Xfce on Ubuntu?

[Deer Hunter]

Hello guys, I have Ubuntu 10.04 Gnome, and recently installed the Xfce environment because I've been enjoying it on Mint.

Here's my question: How similar to Xubuntu is an Xfce environment on top of standard Ubuntu? If I use Update manager to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, will the result be like Xubuntu 11.04?

Thanks for any input.

Deer Hunter

[wildmanne39]

Hello guys, I have Ubuntu 10.04 Gnome, and recently installed the Xfce environment because I've been enjoying it on Mint.

Here's my question: How similar to Xubuntu is an Xfce environment on top of standard Ubuntu? If I use Update manager to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, will the result be like Xubuntu 11.04?

Thanks for any input.

Deer HunterHi, after you install 11.04 then you can go into synaptic and install xfce, or you could switch to xfce.

I think unless you installed the complete desktop for xfce which would include a lot of packages that are not needed you will be using all the programs in ubuntu that you normally do it would just have the xfce desktop environment.

[Ozymandias_117]

Hello guys, I have Ubuntu 10.04 Gnome, and recently installed the Xfce environment because I've been enjoying it on Mint.

Here's my question: How similar to Xubuntu is an Xfce environment on top of standard Ubuntu? If I use Update manager to upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, will the result be like Xubuntu 11.04?

Thanks for any input.

Deer Hunter

If you install xubuntu-desktop, you will get every package you would get in an Xubuntu release, the only difference will be that you will also have all the programs that came with Gnome since you already had them installed.

[Deer Hunter]

I got xfce by installing these 2 packages from the Software Centre:

xfce4 Meta-package for the Xfce Lightweight Desktop Environment

xfce4-goodies enhancements for the Xfce4 Desktop Environment


The last one installed a whole bunch of other things, which is okay. But anyway, that's all I know about which packages I installed.

Just to make sure I'm getting this clear, what I have now is the Ubuntu base kernal, with TWO desktop environments on top now, instead of just one, right? Truly the best of both worlds.

Thanks for your help and patience.

Deer Hunter

[koleoptero]

That's exactly what you have although you didn't need the xfce4-goodies package, it contains a lot of programs that have better alternatives in gnome-ubuntu you already have installed (like that horrible archive program whose name I don't remember).

The difference between installing xubuntu and doing this is that you have some different programs like media players and stuff, which you can install by hand if you want to anyway. The kernel and other base packages are the same. You might also want to install the xubuntu-artwork package to have some proper xfce themes.

[Deer Hunter]

That's exactly what you have although you didn't need the xfce4-goodies package, it contains a lot of programs that have better alternatives in gnome-ubuntu you already have installed (like that horrible archive program whose name I don't remember).

The difference between installing xubuntu and doing this is that you have some different programs like media players and stuff, which you can install by hand if you want to anyway. The kernel and other base packages are the same. You might also want to install the xubuntu-artwork package to have some proper xfce themes.


I might go ahead and uninstall that xfce4-goodies package, as I made a word document list of all the programs I like to use on Ubuntu, which I can then go and install by hand.

As far as the "horrible archive program" I think you must be referring to Thunar. When I installed Mint 9 Xfce, I disliked Thunar because it wouldn't show my Windows and Ubuntu partitions as available to mount and get stuff from. Some kind soul on the Mint forums directed me to PCManFM, and I use that instead.

Anyway, thanks for the tip about the artwork package; I had wondered how to get a little bit nicer of a theme, as the stock xfce theme is rather bland.

Thanks all for the helpful input. That answers all my questions.

Deer Hunter

[hhh]

As far as the "horrible archive program" I think you must be referring to Thunar.
No, he means Squeeze, and he's right, File Roller is much better (even Xfce's other archiver, xarchiver, is better).