EbonJaeger I likely did not help
XFCE in Software Center
bleh gotcha. I just wasn't sure where one topic ended and the other began lol. It's not a big deal, especially since mods and split threads now.
murbert Or a VM
That's a pretty enticing idea for someone who speaks VM pretty fluently. If one were curious enough to create a Solus VM for experimenting with that DE -- raw as it is right now -- what DE should it be? The obvious choice would seem to be MATE, but I'd be interested in a second opinion, at least. And would it be obvious how to access and install the Xfce DE after the MATE VM (or some other VM) was created?
EbonJaeger I'm confused, is this related to XFCE, or...?
While you're here, I have a question that's definitely about Xfce. I created an extra Solus Budgie VM, intending to use it for exploring Xfce, such as it is now. I've fully updated it. I suspect that I would now need to install the Xfce DE components from the Software Center or the command line.
What I don't know is, "what do I ask for"? And once they're present, will they appear as a second choice of session type on the login screen, as X11 and Wayland appear for Plasma? (And as i3 once appeared for Budgie?)
WetGeek You would likely want everything in the XFCE Desktop section (desktop.xfce component). Also, a reminder that no configuration of the packages has been done yet, things may not work, no support yet, etc, etc. The session should theoretically appear in the dropdown of the login greeter. I don't know if anyone has actually gotten that far yet.
- Edited
EbonJaeger I don't know if anyone has actually gotten that far yet.
Indeed. Thanks for your help with this. I realize that it's very early, that's why I mentioned I'd like to take a look at it, "such as it is now." And that's why I created an extra VM for the purpose, rather than using my existing Budgie VM.
UPDATE: I'm encouraged by what I've seen so far. Screen updating is very slow, but that's not unexpected.
If I'd been asked to rate Solus Xfce -- as it is now -- I'd give it a solid B+. I haven't been asked to do that, of course, and your mileage may vary, but curiosity is strong in this one. I can document a lot of functionality that is working quite well. Since I had no other plan in mind, I decided to approach it as I would another interesting distro that I was evaluating. This image represents the current state of Xfce on my laptop, installed over a Solus Budgie VM.
So far, I've been able to:
- Access the TRANSFERS USB drive that's mounted in a port on the VM's host
- Created 8 virtual desktops
- Copy my bashrcAdditions files in my /home directory - macros that make using BASH more enjoyable
- Change the background to a picture of a Pacific NW hike from a few years ago
- Install micro, nfs-utils, aisleriot, kshisen, gnome-mahjongg, and Vivaldi-stable
- Modify /etc/fstab to include my NAS shares
- Modify ./.bashrc and /root/.bashrc to load my macros
- Create symlinks to replace folders in my /home directory with NAS shares mounted in /mnt
- Configured Thunderbird with two email accounts
- Configured Vivaldi and sync'd it, creating 50+ shortcuts on its start page
- Configure settings for Spider software, Shisen-sho, and Gnome-mahjongg solitaire games
I experienced no errors and no unexpected issues throughout. There were purely DE activities that ran slow, as I expected, but no slowness at all when it came to executing applications. I'm very impressed.
Great job, team! I know there's still lots to do, but I could actually use Solus Xfce as a daily driver -- as-is.
@EbonJaeger, I realize this edition of Solus is currently the equivalent of a alpha test, but should I be able to install upgrades as development progresses and eventually end up with an actual Solus XFCE VM? Or will there come a time when I'll need to discard this one and install an XFCE version from an .ISO?
- Edited
I've continued to play with Solus Xfce, and found out that gradient backgrounds work well, not just pictures. Here are a few of the things I've installed and used. This image, by the way, was produced with Xfce's Screenshot utility, and pasted into this message on the VM, not its host (as I often do).
WetGeek You should be able to just keep updating. Probably. If new packages are added, though, they'll have to be installed manually.
- Edited
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.
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brent it's just a panel