Bored: any lxde tips?

[kerry_s]

any lxde users want to share some of your tips, tricks, tweaks?

my linux is getting rusty so i'm playing with the lxde desktop, but i just have no ideas what i want to do with it. so far i just been simplifing it cause i have to keep it simple, i'm shareing this computer with my niece, she has downs syndrome.

specs:
vaio pcg-f430 laptop
450 mhz
256 mb ram

i've played with the looks.(see pic)

i created a "root open" in ~/.local/share/applications/root.desktop so i can just right click on the folder/file and open it as root instead of using the "tool" button.


[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Root Open
Exec=gksudo gnome-open %U
Icon=gksu.png


added mvp's host block list to kill ad's

hmm... nothing else comes to mind :(

[urukrama]

This is fun for a while: http://urukrama.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/expose-type-behaviour-in-openbox/

[kerry_s]

This is fun for a while: http://urukrama.wordpress.com/2008/05/23/expose-type-behaviour-in-openbox/

interesting, thanks! i try not run to many app's cause of my low specs, so not really worth bothering with for me.

[mkvnmtr]

I found that when I instlled LXDE on a minimal install it pulled in gdm. This uses a lot of resources so I uninstalled it and just log in from the command line and type startx.If you want a log in manager that uses less resources lyou can try slim. It seems that LXDE in a Ubuntu install pulles in many packages that are not needed so I have quit using it and gone back to xfce4.The way I set it up on a light install it is not much different than LXDE and without the extra dependencies is just as light on ram and cpu usage.

[dzon65]

Give slitaz a shot Kerry.Run it from ram,256 mb will feel like 1Gb.

[juancarlospaco]

add to startup apps:

xdesktopwaves &

[kerry_s]

i forgot all about this thread. :lolflag:
i'll put the script here for lxshortcut.
i'll work on the messy echo command, so it's doesn't list "Categories" several time when editing, as soon as i figure out sed i'll up date the script.

pics here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=8995340#post8995340



#!/bin/bash

# this is a script to add some gui features to lxshortcut for a more user friendly experience
# created on lubuntu 10.04 3/19/2010
# it's a script to fill a need, you may do with it as you please
###

## this part is the choices to choose from ##

chose=`zenity --list --title="Lxshortcut-gui" --column="" "Make Launcher" "Edit Launcher" "Delete Launcher"`

## this part makes the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Make Launcher" ]; then

name=`zenity --entry --text="Enter a Name (example: xterm)
this will not be the name shown, it's only for the *.desktop file"`

if [ "$name" ]; then
lxshortcut -o $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
select=`zenity --list --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other`
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
else
exit 0
fi
fi

## this part is to edit the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Edit Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
lxshortcut -i $selected
select=`zenity --list --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other`
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
else
exit0
fi
fi

## this part is to delete the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Delete Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
rm $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
zenity --info --text="Launcher removed"
else
exit 0
fi
fi
exit 0

[kerry_s]

add to startup apps:

xdesktopwaves &

i use maximus & nodeco in openbox, so all my apps are full screen, since i don't see my desktop most of the time it would be a waste.

but thanks for the tip!

[kerry_s]

alright here's the redone lxshortcut gui script.
i added some height for less scrolling, hope it's not a problem for netbook users. let me know if you find something else you don't like, better still if you improve the script please share, i know my skills are horrid.



#!/bin/bash

# this is a script to add some gui features to lxshortcut for a more user friendly experience
# created on lubuntu 10.04 3/19/2010
# it's a script to fill a need, you may do with it as you please
###

## this part is the choices to choose from ##

chose=`zenity --list --title="Lxshortcut-gui" --column="" "Make Launcher" "Edit Launcher" "Delete Launcher"`

## this part makes the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Make Launcher" ]; then

name=`zenity --entry --text="Enter a Name (example: xterm)
this will not be the name shown, it's only for the *.desktop file"`

if [ "$name" ]; then
lxshortcut -o $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
select=`zenity --list --height="400" --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other`
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
else
exit 0
fi
fi

## this part is to edit the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Edit Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --height="400" --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
lxshortcut -i $selected
sed -e '/;$/d' -i $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
select=`zenity --list --height="400" --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other`
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
else
exit0
fi
fi

## this part is to delete the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Delete Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --height="400" --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
rm $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
zenity --info --text="Launcher removed"
else
exit 0
fi
fi
exit 0



here's a upload if you don't want to copy & paste.

[kerry_s]

for those that would rather use the trash system change:


rm $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected

to

gvfs-trash $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected


then if you delete the wrong launcher, you can still save it.


## this part is to delete the launcher ##

if [ "$chose" = "Delete Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --height="400" --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
gvfs-trash $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
zenity --info --text="Launcher removed"
else
exit 0
fi
fi
exit 0

[kerry_s]

for those that miss the trash panel applet, you can now get trash notifications in your system tray. just add to your startup an enjoy.



#!/bin/bash
#
# created for Lubuntu 10.04 on 3/21/2010
# by falconindy & kerry_s @ http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9006632#post9006632
# this was made to serve a need, do with it as you please.
#
# make sure you have gvfs-bin installed.
###

## this is the path to the trash icon, change to match your theme use "locate user-trash-full" in terminal.
icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/status/user-trash-full.svg

## this is the file manager used when clicked.
filemanager=/usr/bin/pcmanfm2

## don't need to touch this.
dir=$HOME/.local/share/Trash/files

while true; do
[[ $(gvfs-info trash:/// | grep 'trash::item-count: 0') ]] || {
zenity --notification --window-icon="$icon" --text=" $(gvfs-ls trash:///) ";
$filemanager $dir; sleep 90;
}
sleep 10
done

[kerry_s]

a very simple "add to startup" script.



#!/bin/bash

start=`zenity --entry --text="Add to startup" `
echo "@$start" >> $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
sed -e '/\@$/d' -i $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart

[kerry_s]

i decided i wanted to be able to edit the file if i wanted.



#!/bin/bash

choose=`zenity --list --column="" "Add to startup" "Edit startup file" `

if [ "$choose" == "Add to startup" ]; then
start=`zenity --entry --text="Add to startup" `
echo "@$start" >> $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
sed -e '/\@$/d' -i $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
fi

if [ "$choose" == "Edit startup file" ]; then
gnome-open $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
fi

[kerry_s]

lubuntu uses scrot for the print key screenshots, well i use a small roll up keyboard that doesn't have a print key, i was using xfce4-screenshooter which is great, but i figured why not make something for scrot, give it some gui love. ;)



#!/bin/bash

choose=`zenity --list --column="" "Whole desktop" "Delay screenshot" "Select area" `

if [ "$choose" == "Whole desktop" ]; then
scrot -d 1 %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'
fi

if [ "$choose" == "Delay screenshot" ]; then
num=`zenity --entry --text="Delay Time" `
scrot -d $num %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'
fi

if [ "$choose" == "Select area" ]; then
scrot -s %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'
fi
exit 0

[kerry_s]

just saving my scripts off the computer, all my flash drives are being borrowed.

leafpad override, checks if file owner is root, if so open as root.


#!/bin/bash

test=`stat -c %U "$@"`
if [ "$test" == "root" ]; then
gksu /usr/bin/leafpad "$@"
else
/usr/bin/leafpad "$@"
fi
exit 0


gui for lxshortcut, makes it more menu friendly.


#!/bin/bash

chose=`zenity --list --height="250" --title="Lxshortcut-gui" --column="" "Make Launcher" "Edit Launcher" "Delete Launcher"`

if [ "$chose" == "Make Launcher" ]; then

name=`zenity --entry --text="Enter a Name (example: xterm)
this will not be the name shown, it's only for the *.desktop file"`

if [ "$name" ]; then
lxshortcut -o $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
select=`zenity --list --height="400" --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other`
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$name.desktop
else
exit 0
fi

elif [ "$chose" == "Edit Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --height="400" --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
lxshortcut -i $selected
sed -e '/;$/d' -i $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
select=`zenity --list --height="400" --text="Choose the Menu Section" --column="" Utility Graphics Network Office AudioVideo System Settings Other Hide`

if [ "$select" == "Hide" ]; then
echo "NoDisplay=true" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
exit 0
fi

sed -e '/NoDisplay=true$/d' -i $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
echo "Categories=$select;" >> $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
fi

elif [ "$chose" == "Delete Launcher" ]; then

scan=`ls $HOME/.local/share/applications | grep .desktop`
selected=`zenity --list --height="400" --column="" $scan`
if [ $selected ]; then
rm $HOME/.local/share/applications/$selected
zenity --info --text="Launcher removed"
else
exit 0
fi
fi

exit 0


gui for scrot to take screen shots.


#!/bin/bash

sel=`zenity --title="Screenshot Options" --list --column="" "Whole desktop" "Delay screenshot" "Select area"`

if [ "$sel" == "Whole desktop" ]; then
scrot -d 1 %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'; notify-send "Screenshot done"
elif [ "$sel" == "Delay screenshot" ]; then
num=`zenity --entry --text="Delay Time"`
scrot -d $num %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'; notify-send "Screenshot done"
elif [ "$sel" == "Select area" ]; then
scrot -s %T.png -e 'mv $f ~/Desktop'; notify-send "Screenshot done"
fi
exit 0


add & edit the startup file.


#!/bin/bash

zenity --question --text="Add or Edit autostart" --cancel-label="Edit startup file" --ok-label="Add startup program"
ans="$?"

if [ "$ans" == "0" ]; then
start=`zenity --entry --text="Add to startup" `
echo "@$start" >> $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
sed -e '/\@$/d' -i $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
elif [ "$ans" == "1" ]; then
leafpad $HOME/.config/lxsession/Lubuntu/autostart
fi
exit 0

[kerry_s]

check gmail:



#!/bin/bash

while true; do

gmail_login="login-name"
gmail_password="password"
icon="/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/actions/mail-mark-important.svg"

check="$(wget --secure-protocol=TLSv1 --timeout=3 -t 1 -q -O - \
https://${gmail_login}:${gmail_password}@mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom \
--no-check-certificate | grep 'fullcount' \
| sed -e 's/.*<fullcount>//;s/<\/fullcount>.*//' 2>/dev/null)"

if [ "$check" == "0" ]; then
sleep 300
else
zenity --info --text="You Have Mail"
zenity --notification --text="$check Unread" --window-icon="$icon"
gnome-open https://mail.google.com/
sleep 300
fi

done

[guy-rouillier]

I found that when I instlled LXDE on a minimal install it pulled in gdm. This uses a lot of resources so I uninstalled it and just log in from the command line and type startx.

I'm new to LXDE. I got it running fine on 10.4, but I'd like to boot up to a simple login prompt and run startx when desired (this is primarily a file server.) The default LXDE install starts up lxdm. Is the correct way to tell it not to start a DM to simply uninstall lxdm? Or am I supposed to modify some plymouth config somewhere to tell it not to start the dm?

Thanks.

[kerry_s]

edit /etc/default/grub
add "1" to the line


GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash 1"

run "sudo update-grub"

[guy-rouillier]

edit /etc/default/grub
add "1" to the line


GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet splash 1"run "sudo update-grub"

Didn't work for me. That line in my file has the following:



GRUB_CMDLINE_LINUX_DEFAULT="quiet"
When I changed it to "quiet splash 1", upon reboot Ubuntu popped up a recovery menu. I tried "quiet 1" and the same thing happened. And yes, I did run "update-grub" after making those changes.

Other ideas?

[guy-rouillier]

I found a solution that works for me here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9470029#post9470029

This info should go into a wiki, as the question seems to come up from time to time.

[kerry_s]

I found a solution that works for me here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9470029#post9470029

This info should go into a wiki, as the question seems to come up from time to time.

so it's now "text" instead of "1", thanks for the heads up.

[Jared Norris]

check gmail:



#!/bin/bash

while true; do

gmail_login="login-name"
gmail_password="password"
icon="/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/actions/mail-mark-important.svg"

check="$(wget --secure-protocol=TLSv1 --timeout=3 -t 1 -q -O - \
https://${gmail_login}:${gmail_password}@mail.google.com/mail/feed/atom \
--no-check-certificate | grep 'fullcount' \
| sed -e 's/.*<fullcount>//;s/<\/fullcount>.*//' 2>/dev/null)"

if [ "$check" == "0" ]; then
sleep 300
else
zenity --info --text="You Have Mail"
zenity --notification --text="$check Unread" --window-icon="$icon"
gnome-open https://mail.google.com/
sleep 300
fi

done



Kerry,

I spent ages looking for anything like this for Lubuntu. I kept getting crashes with "mail-notification" (what I use under gnome) whenever I tried to add a gmail account with various Glib and GTK errors.

This is perfect and is greatly appreciated.

[BrokenTusk]

any lxde users want to share some of your tips, tricks, tweaks?

i created a "root open" in ~/.local/share/applications/root.desktop so i can just right click on the folder/file and open it as root instead of using the "tool" button.


[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Root Open
Exec=gksudo gnome-open %U
Icon=gksu.png


Love this thread cause i recently fell for LXDE. here's how I made my ROOT open script/servicemenu entry work:


[Desktop Entry]
Type=Service
ServiceTypes=KonqPopupMenu/Plugin
MimeType=application/octet-stream;
Actions="Open as ROOT";

[Desktop Action "Open as ROOT"]
Name=Open as ROOT
Icon=bball
Exec=gnomesu gnome-open %F

This .desktop file goes into: "/usr/share/kde4/services/ServiceMenus" then it shows up in the right-click>Actions menu.
Again thanks for your tips and I'll come back to add more of my own.

[Pocio]

for those that miss the trash panel applet, you can now get trash notifications in your system tray. just add to your startup an enjoy.



#!/bin/bash
#
# created for Lubuntu 10.04 on 3/21/2010
# by falconindy & kerry_s @ http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9006632#post9006632
# this was made to serve a need, do with it as you please.
#
# make sure you have gvfs-bin installed.
###

## this is the path to the trash icon, change to match your theme use "locate user-trash-full" in terminal.
icon=/usr/share/icons/gnome/scalable/status/user-trash-full.svg

## this is the file manager used when clicked.
filemanager=/usr/bin/pcmanfm2

## don't need to touch this.
dir=$HOME/.local/share/Trash/files

while true; do
[[ $(gvfs-info trash:/// | grep 'trash::item-count: 0') ]] || {
zenity --notification --window-icon="$icon" --text=" $(gvfs-ls trash:///) ";
$filemanager $dir; sleep 90;
}
sleep 10
done



Thanks for all these wonderful script!
I love them!
Unfortunately, this one does not work for me...I see the icon in the tray, but when I click on it pcmanfm does not open the trash folder...

I solved by changing in this way


## this is the file manager used when clicked.
filemanager=/usr/bin/pcmanfm

## don't need to touch this.
dir=trash:///


Thanks again!

[Spice Weasel]

add to startup apps:

xdesktopwaves &

Thank you. :D