've finished setting up a beautiful Xfce desktop, the next thing to do |
511 |
|
|
is take a picture of it to share with other folks! Just install |
512 |
|
|
<c>xfce4-screenshooter</c> and post your pictures somewhere for all to admire. |
513 |
|
|
</p> |
514 |
|
|
|
515 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</body> |
516 |
|
|
</section> |
517 |
|
|
</chapter> |
518 |
|
|
|
519 |
|
|
<chapter> |
520 |
|
|
<title>Summary</title> |
521 |
|
|
<section> |
522 |
|
|
<body> |
523 |
|
|
|
524 |
|
|
<p> |
525 |
|
|
Congratulations on making it this far! You've installed and configured a speedy |
526 |
|
|
desktop environment with a solid suite of applications for your computing |
527 |
|
|
needs. |
528 |
|
|
</p> |
529 |
|
|
|
530 |
|
|
</body> |
531 |
|
|
</section> |
532 |
|
|
<section> |
533 |
|
|
<title>Resources</title> |
534 |
|
|
<body> |
535 |
|
|
|
536 |
|
|
<p> |
537 |
|
|
Need additional help on configuring and using Xfce? Need more lightweight |
538 |
nightmorph |
1.4 |
application suggestions? Try checking out: |
539 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</p> |
540 |
|
|
|
541 |
|
|
<ul> |
542 |
|
|
<li><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org">The Gentoo forums</uri></li> |
543 |
|
|
<li>#xfce on irc.freenode.net</li> |
544 |
nightmorph |
1.7 |
<li> |
545 |
|
|
The installed help files and other documentation provided by Xfce: |
546 |
|
|
<path>/usr/share/xfce4/doc/C/index.html</path>. Just point your browser at |
547 |
|
|
it and start reading. There are even a lot of "hidden" configuration options |
548 |
|
|
detailed in the help files. |
549 |
|
|
</li> |
550 |
nightmorph |
1.4 |
<li><uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce's home page</uri></li> |
551 |
nightmorph |
1.1 |
</ul> |
552 |
|
|
|
553 |
|
|
</body> |
554 |
|
|
</section> |
555 |
|
|
</chapter> |
556 |
|
|
</guide> |