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Xfce is great

rubenerd.com

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Re: Xfce is great

#31

Post by ntnsndr »

Reubend wrote: post #6

I love the idea of a minimal desktop environment, but I've never tried XFCE. Are there any themes that folks here would recommend to make it much prettier? I find the screenshots on their homepage very intuitive but a bit ugly.

Remove all the xfce design elements you don't like. Ytou can even use a borderless theme, eg https://github.com/ushioichi/borderless-xfwm-theme

I added i3 so everything is on the keyboard.

XFCE is great because it lets you put it in the background. The GUIs are there when you need them, but it is just as happy if you don't.

Re: Xfce is great

#32

Post by Grom_PE »

I've found Xfce with Wallis theme to be quite comfortable after I ditched Windows 7. Been using it for 3 years now.

Also I enjoyed how easily I could modify it:

- xfwm4: zoom only to multiples of integer, nearest neighbor only

- xfwm4: stop moving zoomed area after the cursor when Scroll Lock is on

- xfce4-screenshooter: supply custom actions with parameters %x %y %w %h of a selected rectangle, allowing me, for example, to select a rectangle and then launch a screen recording script.

Never found the use for multiple desktops, though.

The only part that irritates me is having to interact with the GTK file chooser (file open dialog). Someday I might be annoyed enough to replace it.

Re: Xfce is great

#33

Post by esseph »

nine_k wrote: post #18
Fiveplus wrote: post #11

While I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for the traditional desktop metaphor, this analysis conflates interface familiarity with architectural efficiency . It is a pleasant sentiment please don't get me wrong but technically a bit short sighted. The author praises xfce's modularity and unix-like separation of components (xfwm4, xfce4-panel, xfdesktop), failing to realize that this design pattern is actually a perf…

As a decades-long Xfce user, I greatly value Xfce's modularity, and don't care the slightest bit about improving the display server performance. Xfce is already snappy well beyond my level of sensitivity, and I won't trade the flexibility I have and use for a sliver of extra performance I don't even think I might need. (Yes, it's plenty snappy on an external 4K@60 monitor. A desktop environment is not a competitive F…

But maybe people want to run XFCE AND play competitive fps?

It would be embarrassing for gnome to be more performant there than XFCE.

Re: Xfce is great

#34

Post by ntnsndr »

andrewflnr wrote: post #2

If anyone is actually switching to Linux in the current hype cycle, I'd very much recommend starting with XFCE if you can. In my experience it really does seem to be the lowest-BS desktop out there, like the good parts of Windows XP.

I'm not sure I agree. It takes getting used to, and the default designs tend to feel old-fashioned, giving a false impression that it won't do what you need. The settings feel like you're almost in a config file. Except for on old computers, Gnome or Cosmic are safer starting points.

I guess I assume "BS" means "UX flourishes that most end users are used to," and I'm not sure minimizing it immediately is the best approach to bring people into the ecosystem.

Re: Xfce is great

#35

Post by Nursie »

voidfunc wrote: post #25

Loved XFCE but it's borderline unusable with high DPI monitors and dual monitor setups that aren't the same.

You can do some xrandr magic to make it better and set a virtual rendering target that keeps things consistent across screens. It's a bit of a pain to work out though.

Re: Xfce is great

#36

Post by Nursie »

Reubend wrote: post #6

I love the idea of a minimal desktop environment, but I've never tried XFCE. Are there any themes that folks here would recommend to make it much prettier? I find the screenshots on their homepage very intuitive but a bit ugly.

I like the greybird and greybird-dark themes, I think greybird is the default with xubuntu.

(edit - there are a ton of themes out there: https://www.xfce-look.org

Though personally I would avoid using their app)

Re: Xfce is great

#37

Post by notpushkin »

Fiveplus wrote: post #11

While I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for the traditional desktop metaphor, this analysis conflates interface familiarity with architectural efficiency . It is a pleasant sentiment please don't get me wrong but technically a bit short sighted. The author praises xfce's modularity and unix-like separation of components (xfwm4, xfce4-panel, xfdesktop), failing to realize that this design pattern is actually a perf…

I’d say optimizing a WM like this makes sense. Why would I want to optimize a panel or desktop?

Re: Xfce is great

#39

Post by margalabargala »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #16
Fiveplus wrote: post #11

While I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for the traditional desktop metaphor, this analysis conflates interface familiarity with architectural efficiency . It is a pleasant sentiment please don't get me wrong but technically a bit short sighted. The author praises xfce's modularity and unix-like separation of components (xfwm4, xfce4-panel, xfdesktop), failing to realize that this design pattern is actually a perf…

Can you quantify those performance problems? Would I notice them on a 2018 vintage laptop?

As someone who runs modern XFCE on a core 2 duo I still have without noticable perf issues, the problems the parent talks about are theoretical and not observable.

Re: Xfce is great

#40

Post by FlyingSnake »

readthenotes1 wrote: post #16
Fiveplus wrote: post #11

While I appreciate the author's enthusiasm for the traditional desktop metaphor, this analysis conflates interface familiarity with architectural efficiency . It is a pleasant sentiment please don't get me wrong but technically a bit short sighted. The author praises xfce's modularity and unix-like separation of components (xfwm4, xfce4-panel, xfdesktop), failing to realize that this design pattern is actually a perf…

Can you quantify those performance problems? Would I notice them on a 2018 vintage laptop?

I am running XFCE on a 2019 vintage desktop. CachyOS and 16GB RAM. It is snappy and very performant for my needs and I work on it daily for software development
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