nightmorph 07/01/13 05:58:31 Modified: metadoc.xml Added: xfce-config.xml Log: new guide: xfce-config guide, bug 161107
Revision Changes Path 1.170 xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?rev=1.170&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?rev=1.170&content-type=text/plain diff : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml?r1=1.169&r2=1.170 Index: metadoc.xml =================================================================== RCS file: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v retrieving revision 1.169 retrieving revision 1.170 diff -u -r1.169 -r1.170 --- metadoc.xml 3 Jan 2007 01:21:35 -0000 1.169 +++ metadoc.xml 13 Jan 2007 05:58:31 -0000 1.170 @@ -1,9 +1,9 @@ <?xml version='1.0' encoding="UTF-8"?> -<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v 1.169 2007/01/03 01:21:35 nightmorph Exp $ --> +<!-- $Header: /var/cvsroot/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/metadoc.xml,v 1.170 2007/01/13 05:58:31 nightmorph Exp $ --> <!DOCTYPE metadoc SYSTEM "/dtd/metadoc.dtd"> <metadoc lang="en"> -<version>1.96</version> +<version>1.97</version> <members> <lead>neysx</lead> <member>fox2mike</member> @@ -392,6 +392,7 @@ <file id="kernel-config">/doc/en/kernel-config.xml</file> <file id="zsh">/doc/en/zsh.xml</file> <file id="change-chost">/doc/en/change-chost.xml</file> + <file id="xfce-config">/doc/en/xfce-config.xml</file> </files> <docs> <doc id="name-logo"> @@ -911,6 +912,10 @@ <memberof>desktop_install</memberof> <fileid>fluxbox-config</fileid> </doc> + <doc id="xfce-config"> + <memberof>desktop_install</memberof> + <fileid>xfce-config</fileid> + </doc> <doc id="vserver-howto"> <memberof>sysadmin_specific</memberof> <fileid>vserver-howto</fileid> 1.1 xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml file : http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml?rev=1.1&view=markup plain: http://sources.gentoo.org/viewcvs.py/gentoo/xml/htdocs/doc/en/xfce-config.xml?rev=1.1&content-type=text/plain Index: xfce-config.xml =================================================================== <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?> <!-- $Header $ --> <!DOCTYPE guide SYSTEM "/dtd/guide.dtd"> <guide link="/doc/en/xfce-config.xml"> <title>The Xfce Configuration Guide</title> <author title="Author"> <mail link="[EMAIL PROTECTED]">Joshua Saddler</mail> </author> <abstract> This guide provides an extensive introduction to Xfce, a fast, lightweight, full-featured desktop environment. </abstract> <!-- The content of this document is licensed under the CC-BY-SA license --> <!-- See http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5 --> <license/> <version>1.0</version> <date>2007-01-12</date> <chapter> <title>Introduction</title> <section> <title>The Xfce desktop environment</title> <body> <p> <uri link="http://www.xfce.org";>Xfce</uri> is a fast, lightweight desktop environment for Unix-like operating systems. It is designed for productivity, and is quite configurable while still adhering to the <uri link="http://www.freedesktop.org";>Freedesktop</uri> specifications. </p> <p> Unlike heavier desktop environments, such as Gnome and KDE, Xfce uses far fewer system resources. Additionally, it offers greater modularity and fewer dependencies; it takes up less space on your hard disk and takes less time to install. </p> <p> This guide will not only show you how to install and configure a minimal Xfce environment, but will also explore options to create a full-featured desktop in keeping with the Xfce philosophy: light, fast, and modular. </p> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Installing Xfce</title> <section> <title>The basics</title> <body> <p> Before we install our fully-functional yet minimal desktop, let's take a moment to review the basic packages we'll be emerging. </p> <table> <tr> <th>Name</th> <th>Description</th> </tr> <tr> <ti>xfce4</ti> <ti>The base Xfce desktop environment</ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>xscreensaver</ti> <ti> A screensaver with powersaving features and the ability to lock the screen for security </ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>hal</ti> <ti> A Hardware Abstraction Layer. HAL enables desktop applications to locate and use hardware devices. This makes it easy for you to work with removable media, such as USB sticks and CD/DVD drives. Installing <c>hal</c> will also install <c>dbus</c>, a simple way for applications to talk to each other. </ti> </tr> <tr> <ti>gamin</ti> <ti> This file alteration monitor keeps track of file changes; it's very handy when used in conjunction with a graphical file browser </ti> </tr> </table> <p> You're free to install any other packages you wish, but for now, we'll stick with these suggestions for a fast, minimal working environment. Double check your USE flags in <path>/etc/make.conf</path>; you'll probably at least want <c>USE="-gnome"</c> to avoid pulling in unnecessary dependencies. </p> <pre caption="Installing Xfce"> # <i>emerge -avt xfce4 xscreensaver hal gamin</i> </pre> <p> Next, add your regular user(s) to the following groups, so that they can take full advantage of <c>hal</c> and be able to mount and use devices such as cameras, CD-ROMs, CD-RWs, and USB sticks: </p> <pre caption="Adding users to the hardware groups"> <comment>(Remember to replace username with your actual user)</comment> # <i>gpasswd -a username plugdev,cdrom,cdrw,usb</i> </pre> <p> Next, update your environment variables: </p> <pre caption="Updating environment variables"> # <i>env-update && source /etc/profile</i> </pre> <p> Now start up <c>hald</c> and add it to the default runlevel: </p> <pre caption="Starting hald"> # <i>/etc/init.d/hald start</i> # <i>rc-update add hald default</i> </pre> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Configuring Xfce</title> <section> <title>Starting Xfce</title> <body> <p> Now that Xfce is now installed, we'll configure it to be the default desktop environment when we issue the <c>startx</c> command. Exit your root shell and log on as a regular user. </p> <pre caption="Setting Xfce as the default desktop environment"> $ <i>echo "exec startxfce4" > ~/.xinitrc</i> </pre> <p> Now start your graphical environment by typing <c>startx</c>: </p> <pre caption="Starting Xfce"> $ <i>startx</i> </pre> <p> Congratulations, and welcome to your new Xfce desktop environment. Go ahead, explore it a bit. Then continue reading to learn how you can configure Xfce to suit your needs. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>Program access</title> <body> <p> You might notice right-clicking on the desktop shows you the menu of all your applications. It's useful, but your desktop can easily be completely obscured by open windows, making it hard to to launch a new program. So, one of the first things you may wish to do is give yourself a handy application menu on your panel. Right click on this panel, and choose "Add New Item". Scroll through the list of choices and select "Xfce Menu". You can choose where you want it to be displayed on your panel. When clicked, it displays the application/preferences menu, providing a nicely categorized list of your installed programs. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>Sessions & startup</title> <body> <p> If you've installed (or plan to install) popular Gnome or KDE applications such as <c>k3b</c>, <c>nautilus</c>, <c>kmail</c>, <c>evolution</c>, etc. then you should make sure that Xfce launches the appropriate services for these at startup. Navigate to Menu --> Settings --> Sessions & Startup. On the "Advanced" tab, select the appropriate checkbox. This might slightly increase Xfce startup times, but it decreases load times for KDE and Gnome applications. </p> <p> Xfce has the ability to save your session settings and running programs from the "General" tab in the Sessions & Startup menu. They can be automatically saved when you logout, or Xfce can ask you each time. This feature is particularly useful for undoing configuration mistakes. Accidentally killed a panel? Just select "No" when prompted to save your current session, and the next time you start Xfce, your old desktop is restored. Want to automatically launch your open webbrowser, terminal, and email client the next time you login? Just save your session before logging out. </p> <p> You've now got a basic working environment installed and configured. But if you're interested in doing more, then continue reading! </p> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Additional Applications</title> <section> <title>Panel plugins</title> <body> <p> In this chapter, we'll discuss some useful plugins and applications for everyday use within Xfce. </p> <p> There are many plugins for the panel available in Portage; see for yourself with <c>emerge --search xfce</c>. Though for the most part their names are self explanatory, a few deserve some attention, as they are quite helpful. To use them, simply <c>emerge</c> them. They'll be added to the list of available items in the "Add New Item" menu. </p> <ul> <li> <c>xfce4-mount</c> gives you a handy method of mounting devices listed in <path>/etc/fstab</path> just by clicking your mouse </li> <!-- xfce4-taskbar is integrated into the panel in 4.4; remove when stable --> <li> <c>xfce4-taskbar</c> can replace the windowlist panel entirely. It's useful if you want to conserve screen space (for small monitors), or don't want your desktop cluttered with more than one panel. Add the taskbar to your main panel, and then you can remove the separate windowlist panel by running <c>killall -9 xftaskbar4</c> from an xterm, thus displaying your application launchers, Xfce menu, clock, etc. all on just one panel. </li> <li> <c>xfce4-battery</c> is perfect for laptop users. It displays battery percentage, time remaining, power source (AC or battery), fan status, warnings, and can even be configured to execute commands at certain power levels. This feature can be used to put the laptop into hibernate mode when the battery is almost exhausted. </li> <li> <!-- xfce4-minicmd has been superceded by verve in 4.4; remove when stable --> <c>xfce4-minicmd</c> is a small command line embedded into the panel. It's quicker than opening up another terminal when you want to run a command. </li> </ul> </body> </section> <section> <title>Useful programs</title> <body> <p> Now let's see about adding some useful yet lightweight applications, in keeping with Xfce's philosophy. </p> <p> First, let's replace the plain, boring old <c>xterm</c> with <c>xfce-extra/terminal</c>. <c>Terminal</c> is far more configurable and useful than xterm, and supports Unicode text, pseudo-transparency and accelerated transparency via Xfce's built-in compositor, all out-of-the-box. </p> <!-- Remove the warning about ~arch once 4.4 and terminal go stable --> <note> At the time of writing, <c>Terminal</c> may not be marked stable for your architecture, so you will need to add it to <path>/etc/portage/package.keywords</path> before emerging it. </note> <pre caption="Installing a better terminal"> <comment>(Only run this command if you receive a warning about Terminal being masked)</comment> # <i>echo "xfce-extra/terminal" >> /etc/portage/package.keywords</i> <comment>(Otherwise, you can emerge Terminal without any extra steps)</comment> # <i>emerge -av xfce-extra/terminal</i> </pre> <p> Once it's installed, you may want to change the default action of the terminal launcher on your panel to run <path>/usr/bin/Terminal</path> instead. Just right-click the launcher and choose "Properties" to change the command. </p> <p> You may want to replace the rather confusing default filemanager, <c>xffm</c>, with one that's more intuitive and helpful. The <c>rox</c> file manager is icon-based and behaves much more like a traditional file manager. If you're looking for something even more minimal, yet still extremely flexible, then try out the <c>gentoo</c> file manager. (The <c>gentoo</c> file manager is not related to the Gentoo Linux distribution.) Both file managers are lightweight and fully configurable, and are only a short <c>emerge</c> away. </p> <!-- Remove the note about masked thunar once 4.4 is stable --> <p> In the future, <c>thunar</c> will replace <c>xffm</c> as Xfce's default file manager, but it is still masked at the time of this writing. However, the most recent versions have been quite useful for daily work, and show great promise. If you're feeling brave, you can try out the release candidates. Please read <uri link="doc/en/handbook/handbook-x86.xml?part=3&chap=3#doc_chap3">Using Masked Packages</uri> to learn how to unmask it and its dependencies. Note that this software is still unfinished. You have been warned! </p> <!-- remove mousepad once 4.4 is stable; right now it's included by default --> <p> Let's install a simple graphical text editor. It's easier to use than <c>gvim</c> or <c>xemacs</c>, and has fewer dependencies. </p> <pre caption="Adding a text editor"> # <i>emerge mousepad</i> </pre> <p> If you need a full-featured word processor but don't want the bloat of OpenOffice, try emerging <c>abiword</c>. <uri link="http://www.abisource.com";>AbiWord</uri> is lighter, faster, and is completely interoperable with industry-standard document types. </p> <pre caption="Adding a word processor"> # <i>emerge -avt abiword</i> </pre> <p> Need a nice email client/newsreader that isn't as demanding as <c>mozilla-thunderbird</c> or <c>evolution</c>? Try <c>sylpheed-claws</c>: </p> <!-- replacement seems to be called claws-mail, but still in ~arch --> <pre caption="Adding an email client"> # <i>emerge -avt sylpheed-claws</i> </pre> <p> For your internet chat needs, <c>irssi</c> is an excellent, tiny, incredibly configurable IRC client that runs in your terminal. If you prefer a compact all-in-one client that handles nearly all chat protocols, you may want to <c>emerge gaim</c>. </p> <p> If you need movie and music players, look no further than <c>mplayer</c> and <c>audacious</c>. They can play most every media format available quite nicely, and have a wealth of additional plugins available for additional functionality. </p> <p> Finally, you'll need a webbrowser. Nearly all graphical webbrowsers require more resources than most of your other desktop applications. Still, <c>mozilla-firefox</c> (or <c>mozilla-firefox-bin</c>) is always a good choice. Alternatively, you may find <c>opera</c> to be quite fast. However, <c>opera</c> is not available on as many processor architectures as <c>mozilla-firefox</c>, and it has more dependencies unless you override them with a USE flag. </p> <pre caption="Adding a webbrowser"> <comment>(Installing Mozilla Firefox)</comment> # <i>emerge mozilla-firefox</i> <comment>(Installing Opera)</comment> # <i>echo "www-client/opera qt-static" >> /etc/portage/package.use</i> # <i>emerge opera</i> </pre> <p> Now that we've explored some good suggestions for rounding out your desktop applications, let's see what else we can do to enhance your Xfce experience. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>Graphical login</title> <body> <p> Remember when we added <c>startxfce4</c> to our <path>~/.xinitrc</path>? All you have to do to get into your desktop is type <c>startx</c> after logging in. This is fine if you prefer a completely text-based boot and login, but let's use a display manager that will automatically start Xfce after booting (so that you can login graphically). </p> <p> First, let's make sure Xfce loads at boot: </p> <pre caption="Adding xdm to the default runlevel"> # <i>rc-update add xdm default</i> </pre> <p> We aren't quite finished yet. We have to pick a display manager and set the appropriate variable. Though there are a few choices available in Portage, for this guide, we'll stick with two display manager options: <c>xdm</c> and <c>gdm</c>. </p> <p> <c>xdm</c> is speedy and lightweight, but it isn't pretty, and isn't really customizable. If you'd like to use it, first <c>emerge</c> it: </p> <pre caption="Installing XDM"> # <i>emerge -avt xdm</i> </pre> <p> Then edit the DISPLAYMANAGER variable in <path>/etc/conf.d/xdm</path>: </p> <pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm"> DISPLAYMANAGER="xdm" </pre> <p> While you can choose to stick with (the rather ugly) <c>xdm</c>, why not try <c>gdm</c> instead? It's far more configurable, and much, much prettier. First, let's <c>emerge</c> it. Note that though it has a few dependencies, they're small, and they're not as nearly as numerous as other display managers. </p> <pre caption="Installing GDM"> # <i>emerge -avt gdm</i> </pre> <p> Next, change the DISPLAYMANAGER variable to use <c>gdm</c> instead of <c>xdm</c>: </p> <pre caption="Editing /etc/conf.d/xdm"> DISPLAYMANAGER="gdm" </pre> </body> </section> <section> <title>Beautifying your desktop</title> <body> <p> A little customization of your desktop's appearance can go a long way. Xfce has all the options you'd expect from a modern desktop environment, font antialiasing settings, color schemes, dozens of window decorations, themes, and more. If these aren't enough, it's easy to install third-party themes, icon sets, mouse cursor themes, and wallpapers. </p> <p> A selection of nice Gentoo wallpapers in a variety of resolutions are hosted on the <uri link="http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/graphics.xml";>Gentoo website</uri>. If you're looking for icon sets and complete Xfce themes, <uri link="http://www.xfce-look.org/";>Xfce-Look</uri> has a huge collection. The important thing to remember about any third-party eyecandy you download is that it will usually first need to be unpacked and then installed to the proper directory. Icon sets go in <path>/usr/share/icons/</path>, and themes go to <path>/usr/share/themes/</path>. </p> <p> If you installed GDM as your display manager, take a look at the many GDM themes available on <uri link="http://www.gnome-look.org";>Gnome-Look</uri>. To install them, you can either unpack and move them to <path>/usr/share/gdm/themes/</path> on the command line, or you can run <c>gdmsetup</c> as <b>root</b> and drag'n'drop the archive into the GDM window. There are some <uri link="http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=45575";>very nice</uri> Gentoo <uri link="http://gnome-look.org/content/show.php?content=20071";>themes</uri> available. </p> <p> Finally, Xfce has its own built-in compositor to manage window transparency. This option can be found in Menu --> Settings --> Window Manager. For best performance, you will need to be running a graphics card with drivers that support hardware-accelerated rendering, and you will need to enable compositing in <path>/etc/X11/xorg.conf</path> by adding the following section: </p> <pre caption="Enabling composite in xorg.conf"> Section "Extensions" Option "Composite" "Enable" EndSection </pre> <p> This is the bare minimum configuration required for Xfce and Xorg-X11. However, setting up hardware-accelerated rendering depends on your individual graphics card, and is beyond the scope of this guide. Please see the other guides in the <uri link="/doc/en/index.xml?catid=desktop">Desktop Documentation Resources</uri> list to learn about configuring hardware-accelerated rendering for your graphics card. </p> </body> </section> </chapter> <chapter> <title>Summary</title> <section> <body> <p> Congratulations on making it this far! You've installed and configured a speedy desktop environment with a solid suite of applications for your computing needs. </p> </body> </section> <section> <title>Resources</title> <body> <p> Need additional help on configuring and using Xfce? Need more lightweight application suggestions? Try asking the folks in: </p> <ul> <li><uri link="http://forums.gentoo.org";>The Gentoo forums</uri></li> <li>#xfce on irc.freenode.net</li> </ul> <p> Finally, Gentoo's Xfce team is responsible for making Xfce available in Portage. Send comments, thanks, and suggestions to <mail>[EMAIL PROTECTED]</mail>. </p> </body> </section> </chapter> </guide> -- [email protected] mailing list
