New Desktop Environment!

[Testingte]

A new *lightweight* DE has appeared!

Introducing: Razor-Qt !

http://www.webupd8.org/2011/12/razor-qt-new-lightweight-desktop.html#more

Nice, simplistic, and quite slick looking!

And best of all: It's lightweight!

Open source continues to grow :D

[lykwydchykyn]

Cool! It's about time there was another Qt DE.

[StewartM]

Yay! I think I'll give it a spin!

StewartM

[Dry Lips]

Very interesting! Thanks a lot... Check also out the official website: http://razor-qt.org/

[forcecore]

Phoronix has post too:
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=MTAyOTg

I really hope that finally we get pure qt desktop without hundred other languages.

[flyingfisch]

Sweet, I'm gonna try it ;)

[Pirate Zoro]

It seems to have a lot of potential, but only time will tell. It looks pretty good so far, though. Been testing it for a bit and like I said there's some real potential here for a lightweight Qt desktop

[Linux_junkie]

I can see a new *buntu using this DE and called RUBUNTU in the next few years.

[lykwydchykyn]

Tried it last night; it's pretty alpha at this stage.

It'd be nice if they found a lightweight Qt Window Manager to pair with it instead of openbox.

[aeiah]

Tried it last night; it's pretty alpha at this stage.

It'd be nice if they found a lightweight Qt Window Manager to pair with it instead of openbox.

yea i was all excited until i realised it didn't have its own window manager. why not just use openbox on its own with any old panel?

[BrokenKingpin]

This doesn't really feel like a full DE to me, feels more like openbox with new panels (which happen to be qt). Don't get me wrong, I would love to see a lightweight QT DE, would prefer they they create their on QT based window manager.

I hope it does turn into a fully functional DE (with it's own WM) some day, as I think there is a need for a lightweight qt based DE. For now this may still be pretty decent for people who like QT/KDE based apps, but still want a light WM/DE without bringing in a bunch of GTK/Gnome dependencies.

I will keep my eye on this.

[lykwydchykyn]

Biggest thing it's missing right now is a file manager. The desktop app doesn't seem to allow for any file management, just displays the files and lets you open/run them.

[BrokenKingpin]

Biggest thing it's missing right now is a file manager. The desktop app doesn't seem to allow for any file management, just displays the files and lets you open/run them.
That article mentioned using qtFM or Andromeda as the file manager, did you give those a try?

I wonder if the availability of pure QT applications may be an issue going forward. Sure there are a ton of QT applications out there, but a large portion of those are KDE apps, so they bring in a lot of KDE dependencies. So if the apps bring half of KDE with it, you might as well be using KDE lol (I am obviously exaggerating a bit).

[lykwydchykyn]

That article mentioned using qtFM or Andromeda as the file manager, did you give those a try?

Haven't, but maybe I will. So far it's not a real compelling environment to spend a lot of time in :)


I wonder if the availability of pure QT applications may be an issue going forward. Sure there are a ton of QT applications out there, but a large portion of those are KDE apps, so they bring in a lot of KDE dependencies. So if the apps bring half of KDE with it, you might as well be using KDE lol (I am obviously exaggerating a bit).

That's natural; XFCE and LXDE tend to borrow GNOME apps until a suitable lightweight replacement gets coded.

[Testingte]

I can see a new *buntu using this DE and called RUBUNTU in the next few years.

Lol I've been thinking that for a while! xP

So far I've found: Needs file manager (I had to put Nautilus on the Desktop just to navigate around)

and "Compiz --replace" logs me out.

I do like the fact that it is able to use several different window managers. After installing KDE I was able to easily get it using kwin and got compiz-type effects through there *saved ! :guitar:*

With KWIN settings at max it was still surprisingly lightweight and easy on the system!

I like how simple and lightweight it is! However, lack of even an option to open up a file manager in the menu prevents me from daily use..

Plenty of great potential though! Can't wait to see what lies in its future! :popcorn:

[IWantFroyo]

That's really nice!

Some of my family members are fans of KDE's interface, but use computers that can make it a bit laggy. When this project matures, I'll definitely try it.

[BrokenKingpin]

and "Compiz --replace" logs me out.

Why???? This is supposed to be a light DE, not a bloated with with stupid ******* spinning cubes.

Same thing with Kwin (although, far better than compiz)... if you are going to use a heavy WM, what the hell is the point, just use KDE.

Also, if you actually read the article, two lightweight file managers were mentioned that you can use.

[lykwydchykyn]

Why???? This is supposed to be a light DE, not a bloated with with stupid ******* spinning cubes.

Same thing with Kwin (although, far better than compiz)... if you are going to use a heavy WM, what the hell is the point, just use KDE.

Also, if you actually read the article, two lightweight file managers were mentioned that you can use.

This is F/LOSS, dude. It's whatever the user can make it.

[BrokenKingpin]

This is F/LOSS, dude. It's whatever the user can make it.
Just because someone CAN do something doesn't mean it is a good idea... but hey, people can do whatever they want. It just baffles me that people try and shoehorn compiz into everything, when it doesn't make sense.

[Testingte]

Just because someone CAN do something doesn't mean it is a good idea... but hey, people can do whatever they want. It just baffles me that people try and shoehorn compiz into everything, when it doesn't make sense.

When testing out a new DE, I always test to see everything it can do. That includes running several programs, testing how they run. Then doing the same with Compiz ;P

[c-1000]

I've been messing around with Razor-QT in a virtual machine for a couple of weeks now. Pretty cool.
I was hoping to forego a Disply Manager and get it up and running with an .xinitrc; but I didn't have much luck...It seems to like KDM a lot better than LightDM, at least for me.
(Unfortunately, installing KDM, even without the recommends, probably defeats the purpose for a lot of folks.)
I'd really, really like to get it working with compiz, but I haven't had any luck with that either...I'll keep fooling around with it and report back if I have any luck.
And to the poster(s) bashing compiz, here's a few things to consider:

1) I'd really like a compositing WM to take advantage of all the cool new QT apps I'll be using.
2) I've been using compiz for years, and it would be nice to have that basis of familiarity when trying out a new DE.
3) Compiz is a LOT more than spinning cubes! In fact, when you turn off all that proof-of-concept stuff, compiz is quite fast and powerful.

I'm suprised the developer(s) went with openbox, to be honest...compiz seems like a prefect match to me.

[Lucradia]

I can see a new *buntu using this DE and called RUBUNTU in the next few years.

KDE is bloated anyway ;)

[vehemoth]

I quite like it, obviously it's a alpha quality now but it means I have an easy to edit session manager that can start my wm and my panel when I log in.
It also provides a right click on desktop menu when your wm and panel don't have one.

with a few easy modifications you can get a good looking lightweight desktop, such as xcompgr, tint2 and having your file manager launch from other or something similar in the right click menu. I really hope they have an openbox style config file or something similar to do stuff in the menu that can't currently be done.

Certainly a project to look forward to as is https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=125088 whatever he ends up calling it.

[Linux_junkie]

I've just downloaded and installed razor-qt 0.4. Will now be testing it and reporting any bugs. Wish me luck!

[Testingte]

I've just downloaded and installed razor-qt 0.4. Will now be testing it and reporting any bugs. Wish me luck!

Best of luck mate! Feel free to come back here and share your experience!

[Linux_junkie]

You can find my report here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1910590)

[BrokenKingpin]

3) Compiz is a LOT more than spinning cubes! In fact, when you turn off all that proof-of-concept stuff, compiz is quite fast and powerful.

I'm suprised the developer(s) went with openbox, to be honest...compiz seems like a prefect match to me.
All of those extra features add bloat. Compiz is a beast, and this DE is supposed to be lightweight, so adding Compiz defeats the purpose. If you want a QT based WM with all those fancy effects, just use KDE. KWin offers everything compiz does and more (ex. tiling), and is far more stable from my experience.

I do agree a compositing WM is needed, but it should be something light like Xfwm, not a beast like compiz.

Between Kwin, Gnome shell, and Unity, I honestly don't see the need for Compiz anymore.

[Testingte]

Between Kwin, Gnome shell, and Unity, I honestly don't see the need for Compiz anymore.

Unity is a Compiz plugin....

[Linuxratty]

I'd really, really like to get it working with compiz, but I haven't had any luck with that either...

Looks nice,but I'll give it a pass till it plays nice with Compiz.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6Ro1Qc4UaE&feature=related

[c-1000]

I'll give it a pass till it plays nice with Compiz.
Yeah, I never was able to get compiz working...I tried using SLiM, starting consolekit via xinit then launching from the command-line, and a couple of other things -- it either kicked me out or started with openbox.
Hopefully it's on the "to-do" list...a Compiz configuration with most of the plugins disabled would be a sweet WM for this. Openbox just feels like bolting wagon wheels onto a Prius, if you ask me. Lightweight doesn't have to mean primitive.
I'm running "pure" XFCE on a minimal install right now, and Compiz is taking up maybe 8-10 more MB than XFWM with compositing turned on. And it seems like it would be easy enough for someone with a little know-how to make a QT version of CCSM; after all, CCSM is just a python frontend for a plain text file, basically. Plus, it would allow Metacity window decorations. I could go on and on...

I've definitely got the Razor-QT project page bookmarked, and I'll be checking back from time to time.

[forcecore]

I have abandoned KDE horror because of bloat and worst is that even KDE cannot be compiled without trash services like Akonadi,Stringi,Nepomuk horrors. Let hope that Razor-QT becomes pure QT military class(means robust, portable to PC-s and devices) DE without using tons of different languages.

Currently only DE i like is Unity 5, in future Razor-qt too.

[Testingte]

KDE horror

Dunno why so many bash KDE... I've been really enjoying it :biggrin:

[llanitedave]

I would like KDE, if it weren't so buggy. Instead of always looking for the perfect DE, why not make one that just works? None of them are quite seamless.

[spcwingo]

It'd be nice if they found a lightweight Qt Window Manager to pair with it instead of openbox.

Like this one:

http://qlwm.get.to/

It says on their site that it will work with qt4. :popcorn: