WetGeek You should be able to just keep updating. Probably. If new packages are added, though, they'll have to be installed manually.

    brent researched a little. it's not plank. it's not cairo. looks kinda like Latte but not sure. I like it. Got to get rid of the black background it would pop.

      WetGeek I've continued to play with Solus Xfc

      I forgot to mention that I've also removed desktop.budgie component, and afterwards ran eopkg rmo, which removed a ton of stuff. So the VM I created as Solus Budgie is now in no way a Budgie VM. I just thought I'd mention that, in case anyone else wants to experiment with Xfce in this way.

      Also, this VM hibernates quickly and upon a restart, it recovers from hibernation absolutely. I even typed the first paragraph here (using Vivaldi on the VM), then hibernated it, afterwards I restarted the VM and my previous session was returned 100% intact, including this half-written message.

        brent what's the default dock in xfce?

        As you said, it's a default. It was present -- just as you see it now -- when I first installed that DE. But not being much of a dock user, I haven't figured out how to assign something to it yet.

        I haven't figured out how to name the workspaces, either. I do know where to put their names in the settings. It's just that the names don't show up as tool-tips for the workspaces afterwards. I hesitate to call that a bug, because it might just be a step I haven't discovered yet. I didn't see an [Apply] button for the settings, but I could have missed some other step.

        If I were setting up another laptop for Solus Xfce, I'd probably get rid of the dock. I tend to eschew redundancy, and it seems pretty redundant to me. I realize it will automatically go away when the bottom of the screen is needed for something else, but when it's visible -- and thus useful -- it eats a lot of the screen real estate.

        I think an application menu with a Favorites section, like MATE's makes a lot more sense. Together with the Workspace Switcher in the top panel, I don't think I'd have any need for a dock at the bottom. I might even see if I can install an icon-only task manager (like Plasma's) in place of what's now on the left of the panel, right after the application menu. Just a thought.

            WetGeek I might even see if I can install an icon-only task manager

            Unfortunately, no. It's not available in the list of applets that can be assigned to the panel. But I did remember from GNOME how to add spacers to center the Workspace Switcher in the panel, so things are steadily improving.

            The Program Launcher in the panel starts with a default menu, but appears to offer the opportunity to define ones own instead. That's more of an adventure than I'm ready for right now, but perhaps a Favorites section could be created, thereby removing any reason for a dock?

                WetGeek You'll probably want to use WhiskerMenu. It's a more featured menu for XFCE. I don't know how to add it, though.

                  Tomorrow, I think I'll polish the installation a bit -- calendars and comics feed for Thunderbird, tab stacks for Vivaldi, etc. Then I'll be able to actually use this VM as a daily driver for a while. It should be the functional equivalent of my Plasma laptop.

                  G'night, folks.

                    • [deleted]

                    • Post #45

                    brent it's just a panel

                        I've deleted some posts from this thread. Keep it on topic, thanks.

                        Staudey
                        Just a suggestion (and in all humility) : if packages relating to XFCE Desktop are to appear in the Software Center to enable developers to carry out tests (and this is quite understandable), perhaps should it be possible to add the mention 'Experimental' with the name of the packages concerned.
                        I saw this in some Firefox extensions to attract the attention of users.

                            penny-farthing That would require us to do renames for basically no reason. XFCE isn't documented anywhere on the Help Center and we don't have a spin out. If you decide to start manually installing things that we just landed when there is no docs or branding, that's on you. We don't need to put up guard rails and babysit your system.

                                WetGeek Tomorrow, I think I'll polish the installation a bit

                                Yup, did that. I'm logged in to an X11 session, so I can run the Xfce VM at full-screen, and it is now configured to match my daily laptop. I still can't really get comfortable with the bottom panel at the top of the screen, but I'm less concerned about the dock, after seeing it in action.

                                If an application is taken to full-screen, it's allowed to cover up the dock, but just a couple of pixels worth of the dock is always visible, so a user can click there with the mouse and the dock appears fully. So, very little of the dock is actually covered up, even with applications at full-screen, and yet the dock is reachable at all times.

                                So, today I've been at it since very early this morning. That upper panel is the only thing that keeps reminding me I'm using a VM. Obviously, I have't tried every app in the menu, but so far everything I'd needed has been there, and it's worked fine. I'm now going to concentrate on DE-related stuff (utilities, etc.) because, after all, the difference between Solus editions is the DE they use. I hope to give this one a workout.

                                    WetGeek If an application is taken to full-screen, it's allowed to cover up the dock, but just a couple of pixels worth of the dock is always visible, so a user can click there with the mouse and the dock appears fully. So, very little of the dock is actually covered up, even with applications at full-screen, and yet the dock is reachable at all times.

                                    it probably has a dynamic or hide setting I'm sure.

                                        brent it probably has a dynamic or hide setting I'm sure.

                                        Yeah, they refer to it as "Intelligently." The other two settings are "Always" and "Never." I'm not sure there's much point in having a dock that's always hidden.

                                            Harvey It doesn't seem very clear to me to put packages in the repo and then say in the forum that users shouldn't install it (and xfce is a very common desktop) because not everyone reads it, if they are unstable need a warning or a dedicated repo or a name like xfceinprogress, if they are stable... better.

                                              I think there's a misunderstanding of the meaning of unstable. Heck, I don't even think anyone has even said these packages shouldn't be installed. Just that the experience as a whole is still a work in progress. Will they break your system? Very highly unlikely. The thing is, we have to have the packages in the repo to work on them, and we only have Unstable and Stable.

                                              I think this all is the same as the time leading to Plasma edition being a thing.