LXDE

LXDE In Fedora

LXDE ((Lightweight X Desktop Environment) is a new project aimed to provide a new desktop environment which is lightweight and fast. It's not designed to be powerful and bloated, but to be usable and slim enough, and keep the resource usage low. It consists of

• PCManFM: File manager, provides desktop icons
• LXPanel: Feature-rich desktop panel
• LXSession Lite: Standard-compliant X11 session manager with shutdown/reboot/suspend support via HAL
• lxde-settings-daemon: XSettings Daemon
• LXInput: Keyboard and mouse settings dialog
• LXRandR: Configuration tool for monitors and external projectors
• LXAppearance: Feature-rich GTK+ theme switcher able to change GTK+ themes, icon themes, and fonts
• LXTask: Lightweight task manager derived from xfce4 task manager
• LXTerminal: Desktop-independent VTE-based terminal emulator
• LXLauncher: Open source replacement for the Asus Launcher on the EeePC
• LXShortcut: Small utility to edit application shortcuts, used by lxpanel and lxlauncher
• LXNM (still under development): Lightweight network manager for LXDE supporting wireless connections (not in Fedora )
• LXRandR (still under development): Monitor configuring tool (not in Fedora)
• Openbox: Lightweight, standard-compliant, and highly-configurable window manager.
• GPicView: A very simple, fast, and lightweight image viewer featuring immediate startup
• Leafpad: Lightweight and simple text editor
• XArchiver: Lightweight, fast, and desktop-independent gtk+-based file archiver

LXDE uses a modular approach: Each component of LXDE can be used independently, so you don't need to install the whole Desktop, if you don't like it.

Installing LXDE

LXDE is not available in the traditional Fedora DVD image unlike GNOME and KDE. However it is available in the repository. You can also install LXDE packages after installation using yum or the package manager of your choice.

Fedora 10 and above

To install LXDE in Fedora 10 and above using yum, execute the following as root:

yum install @lxde-desktop

Fedora 8 and 9

To install only a basic desktop environment, execute:

yum install lxde-common

Using LXDE

GDM or KDM

For GDM and KDM no manual configuration is needed, just select LXDE from the available sessions listed by the display manager. If you don't see LXDE, restart your gdm or kdm, or reboot.

SLiM

In Fedora, slim may be called through a wrapper, slim-dynwm, which determines the available window managers using the freedesktop information and modifies the slim configuration file accordingly, before launching slim. To use SLiM with Fedora, put the following in your /etc/sysconfig/desktop configuration:

DISPLAYMANAGER=/usr/bin/slim-dynwm

To reboot or halt, login in as special username "reboot" or "halt" - using the root password. To get a console prompt use username "console", and to switch sessions use F1, screenshot F11.

Make LXDE the default Desktop

To use LXDE as the default desktop for new users, add the following in your /etc/sysconfig/desktop configuration:

PREFERRED=/usr/bin/startlxde

Fedora's LXDE SIG

The LXDE SIG (Special Interest Group) is a group of Fedora contributors that help improve the LXDE experience in Fedora

Fedora LXDE Spin

The Fedora LXDE Spin is scheduled for Fedora 12.

Bugs

• LXDE tracker bug

Links

• http://www.lxde.org/ - Home of the Xfce Desktop Environment
• http://wiki.lxde.org - LXDE Wiki
• http://wiki.lxde.org/en/Fedora - Fedora in the LXDE Wiki
• http://blog.lxde.org - LXDE Blog
• http://forum.lxde.org - LXDE Forum