Linux Mint LXDE 13 LTS?

[seppalta]

Interm report for LXDE on Mint 13 Gome-mate, 64-bit, Linux 3.2.0-24-generic kernel . So far looking good. Sound, video, internet, netwok, wallpaper rotator, skype, wine, quadruple mail launch, lxmed, sunjava6, openbox app menu with icons, all working perfectly on Compaq 8710W with 4GB RAM and T7300, 2.0 Ghz, CPU. Two bumps so far: one boot with a messed-up, but working LXDE panel, been perfect since then; and a continuing inability to access Synaptic/Settings/Repositories, useful for adding new repositories the graphical way. That one has me puzzled - reinstalled Synaptic but didn't fix it. The login is a bit wierd, but works, and I only have to look at it for a few seconds. Automatic log-in does not seem to work. Removed about 66 Mate-Gnome items so far. A plus for this install - can keep Mate-media with the old Gnome2 volume control - do not need pavucontrol to set-up sound!

[3fRI]

The thing I love about LM 12 LXDE on my laptop is that I can run it as Openbox, Mint-LXDE, or plain LXDE and it's lean, clean, and very fast--and I prefer it to Xfce. In fact, I like it so much that I'm thinking about running it on my desktop. If Mint decides to discontinue LXDE, I'll probably look elsewhere. Among the alternatives I favor are #!

[seppalta]

...like it so much that I'm thinking about running it on my desktop.

It is the only desktop that I use anymore. Also, it appears to run very well on different distributions. Right now I run mostly WattOS, which will be soon coming out with a new release, R6 - 64-bit. R5 (64-bit) is very clean and fast, and the WattOS developer personally answers questions on the Watt forum.

[gosa]

Well... guys...

I think this comment in the blog post about Maya says it all:

"cshin9 Says:
May 23rd, 2012 at 12:30 pm

Will the next KDE and Xfce (and possibly Fluxbox) editions be based on Maya, or will they finally be migrated to LMDE?

Edit by Clem: Mint 13 will feature KDE and Xfce editions."

- There won't be an official LXDE version of Maya.
(source: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2031)

@seppalta:

- Would it be easier to strip down the upcoming XFCE-version of Maya or is it the same?

/gosa

[gosa]

Among the alternatives I favor are #!

I agree... #! is a very interesting distro. Tried it about 1,5 years ago but at that time I wasn't ready for all the "tinkering" that came with it... Although I haven't learned enough about linux to feel 100% comfortable since then I still pass by #! once in a while, and it might very well be where my netbook is heading in a not so distant future.

Still hoping to be able to run a ubuntu-powered, maintenance-free lxde environment for the rest of the expected life of this netbook though (5 years is a long time, and even with the 1,5 years that LM12 offers I might have enough) as there's a few things I want installed that I just can't get running in a debian based distro (Jupiter applet is one of them).

[dajare]

- There won't be an official LXDE version of Maya.
(source: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=2031)

Noooo!!! Gutted! I'm running LM 12 LXDE on my Toshiba Satellite Pro A100. I've tried the new 13 Cinnamon flavour on live USB, and it lasts about two minutes before the machine freezes up solid. I was *so* looking forward to 13 LXDE! I can only hope my machine copes better with XFCE than Cinammon, or I might just have to stick with 12, which would be a wee shame.

Can always hope this gets a re-think. (Please please please!!)

Update: Also discussed (confirmed, sadly) in the LM13 XFCE thread.

[seppalta]

I have been running LXDE desktop on the 64-bit Mint 13 Mate operating system for a few days now. With one exception everything seems to be working as it should and is very fast. This is on a Compaq 8710w with 4GB ram. One nice feature was the old gnome-volume-control, lighter than pavucontrol and just as effective, was in the mate-media package, so I kept the mate-media package, which, by the way, is very light and can be successfully added to other LXDE distributions to get a sound control. The Update Manager in Mate is called Aptutude-Package-Manager, and looks very effective, so effective that I stopped it when it appeared to be reloading everything that I had just removed. I installed the old Gnome Update-manager, which showed everything update. Whether it was accurate, I do not know but felt better about the prognostication.

The one bump has been in Synaptic, which refuses to even open up the graphical tool to add other repositories. This is not critical since, I presume that I can still add them by command line, but it is an irritation. Log-in is a bit wierd. You select LXDE as Desktop, which is normal, and then you have a choice among 3 or 4 selections (all meaningless to a beginner) that appear to do nothing. Below them and offset in small print is the word "more". Clicking "more" gets you to the normal name-password log-in page.

Details of what I installed and removed can be seen at http://douwil7.100webspace.net/linux/lubuntu.html. I chose not to make the Synaptic package called lxde part of the LXDE install group because 4 of its 10 items were things that I didn't want. Instead I based the install around the lxde-core package. To be specific I installed:

Code: Select all

lxde-core lxappearance lxappearance-obconf lxterminal xarchiver lxrandr arandr lxdm lxde-icon-theme gstreamer0.10-gnomevfs

. The removal list is too long to put here.

[baptiste]

I think using MATE is a decent option, if you're used to LXDE.
if like me you don't really like mintmenu, you can right-click on empty space and either add a gnome 2 menu, or a xfce/lxde style menu.
the layout is flexible so you can use it as a gnome 2 clone or an lxde clone.
and lastly : it's lightweight! , not really but most alternatives have become so much heavier that it feels slim now (though it's heavier than say windows XP). good enough for a netbook, or a desktop, laptop with ~1GB ram and more.

for some reason I don't like xfce - I found it interesting when I first tried it 5 years ago, but now I don't like the panel, the fonts or Thunar that much.
losing the official LXDE edition is a problem though if you need to install on 3GB or 4GB partition. I hope the xfce edition is lightweight enough, so you can use it stock or add LXDE to it.

[henrydubb]

Why not Peppermint. It uses some Mint Repos and is LXDE from my memory.

[dajare]

I have been running LXDE desktop on the 64-bit Mint 13 Mate operating system for a few days now. With one exception everything seems to be working as it should and is very fast. ...

@seppalta - Thanks for this write-up. Very interesting! LM13 MATE does run on my machine, so doing this conversion is of real interest. I wouldn't begin to tackle it without a guide like the one you provided on your site, though -- very grateful!

[mank_in]

To bad if no LXDE version in LM 13. I am usually use MATE, but LXDE is better for older computer.

[seppalta]

@seppalta - Thanks for this write-up.

Your welcome. I think it is going to be a great operating system. It may have a little extra weight but anyone considering a 64-bit system should have adequate resources to basically just store a few extra libraries. It certainly has that Mint smoothness and reliability. I already did a remastersys and installed my com
plete package on a second laptop.

Also, I somehow managed to correct the Synaptic problem mentioned above. I installed Software Manager, which didn't work, so I removed it. Then the Synaptic Other Repository setting worked. I speculate that I probably initially removed too many libraries and a needed one had remained from messing with Software Manager, in particular, I speculate it might have been python-gi-cairo. So I removed python-gi-cairo from the list of things to remove.

[nightcap]

Seems the non-LXDE13 deal is done. Great shame. LXDE 12 is a trim, terrific version that works really well. No doubt Clem & team envisage MATE/Cinnamon as the future. Still reckon there's a valid role for a lightweight MINT option, where one can optimize/customize the OS fully. Ditch JAVA, Thunderbird etc - all that needless flab. Never mind. Might look at Lubuntu or similar instead in the future......

[dajare]

Seems the non-LXDE13 deal is done. Great shame. LXDE 12 is a trim, terrific version that works really well. No doubt Clem & team envisage MATE/Cinnamon as the future.

Agreed on LM 12 LXDE - for my machine, it's the best Linux distro I've ever used. I would have thought an LXDE version would have added a lot more to the Mint "range" than XFCE which is not all that far from MATE in terms of "weight" or user experience.

Might look at Lubuntu or similar instead in the future......

I migrated from Lubuntu, because the LM 12 experience was so much smoother in terms of web browsing. Lubuntu, for me, was subject to frequent random hangs which on LM12 LXDE are a rarity (not altogether vanished, though). FWIW! YMMV.

[seppalta]

...in terms of web browsing. Lubuntu, for me, was subject to frequent random hangs which on LM12 LXDE are a rarity (not altogether vanished, though).

I think this may be more a function of the browser-system combination, than just the operating system. Firefox and the latest Lubuntu do not work well together, which is probably why Lubuntu comes with Chromium. WattOS comes with Midori, which has been greatly improved and is very light and fast. However, it has some little things like not displaying bookmark icons well which I do not like. Otherwise, WattOS R5 has been just as smooth and light as Mint LXDE.

[baptiste]

I'll have to try latest WattOS, but Midori was not pleasant in my experience, just one of that little browsers that easily crash.
but I've checked its homepage and it's still being developed . good news.
I used Arora in the past, very similar and with an excellent UI but that one was abandoned. maintaining a web browser is a lot of work, no doubt.

[nunol]

Midori does crash a lot but since I disabled scripts it stop crashing, it's faster and uses less RAM. For Lubuntu 12.04 and Mint 12 LXDE I use Midori without scripts as the main browser and when I need the scripts for some page I use FF because Chromium uses more RAM than FF.

I tested LXDE on top of both the MATE and the Cinnamon Mint 13 32bit edition and both work ok but have RAM requirements for installation (320-384MB) that are above of some of my computers. I will wait for the XFCE version to see if it's better but for now I find that Lubuntu 12.04 with the alternative installer is a better option for older computers because it installs with only 128MB of RAM.

I understand that Mint can't have a edition for all DE/WM available but it's a shame that the LXDE edition it's cut on a LTS. Mint 12 LXDE will reach EOL in 11 months and Mint 13 LXDE LTS has the potential for another 59 months.

As already mentioned there are several alternatives to Mint LXDE, I am using Lubuntu 12.04 and looking at Wheezy.

[cwwgateway]

I understand that Mint can't have a edition for all DE/WM available but it's a shame that the LXDE edition it's cut on a LTS. Mint 12 LXDE will reach EOL in 11 months and Mint 13 LXDE LTS has the potential for another 59 months.

I have to agree, having just one more LTS release would be a good idea in my opinion.

[seppalta]

Midori does crash a lot but since I disabled scripts it stop crashing

What do you mean - "disabled scripts"? How do you do this?

[nunol]

My system is in Portuguese so I don't know what actually says in English but should be something like: go to the Menu, select preferences, select the third tab from the left and remove the left and right clicks from the second line, "scripts" and "Netscape Plugins". Midori was crashing all the time before and now it's working fine and uses less RAM and CPU. Didn't try with only "scripts" or with only "Netscape Plugins" removed so I don't know what option is causing the crashes.

If you need more information I can boot a liveCD, install Midori and find out what it says in English.