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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 1.17 2008/02/24 09:17:47 nightmorph Exp $ --> |
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|
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<guide link="/doc/en/xfce-config.xml"> |
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<title>The Xfce Configuration Guide</title> |
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|
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<author title="Author"> |
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<mail link="nightmorph@gentoo.org">Joshua Saddler</mail> |
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</author> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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<version>1.14</version> |
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<date>2009-04-24</date> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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<p> |
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Unlike heavier desktop environments, such as Gnome and KDE, Xfce uses far fewer |
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system resources. Additionally, it offers greater modularity and fewer |
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dependencies; it takes up less space on your hard disk and takes less time to |
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install. |
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</p> |
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|
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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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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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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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|
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<p> |
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First, make sure you've setup 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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|
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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 -qt3 -qt4 X dbus hal startup-notification xscreensaver"</c>. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now, let's install Xfce. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Installing Xfce"> |
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# <i>emerge -avt xfce4</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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<p> |
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Next, update your environment variables: |
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</p> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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<pre caption="Starting Xfce"> |
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$ <i>startx</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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</chapter> |
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|
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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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|
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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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|
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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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|
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<ul> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-mount</c> gives you a handy method of mounting devices listed in |
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<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-battery</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</c> is a small command line embedded into the panel. It's |
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quicker than opening up another terminal when you want to run a command. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>xfce4-mixer</c> is a volume control. It works with both ALSA and OSS |
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sound applications. |
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</li> |
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</ul> |
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|
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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</c>, you can install and run any applet made |
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for Gnome. |
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</p> |
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|
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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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|
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<p> |
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Xfce bundles a few useful applications, including <c>thunar</c>, |
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<c>terminal</c>, <c>orage</c>, and <c>mousepad</c>. Note that the last three |
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will not be installed if you built <c>xfce4</c> with the <c>minimal</c> USE |
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flag. However, these are all very small, yet terrific applications, so they're |
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well worth installing. |
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</p> |
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|
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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>terminal</c> is far more |
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configurable and useful than xterm, and supports Unicode text, |
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pseudo-transparency and 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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xterm. Right click the launcher and choose "Properties" to change the command. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>thunar</c> is Xfce's built-in graphical file manager. It's fast yet quite |
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powerful, can support a few 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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|
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<ul> |
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<li> |
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<c>thunar-archive</c> lets you create and extract archive files using the |
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right-click menu. It works even better when paired with the new graphical |
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archiving <uri |
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link="http://www.foo-projects.org/~benny/projects/thunar-archive-plugin/">tool</uri> |
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developed for Xfce, <c>xarchiver</c>. |
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</li> |
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<li> |
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<c>thunar-media-tags</c> lets you intelligently rename multiple media files |
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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 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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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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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Though <c>mousepad</c> is nice enough as a quick text editor, if you need a |
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full-featured word processor but don't want the bloat of OpenOffice, try |
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emerging <c>abiword</c>. <uri link="http://www.abisource.com">AbiWord</uri> is |
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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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|
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<p> |
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Need a nice email client/newsreader that isn't as demanding as |
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<c>mozilla-thunderbird</c> or <c>evolution</c>? Try emerging <c>claws-mail</c>. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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For your internet chat needs, <c>irssi</c> is an excellent, tiny, incredibly |
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configurable IRC client that runs in your terminal. If you prefer a compact |
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all-in-one client that handles nearly all chat protocols, you may want to |
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<c>emerge pidgin</c>. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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If you need movie and music players, look no further than <c>mplayer</c> and |
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<c>audacious</c>. They can play most every media format available quite nicely, |
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and have a wealth of additional plugins available for additional functionality. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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Finally, you'll need a webbrowser. Nearly all graphical webbrowsers require more |
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resources than most of your other desktop applications. Still, |
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<c>mozilla-firefox</c> (or <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c>) is always a good choice. |
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Alternatively, you may find <c>opera</c> to be quite fast. However, <c>opera</c> |
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is not available on as many processor architectures as <c>mozilla-firefox</c>, |
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and it has more dependencies unless you override them with a USE flag. |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Adding a webbrowser"> |
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<comment>(Installing Mozilla Firefox)</comment> |
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# <i>emerge mozilla-firefox</i> |
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<comment>(Installing Opera)</comment> |
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# <i>echo "www-client/opera qt-static" >> /etc/portage/package.use</i> |
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# <i>emerge opera</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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Now that we've explored some good suggestions for rounding out your desktop |
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applications, let's see what else we can do to enhance your Xfce experience. |
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</p> |
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|
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</body> |
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</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Graphical login</title> |
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<body> |
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|
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<p> |
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Remember when we added <c>startxfce4</c> to our <path>~/.xinitrc</path>? All you |
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have to do to get into your desktop is type <c>startx</c> after logging in. This |
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is fine if you prefer a completely text-based boot and login, but let's use a |
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display manager that will automatically start Xfce after booting (so that you |
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can login graphically). |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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First, let's make sure Xfce loads at boot: |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Adding xdm to the default runlevel"> |
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# <i>rc-update add xdm default</i> |
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</pre> |
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|
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<p> |
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We aren't quite finished yet. We have to pick a display manager and set the |
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appropriate variable. Though there are a few choices available in Portage, for |
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this guide, we'll stick with <uri link="http://slim.berlios.de">SLiM</uri>, the |
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Simple Login Manager. |
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</p> |
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|
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<p> |
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<c>slim</c> is speedy and lightweight, with minimal dependencies. Perfect for |
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Xfce! |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Installing SLiM"> |
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# <i>emerge -avt slim</i> |
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</pre> |
| 386 |
|
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<p> |
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Then edit the DISPLAYMANAGER variable in <path>/etc/conf.d/xdm</path>: |
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</p> |
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|
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<pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm"> |
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DISPLAYMANAGER="slim" |
| 393 |
</pre> |
| 394 |
|
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<p> |
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SLiM can automatically start your Xfce session if you add |
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<c>XSESSION="Xfce4"</c> to <path>/etc/rc.conf</path>. |
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</p> |
| 399 |
|
| 400 |
</body> |
| 401 |
</section> |
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<section> |
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<title>Beautifying your desktop</title> |
| 404 |
<body> |
| 405 |
|
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<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 |
|
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<p> |
| 415 |
A selection of nice Gentoo wallpapers in a variety of resolutions are hosted on |
| 416 |
the <uri link="/main/en/graphics.xml">Gentoo website</uri>. If you're looking |
| 417 |
for icon sets and complete Xfce themes, <uri |
| 418 |
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 |
<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 |
</p> |
| 426 |
|
| 427 |
<p> |
| 428 |
If you installed SLiM as your display manager, there are lots of themes in the |
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<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 |
</p> |
| 434 |
|
| 435 |
<p> |
| 436 |
Finally, Xfce has its own built-in compositor to manage window transparency. |
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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 |
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 |
</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 |
application suggestions? Try checking out: |
| 483 |
</p> |
| 484 |
|
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<ul> |
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<li><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org">The Gentoo forums</uri></li> |
| 487 |
<li>#xfce on irc.freenode.net</li> |
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<li> |
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The installed help files and other documentation provided by Xfce: |
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<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. |
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</li> |
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<li><uri link="http://www.xfce.org">Xfce's home page</uri></li> |
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</ul> |
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|
| 497 |
</body> |
| 498 |
</section> |
| 499 |
</chapter> |
| 500 |
</guide> |
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