Does Xubuntu need a bit more love? Chapter 2.

[Marzata]

We were very happy with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and we converted all our users to Ubuntu. Most of our users are 35-50 year old and these people use their computers for routine tasks for the last 5 years. We did some test and the result was clear – nobody liked Unity and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and everybody felt in love with XFCE and Xubuntu 12.04 LTS. So, we migrated all our machines to Xubuntu 12.04 LTS. Xubuntu is the most elegant and aesthetic distro around. What about you?

[Mikeb85]

We were very happy with Ubuntu 10.04 LTS and we converted all our users to Ubuntu. Most of our users are 35-50 year old and these people use their computers for routine tasks for the last 5 years. We did some test and the result was clear – nobody liked Unity and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS and everybody felt in love with XFCE and Xubuntu 12.04 LTS. So, we migrated all our machines to Xubuntu 12.04 LTS. Xubuntu is the most elegant and aesthetic distro around. What about you?

I like Gnome 3 and Unity, but XFCE is good for people who like the Gnome 2 paradigm...

[BigSilly]

The missus had been using 10.04 Lucid since its launch, but I managed to convince her to upgrade to the new LTS when it became available. Thinking she would prefer Xubuntu, being used to Gnome 2 and all, I stuck it on for her. But she hates it! I was really surprised by this. Having a couple of problems with it (eg. the Firefox window keeps disappearing for some reason, leaving behind only the window bar at the top, and nothing seems to recover it bar closing and relaunching it), and generally she doesn't find it as complete as the older Gnome Ubuntu.

Tried her out with Ubuntu 12.04 Unity and success! She loves it. Took a bit of time explaining the new desktop, but it's a real winner for her.

For me, I can see the appeal of Xubuntu, but I wouldn't use it on my own desktop personally. It's just not for me.

[PaulW2U]

Xubuntu is the most elegant and aesthetic distro around. What about you?

Although I have it installed on my laptop I just can't get the colour schemes looking right. Some of the default schemes are just awful. I gave up trying to use terminal programs in Xubuntu until I changed to colour scheme to something more conventional. So while Xubuntu does need more love and attention it is certainly not the most elegant distro around.

So, I'll be sticking with Kubuntu on my desktop and Ubuntu/Lubuntu on my netbook.

[Lightstar]

Xubuntu's alright.

[wheeze]

Having a couple of problems with it (eg. the Firefox window keeps disappearing for some reason, leaving behind only the window bar at the top, and nothing seems to recover it bar closing and relaunching it), ...

The window manager in Xfce has window-shade ability built in. Sounds like somehow your wife is "rolling up the shade". Does the title bar have an up arrow next to the usual min/max/close buttons? Sorry, I'm not familiar with Xubuntu's theme.

[arsenic23]

I like most of it, and it is what I'm using on my main desktop now, but...

Well xfdesktop is awful. I want to smoosh my desktop icons around and form little piles. xfdesktop only lets you keep them in a grid. So I set nautilus to render my desktop. I don't like thunar or any file manager anymore really. Old nautilus used to have a compact mode that worked well and eliminated wasted space. Nautilus doesn't have this anymore and the version used in caja is not ideal. I didn't really like the feel of thunar so I'm using marlin and sometimes nautilus.

Also, in 12.04 and from my experience, xfce is the only DE where I can run compiz without terrible bugs. If I run it with Unity I can't even use custom key commands with the supper key - they just don't work.

Personally I think a good linux DE should be, above all else, modular. You should be able to swap any part of it out for any other similar package. NONE of the new DEs do this or do it well; it is completely anti-linux as far I'm concerned. Even KDE is better then Unity and Gnome 3 at being modular, and it is the original Evil King of Integration. I hate integration.

So yes, I'm an xfce boy now. The only interface problem I haven't worked out in 12.04 is why compiz's scale doesn't support scale for all workspaces anymore. That was one of my main reasons for using it in the first place.

[smellyman]

Also, in 12.04 and from my experience, xfce is the only DE where I can run compiz without terrible bugs. If I run it with Unity I can't even use custom key commands with the supper key - they just don't work.




Unity's WM is compiz.....

[arsenic23]

Unity's WM is compiz.....

Yeah, I know. That's what I'm talking about. In unity compiz doesn't work the way you would expect it to while if you run sans-unity it works just as expected. I didn't even have to change any settings.

Configured the way I wanted in Unity: Broken
Not changing config files and starting it in xfce: Working

A lot of key command stuff seems to have been hijacked by parts of Unity. For instance you can't set super+XCVB as back,pause,play,forward in Clementine in 12.04's Unity. Some of those keys just won't work.

[drawkcab]

I said this in the other thread but Live Voyager is a very slick spin of xubuntu. I am using it on my primary machine. XFCE 4.8/4.10 is really easy to work with coming from a Gnome 2.x environment and easy on the resources.

I'm warming up to Gnome Shell which is improving as themes and extensions appear. It completely rocks on my htpc where preserving a traditional workflow is not much of an issue.

Has anyone worked seriously with Ubuntu + MATE?

[mamamia88]

I said this in the other thread but Live Voyager is a very slick spin of xubuntu. I am using it on my primary machine. XFCE 4.8/4.10 is really easy to work with coming from a Gnome 2.x environment and easy on the resources.

I'm warming up to Gnome Shell which is improving as themes and extensions appear. It completely rocks on my htpc where preserving a traditional workflow is not much of an issue.

Has anyone worked seriously with Ubuntu + MATE?

i started using xfce everyday lately and i find it's better than gnome 2 was. it has tiling left/right/top/bottom and the panels are more customizable, not to mention it's super fast. i just wish they had the option to customize the menu entries

[vasa1]

... i just wish they had the option to customize the menu entries
Could you give details in another thread? The "problem" with Xfce is that there mostly are solutions but they're buried deep and then we need a veteran user to come along and provide the solution ;)
Of course, the documentation is pretty extensive but who has time for that when everything is supposed to be intuitive?
(Intuitive is the overused word of the decade, IMO.)

[mamamia88]

Could you give details in another thread? The "problem" with Xfce is that there mostly are solutions but they're buried deep and then we need a veteran user to come along and provide the solution ;)
Of course, the documentation is pretty extensive but who has time for that when everything is supposed to be intuitive?
(Intuitive is the overused word of the decade, IMO.)

meh i just deal with it by installing only what i need so there is nothing in the menu i don't use. just create a launcher or two on the panel for most frequented apps. too lazy to try and customize the menu. just wish i could remove the one or two apps that the launchers don't do anything that were installed as dependencies for apps i do use

[mips]

just wish i could remove the one or two apps that the launchers don't do anything that were installed as dependencies for apps i do use

That's not to hard to do from what I remember but I can't remember the exactly how part (think it involves editing the apps .desktop file or whatever it's called). I'll post back here later with a solution if someone else does not do so in the interim.

[lykwydchykyn]

I personally prefer more esoteric environments to XFCE (awesome wm, at the moment), but for "normal" users it's become my go-to DE, especially since I'm usually setting up Linux on computers that can't handle fancier DE's.

[bob-linux-user]

Xubuntu is good. The default theme is indeed awful but that is easily changed. I think improvements could be made by:

1) Making the spacing on the start menu customizable-the default is too small

2) Making it possible to set and change themes graphically just like good old gnome 2

3) Using Nautilus as the default file manager-unless the latest iteration of Nautilus turns something that was good into unusable gibberish like Unity!

4) Solving the end transport not connected problem that plagues users with encrypted home folders.

5) Have a places menu exactly the same as gnome 2 would be nice

Gnome fallback, Mate and Xfce all have their good and bad points but all 3 are way better than gnome shell or Unity.

[forrestcupp]

I think KDE needs more love from users. Nobody talks about it, but in my opinion, it's the most solid DE out there. Also, everyone has always talked about how heavy it is, but most of that was actually addressed in 4.8. I'd say it's at least as snappy as Gnome and Unity now, and definitely has more features.

[sffvba[e0rt]

Enjoyed this review of Xubuntu 12.04 (http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/xubuntu-pangolin.html) as well as this look at XFCE 4.10 (http://www.linux.com/learn/tutorials/624056-xfce-410-the-sane-linux-desktop).


404

[Primefalcon]

I am not a huge fan of KDE, it's alright but that's about... however the Dolphin file manager and the Plasma Desktop Rock....

For a while I did have both of those rocking under Unity but..... these days I usually just go stock

[ramsharan065]

I was also happy with ubuntu 10.04. When I used ubuntu 12.04 for the first time, I felt hard to use it. But after using for a while, I loved ubuntu 12.04. But in order to make power usage less, I have tried to use xubuntu but I felt very hard to use it because it is very easy to search application in ubuntu 12.04. I feel it is just a matter of one or two weeks. After that it will be easy to use ubuntu12.04.

[Artemis3]

5) Have a places menu exactly the same as gnome 2 would be nice

sudo apt-get install xfce4-places-plugin


I particularly don't need "graphical" theme changes, because choosing them from the list shows the changes immediately, and will also let you spot themes that lack gtk3 support (if you leave a gtk3 app open).

More interesting would be an "install theme" button/drag & drop area, to avoid having to manually decompress a file into ~/.themes, and of course another button to remove them (user installed themes only).

[BrokenKingpin]

I am loving Xubuntu these days. It has a perfect balance of speed, usability, and looks. It has all the features you really need from a modern desktop. From my experience Xfce is almost as fast as LXDE (for real world use), but is much more polished, and has features like built in WM compositing.

I am surprised Xfce and Xubuntu are not more popular, especially with all the Unity and Gnome 3 hate that was going around (not so much on the Unity anymore though).

[johnnybgoode83]

I have just installed Xubuntu after breaking my Ubuntu installation with my tinkering :lolflag:

I love Xubuntu and may make it my primary OS because it is quick and stable which is a winning combination.

[mips]

XFCE is great. The standard Xubuntu install is not so great but is you do a base install and add your own stuff you end up with a lightning fast os.

[mamamia88]

Probably overkill but me want http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wshwmSj7o30

[neu5eeCh]

Well xfdesktop is awful. I want to smoosh my desktop icons around and form little piles. xfdesktop only lets you keep them in a grid.

Yes, but this is surprisingly easy to remedy. Look here (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2047899). You can make the grid as large or small as you like.


I don't like thunar or any file manager anymore really.

I don't either. Linux Devs get all Theocratic and Ideological when it comes to File Managers. It's just stupid. I was just reading an article about Gnome devs who refused to add a feature to Nautilus because <gasp> KDE's Dolphin already "does that". I mean, how neck-beard-immature can you get? :rolleyes:


Personally I think a good linux DE should be, above all else, modular.

That *is* the nice thing about XFCE. E17 is also like this.

[neu5eeCh]

I am surprised Xfce and Xubuntu are not more popular, especially with all the Unity and Gnome 3 hate that was going around (not so much on the Unity anymore though).

It's the bling. Linux users are like moths. XFCE doesn't have bling. They may hate Unity, G3S and even KDE, but they have bling. They can't help it. The bling will singe them. The bling will burn them to a crisp. But they have to have the bling. They fly toward the bling. It's species specific.

[neu5eeCh]

i just wish they had the option to customize the menu entries

sudo apt-get install alacarte

[mamamia88]

sudo apt-get install alacarte

i'm on arch. and it wasn't compiling right from the AUR. I found this which works pretty well for anyone who is looking https://launchpad.net/menulibre

[Stonecold1995]

Xubuntu is the most elegant and aesthetic distro around.
I have to disagree with you on that. I'm not a fan of Unity, and sometimes I even prefer the Xfce look (I guess all that time using my hacked Nintendo DS with ancient Linux gave me a liking for simple desktops), but I have to say when it comes to elegant and aesthetic, nothing can beat KDE. It's no longer as bloated and slow as it once was. In fact, I haven't had a single problem with it being slow on my laptop, and I can be running two instances of Windows XP in VirtualBox, Folding@home, Chromium with over 100 tabs, and several other apps open at once using 100% CPU and 90% RAM before KDE starts to get buggy and slow. And that's all without a dedicated GPU, just using my CPU's integrated graphics (which KDE takes advantage of the hardware acceleration excellently).

Xfce is very good, but I wouldn't definitely not consider it one of the more aesthetic DEs.

[makitso]

I am surprised Xfce and Xubuntu are not more popular, especially with all the Unity and Gnome 3 hate that was going around (not so much on the Unity anymore though).You know, that is a very good question. My main system is 12.04/Gnome shell. I run Xubuntu in a VM, have it looking like Ubuntu (Ambiance theme, sound, Cairo dock, LightDM login, etc.) But, I always tell myself that next release I am moving to Xubuntu -- but never quite do. I think its partly "bling" as described earlier -- its kind of drab out of the box and I think that turns people off.

IMO, the stock system could easily be made to be simple and elegant and still retain its light and speedy appeal. But, if it were, it would be too competitive with Ubuntu and I don't think Canonical would stand for that :-)

[neu5eeCh]

i'm on arch. and it wasn't compiling right from the AUR. I found this which works pretty well for anyone who is looking https://launchpad.net/menulibre

Yeah... It's stuff like that that keeps me in the Ubuntu family. I would probably learn more if I struggled with Arch.

[mamamia88]

Yeah... It's stuff like that that keeps me in the Ubuntu family. I would probably learn more if I struggled with Arch.

You'd be surprised how easy it is. Heck if you follow the beginners guide it's almost impossible to screw up. And packages you use on a daily basis are in the official repos. Also if you are having trouble getting something to compile from the AUR either somebody has suggested a better alternative or provided a solution in the comments. I had been meaning to try it forever and suddenly i couldn't resist the urge.

[mips]

You'd be surprised how easy it is.

Are you using systemd?

[mamamia88]

Are you using systemd?

yeah i moved over when pacman asked me if i wanted to move over. the machine actually boots much quicker than it did before

[vasa1]

I find https://bbs.archlinux.org/ very useful for all things related to Arch Linux.

[mamamia88]

I find https://bbs.archlinux.org/ very useful for all things related to Arch Linux.
absolutely but i actually find answers on here quicker than there. the wiki is so extensive that if you can't find an answer on there good luck.

[mips]

yeah i moved over when pacman asked me if i wanted to move over. the machine actually boots much quicker than it did before

That's what I was interested in, thanks ;)