Any news on Linux Mint 12 LXDE?

[charliemoss]

Now that LM12 is out in the wild, it's time to ask about LXDE.

[antikythera]

sure this has been covered elsewhere on the forum every time a new release of mint surfaces. as also on other sites relating to any new versions of operating system or software that needs developing. WIR

[charliemoss]

Normally "When It's Ready" is a good rule though many distros ignore this and rush to release to a schedule (or expectation), throwing Alpha/RC's out as Finals. However LXDE is not quit the same as little development has taken place since the last version. Devs on other LXDE distros have found it very simple to upgrade Ubuntu to version 11.10, such as Lubuntu & ZevenOS.

People have asked the same question before the final of LM12, so obviously nobody knew or really cared as 12 was such an awaited release. However I feel LM 12 LXDE is such an important release as it will catch the people that find LM12 "not to be their cup of tea" (to put it nicely).

[Kevin108]

Status updates on any project are always welcome but it can be just as tedious to post the updates as to do the actual work, so not hearing anything until it's ready is certainly forgivable.

[nunol]

Now that LM12 is out in the wild, it's time to ask about LXDE.

Clem says on the Blog that the next version of Mint should be the KDE version: http://blog.linuxmint.com/?p=1855

Finally, just a quick note to KDE users. We will switch our focus to giving KDE another release and this process will start this December after Linux Mint 12 is out.

If KDE is out by December then the LXDE version has to come later so you have to wait until the beginning of 2012. It's not clear if the next LXDE version is going to be based on Debian or Ubuntu.

[KBD47]

We definitely need a Mint LXDE based on Ubuntu IMO. I tried Xfce Debian Mint and it is not really very user friendly. My impression is that with LXDE people use it who have old hardware, have new hardware but want something very fast, or simply want a newbie friendly Linux version. Mint 13 will be LTS and I seriously hope we see a Mint LXDE based on Ubuntu with 5 years support. Lubuntu 12.04 will not be LTS, and I'm thinking those with old hardware are not the sort of folks who either wants something that breaks (Debian Mint) or something with a short support period (Lubuntu). My two cents.
KBD47
PS--My impression from using Lubuntu 11.04 and Lubuntu 11.10 is that there was very little change between those two versions. It is above my pay grade, but my guess is that a Mint 12 LXDE would not involve a huge amount of change from the earlier Mint version.

[nunol]

I also think that the Mint devs should make a LXDE (and XFCE, KDE and Fluxbox) version based on Ubuntu 12.04 (Mint 13) because it has 5 years of support. That means that the next version (12) could be a Debian based version. This way we would have more diversity. The same thing could apply to the Fluxbox version, now a Debian based version and after Ubuntu 12.04 a Ubuntu based version.

[charliemoss]

It will be a great shame if LXDE becomes Debian. Lint Mint has become number one because it's Linux for Everyone but only when based on Ubuntu. Even though I have an i5 processor and 2gb mem I still use LXDE because I use a computer to get thing done. I like eye candy but it's far down my list of necessities. LM 11 LXDE is simply fast, stable and sadly underrated.

I totally agree with nunol, it would great to have Ubuntu versions of all desktops for the LM based on Ubuntu 12.04. Unfortunately the main reason for moving to Debian based distros was because they require less development.

[KBD47]

I thought the main ZevenOs was Ubuntu Xfce, and the Debian based Neptune was KDE and LXDE? I tried their LXDE and call me unimpressed. I could not get their Neptune LXDE to boot on my desktop, and my netbook would boot, but after I saved persistence it would not boot either. Mint 12 and just about everything else Linux runs fine on both of those computers. I think Lubuntu is excellent, but the fact they are not having LTS, not even a 3 year LTS, with their release next Spring leaves a big opening for an Ubuntu-based Mint 13 LXDE LTS release. I hope Mint fills that gap because LXDE is lightning fast and stable. And it will run on old hardware where regular Mint won't. This is in no way to bash Debian Mint, but the only Debian I've found for humans rather than Linux geeks is SimplyMepis, which has a great installer, is built on Debian Stable, never breaks, and is somewhat newbie friendly--it was my first ever Linux and I beat the daylights out of it learning Linux and could not break it. I've said elsewhere that the Stable Mepis path would have been better one for Mint than rolling release based on Testing.
KBD47

[nunol]

I totally agree with nunol, it would great to have Ubuntu versions of all desktops for the LM based on Ubuntu 12.04. Unfortunately the main reason for moving to Debian based distros was because they require less development.

Yes, but the LTS version only comes once every two years and is supposed to be more stable and more conservative. There is plenty of time to make a good Mint LTS version regardless of the DE or WM used and once made it's good for 5 years (3 years for Mint 9 LTS, 5 years for Mint 13 LTS).

You also have to remember that LMDE already has 3 spins in little more than one year and that is about the same for the Ubuntu version, Mint 10, Mint 11 and now Mint 12.

[jvnn]

My impression is that with LXDE people use it who have old hardware, have new hardware but want something very fast, or simply want a newbie friendly Linux version.

I am in the old hardware category. I've got a stable of P4 era hardware that I've kept going since 2003 and I'd sure like to keep it for another 5+ years if it's not too hard.

I just moved to Mint from ubuntu and I am really happy with LXDE 11.
I'd like to give a big thank you to all the folks that make mint happen.

Frankly, whatever base you guys build on will probably be fine for me since other than hardware my needs are very generic - firefox, Abiword, gimp...

[charliemoss]

LM 11 LXDE is the most underrated distro. As computers get faster, distros get heavier so people don't experience any difference. LXDE can make a old computer as good as the latest hardware. After testing the new LM12 I decided to look for an alternative. Trying LXDE for the first time was best choice I've made since trying Linux for the first time. With a few small changes LM LXDE could be truly the "linux for everybody". Sadly there's little movement in LXDE, I can't even access lxde.org from South Africa.

[KBD47]

LM 11 LXDE is the most underrated distro. As computers get faster, distros get heavier so people don't experience any difference. LXDE can make a old computer as good as the latest hardware. After testing the new LM12 I decided to look for an alternative. Trying LXDE for the first time was best choice I've made since trying Linux for the first time. With a few small changes LM LXDE could be truly the "linux for everybody". Sadly there's little movement in LXDE, I can't even access lxde.org from South Africa.

I can't access the LXDE forum from North America right now, must be down at the moment.

[charliemoss]

I first tried to visit lxde.org about 3 weeks ago and to this day have never seen it. Very strange

[tdockery97]

I'm starting to wonder myself. It looks like the Peppermint OS site has been largely unused for a while too. It appears our developer, Kendall has gone AWOL. It is about the time in the cycle for Mint LXDE to start revving up.

[KBD47]

I occasionally visit the LXDE forum. amjjawad is a moderator there and he is posting on Ubuntu forum tonight about Lubuntu. I just asked if anyone knew when the LXDE forum would be back up. Lubuntu is moving along. They just released their Alpha for testing.

[charliemoss]

Is the Lubuntu team doing anything for LXDE desktop? or is the work just related to moving to Ubuntu 12.04?

I tried Lubuntu 11.10 and, apart from the wandering lxpanel items, it was good, but LM 11 LXDE is so much better.

[KBD47]

Is the Lubuntu team doing anything for LXDE desktop? or is the work just related to moving to Ubuntu 12.04?

I tried Lubuntu 11.10 and, apart from the wandering lxpanel items, it was good, but LM 11 LXDE is so much better.

Here are the work details for Lubuntu:
http://status.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-precise ... buntu.html
It looks like they are going to try to improve a few things like add power management to the menu. Right now you have to right click on the battery icon for power management.
I'm quite interested in seeing what the next LXDE Mint looks like. I tried the 11 LXDE and I liked it, but I need that 3x linux kernel for good wireless support on my computer.
KBD47

[charliemoss]

The changes to Lubuntu 12.04 should interesting. Sadly I don't see them addressing, IMHO, the main failings of LXDE.... Startup management, simple shortcut creation, etc.

[Bob E]

I tried Lubuntu 11.10 and, apart from the wandering lxpanel items, it was good,

...hmm... I've been running Lubuntu 10.10, 11.04, and 11.10 on a variety of machines (my own and for other folks I've installed) and have never encountered this. Must be a hardware issue for you.

the main failings of LXDE.... Startup management

Are you talking about the Startup Manager itself? You can add that from Synaptic. Or if you are talking about managing the actual start up items, there's a window for that already.

I'm pretty much the opposite of charliemoss. I gave LM LXDE 10 and 11 a try and was disappointed. Especially with 11. It's the most screaming fast LXDE I've tried, but there are a bunch of bugs, and one really annoying issue that can't be resolved in LM 11 LXDE that doesn't exist in the Lubuntu distros. I'm looking forward to trying LM LXDE 12, but until then, I'm sticking with Lubuntu for my pick as best LXDE.

That's the great thing about Linux...VARIETY!