Fixes for the stable LXDE release.

[Kendall]

There are a few fixes I know to implement for the stable LXDE release. I'll list them below and we can use this thread to discuss other potential changes. I'm going to start implementing fixes spinning new iso files on Monday.

1. Replace the Firefox launcher in the panel with the "minimize all windows" panel applet. This is per Clem's request and I completely understand where he's coming from with this as it's more consistent with the other Mint editions.

2. The volume applet icon on the panel has a slight anomaly that needs to be gotten rid of. This is purely cosmetic but is kind of an eyesore once you take note of it.

3. Change the icon path for Firefox. Basically I need to verify that the Firefox icons are in place and work properly when creating desktop shortcuts. This was brought up in the bug thread.

4. Add a screenshot application. My first thought is to use the community contributed application from the Fluxbox edition, but if anyone has any good arguments for using something else, please let me know here in this thread.

5. Change the .desktop file for gnome-alsamixer to list the name as "Sound Mixer" to make it a little more obvious exactly what this is. New users could potentially benefit.

6. Use lxtask instead of xfce4-taskmanager. I couldn't find anybody who was supporting this package when building the RC, so I went ahead and built it and put it in the repo. lxtask is the native LXDE taskmanager and carries fewer dependencies.


I am NOT planning on changing the default appearance in any way, so unless I get an "overwhelming" community response to change the themes to shiki, then I'm not going to do anything here.

Let me know what else. Thanks.

[Mr_Shifty]

I mentioned it in my review, but it's worth bringing up here for clarity. I think the menu items listed as "Software Manager" and "Update Manager" need to be relabeled "mintInstall" and "mintUpdate", respectively, so that they're consistent with other Linux Mint editions/releases.

[reimero]

Also: Backup Tool/mintBackup.

Otherwise, I was right about to post the exact same thing.

[Kendall]

I mentioned it in my review, but it's worth bringing up here for clarity. I think the menu items listed as "Software Manager" and "Update Manager" need to be relabeled "mintInstall" and "mintUpdate", respectively, so that they're consistent with other Linux Mint editions/releases.

The intention here is to debrand the Mint tools so that other projects can make better use of them without having to fork them, and to provide a generic yet understandable name for people who are newer to Linux. This is Clem's decision. I was able to get away with it in the Fluxbox edition as adding the generic names made the menu too big and ugly.

Also: Backup Tool/mintBackup.

Good call.

How do you guys feel about the screenshot app?

[reimero]

I'd be fine with the app included in the Fluxbox CE.
As for the "mint" branding of those tools, I'm fine with whatever Clem wants you to do, I think Mr_Shifty and I were both pointing it out primarily for the sake of consistency.

[palmito_bom]

The screenshot app for fluxbox would be fine. I'm hoping these updates (they are sounding pretty minor) and roll into the beta version without a fresh install.-- I've got my fstab file and boot options all set up for my netbook's ssd. BTW real battery life seems a smidge (I'd say about 3-4%) better on Mint LXDE vs Fluxbox on my ASUS 901 netbook

[Kendall]

The screenshot app for fluxbox would be fine. I'm hoping these updates (they are sounding pretty minor) and roll into the beta version without a fresh install.-- I've got my fstab file and boot options all set up for my netbook's ssd. BTW real battery life seems a smidge (I'd say about 3-4%) better on Mint LXDE vs Fluxbox on my ASUS 901 netbook

Upgrading to the final release from the RC1 will simply consist of installing all the level 1 and 2 updates in the Update Manager. The LXDE edition has a power manager running by default so power management should be slightly better out of the box. Thanks for the feedback.

[vger7]

First of all thanks so much!
I've been waiting for this release for a long time.
Flawless installation... everything works right out of the box!
(I'm running in VB for now)

I installed htop, and the shows the machine ideling at 103 M.
Very nice.

The only problem I have is with htop.
I need to run it in a terminal.
Trying to run it from the menu gives me an error.
xterm: Can't execvp -e: No such file or directory
No big deal, just an annoyance.

Congratulations on a job well done!

-Tony

[Kendall]

The only problem I have is with htop.
I need to run it in a terminal.
Trying to run it from the menu gives me an error.
xterm: Can't execvp -e: No such file or directory
No big deal, just an annoyance.

Unfortunately that's the nature of htop. There is a graphical taskmanager in the menu.

[vger7]

Unfortunately that's the nature of htop. There is a graphical taskmanager in the menu.

I think that is may be incorrect.

I am currently trying different LXDE distros in VB to see what I like best and what is
lightest in resource usage.
Different distro use different task manager that use different amount of memory.
I wanted to use a 'common' program that will help me to make a better 'apples to apples'
comparison.

I'm using Ubuntu karmic as a base line, not Lubuntu... that while come next.
Htop loaded and works fine from the menu in Karmic.
I also loaded it this morning on my low spec machne, (where my LXDE distro will eventually go).
That machine currently runs Xubuntu with LXDE as the desktop, (much faster than Xfce).
Htop installed and runs from the menu selection as well.
LXDE was installed on that machine several months ago.

This indicates to me that this may be an issue with Mint or the updated LXDE.

Thanks for the reply.
-Tony

[exploder]

Why not just use the top command for comparison? There really isn't that much difference between htop and top and I have yet to see a distro where the top command will not work.

[vger7]

I was unaware of that command.
Thank You.

-Tony (noob)

[Kendall]

I ended up going with xfce4-screenshooter in order to provide a bit more functionality than app from the Fluxbox CE. That and the one from the Fluxbox CE was being a little bit difficult and I have enough on my plate right now to dissuade me from diving into any serious degree of debugging.

Also, I decided to keep xfce4-taskmanager as it's better supported than lxtask. I'll revisit this again for Mint 9.

EDIT: I should also note that LinuxMint-8-LXDE-DEV-026.iso was uploaded yesterday and exploder has approved it for a stable release. Clem has to run it through the gauntlet at this point, but I'm feeling hopeful.

[Hutch]

My only problem with LXDE RC1 so far is that I can't install + play Wesnoth. It says that it appears to download and says it's installed. But clicking on the icon does nothing.Also after removing, autoremoving and purging there is still a dead link to wesnoth in the games category. Otherwise I really love this version of my favourite distro. Congratulations on a fantastic effort so far.

One other small point. I was wanting to use docky for gnome-do but needed compositing for it. I can't find a display-config. option like the main edn. Can this be worked around?

[Kendall]

My only problem with LXDE RC1 so far is that I can't install + play Wesnoth. It says that it appears to download and says it's installed. But clicking on the icon does nothing.Also after removing, autoremoving and purging there is still a dead link to wesnoth in the games category. Otherwise I really love this version of my favourite distro. Congratulations on a fantastic effort so far.

I would need to look at the source for Wesnoth to figure out what's going on (specifically what's going on in the /debian directory, presuming it's a debian package).

One other small point. I was wanting to use docky for gnome-do but needed compositing for it. I can't find a display-config. option like the main edn. Can this be worked around?

The window manager is Openbox which does not support compositing. You're welcome to try to install Metacity or Compiz but you're on your own there. If you need a dock, consider looking at wbar.