XFCE [LWN.net]

XFCE

Posted Mar 16, 2011 15:50 UTC (Wed) by jmorris42 (guest, #2203)
In reply to: The Grumpy Editor's GNOME 3 experience by shemminger
Parent article: The Grumpy Editor's GNOME 3 experience

Switch to XFCE. With an hour of effort I had it looking pretty much like GNOME with Metacity. Sure I miss the compiz glitz but in a couple of days have already forgotten about it and got on with using the applications again like they are supposed to work with the panel looking like it always looked and workspaces like they have been for working for years.

GNOME might be useful again in a few years but I seriously doubt it. Their whole focus seems to be hostility to existing users in a never ending dream of bringing about 'the year of the Linux desktop' wherein millions of newbies will suddenly flood in because they removed enough of UNIX philosophy that these newbs will feel at home. They have been proclaiming this gospel for almost a decade now, perhaps we should start to realize they actually mean it and aren't changing their minds.

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XFCE

Posted Mar 16, 2011 20:43 UTC (Wed) by GhePeU (subscriber, #56133) [Link] (2 responses)

Shouldn't it be possible to replace xfwm4 with compiz? I was planning to move to xfce in a few months and I'd like to keep the few effects I'm using (real transparency, expo, wall, scale).

XFCE

Posted Mar 17, 2011 14:44 UTC (Thu) by colo (guest, #45564) [Link]

I tried that with xfce 4.6, but its panel turned out to have serious rendering problem with compiz enabled. I switched to LXDE, an even lighter desktop environment, which did not share the problem with xfce, and have been a rather happy user ever since. Do note that the xfce panel was rewritten for 4.8, so the problem might have disappeared meanwhile. I do not intend to leave LXDE any time soon, though.

I use a compositing WM due to the flicker-free UI it can provide, mostly - it's not any kind of (borderline) useless bling I miss.

XFCE

Posted Mar 18, 2011 5:15 UTC (Fri) by Tara_Li (guest, #26706) [Link]

A lot of people do seem to be mistaking Gnome the Desktop Environment and whatever Nautilus is called when it's handling the icons and stuff for the main window for the window manager (apparently defaulting to Metacity). Currently on Ubuntu 10.10, I have Nautilus doing the background and icons (I think), Enlightenment DR16 for window management (and what a wonderful thing *THAT* is!) and the Gnome Panels (one at top, one at bottom). People, this ain't Windows with One Layer To Rule Them All.