Mint LXDE

[last2throw]

Personally I love LXDE compared to XFCE. I've got a very low spec chromebook that I've been looking for a good OS for for a while now. I use Mint Cinnamon on multiple PC's but the only one that ran well on here was XFCE, unfortunately as I stated I do not like XFCE much at all. That said, why doesn't mint have an official LXDE variant? I know I could install it in addition to XFCE but frankly I love the way Mint lays everything out by default in all of their official variants. Does Mint have a LXDE customization (for lack of a better word) that is available for download? For now I've found a great UNofficial variant here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/ulmlxde/ I'm using it right now and it's great! Apparently this is made by the Polish Mint Community. Their site states that support for LXDE was dropped officially. Why is this? LXDE seems to fall much more in line with other editions of Mint than XFCE. If not an official edition could there at least be a customized LXDE made accessible?

[xenopeek]

why doesn't mint have an official LXDE variant?

Very simply: because nobody wants to do the work. Few people are willing to do the work to (learn to) maintain a distribution. In the past Linux Mint has had several community editions (e.g., Fluxbox, LXDE): official Linux Mint spins maintained by somebody from the community, using Linux Mint infrastructure, and tested by the Linux Mint QA team. Contributors' interests waxes and wanes, and they have drifted to other interests (or real life getting in the way ).

If you would be willing to do the work, something can probably be worked out with the Linux Mint developers to support a community edition. But nothing is going to happen if everybody keeps sitting around moping that nobody else is doing what they want done. Roll up your sleeves and stop coming up with excuses I say that to everybody wanting a new edition BTW; the Linux Mint developers have their hands full, and already build over 40 distributions every year... You want another edition, you're going to have to pitch in to do the work

The current Linux Mint editions have been selected from a poll in 2012: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.p ... 3&t=100787. The 4 most popular desktop environments are supported. It is easy to justify developers spending their time on what the majority of Linux Mint users (> 70%) are interested in. LXDE at the time was half as popular as Xfce. Today the situation is probably different, if not more confusing because LXQt vs LXDE might divide those users further. On that note, it seems bit backwards to support LXDE now? LXQt would be the way forward.

In any case, if you feel strongly enough about this to do something about it--step forward

[Bolle1961]

You can install Lxde on your Xfce laptop. Then you can choose at login which to use

[xenopeek]

You can install Lxde on your Xfce laptop. Then you can choose at login which to use

Dôh! I knew I forgot to write something Thanks.

[last2throw]

I know I can install it if I want but as stated in the original post I'd love to have an official release with lxde.

As far as maintaining a community edition myself I'm still too new to Linux to think about doing something like that. I've only switched permanently to Linux in 2015 and still use windows 7 on my desktop for gaming. What all goes into maintaining a release?

[xenopeek]

High level you would be respinning the Linux Mint ISO;
- Removing packages you don't need on your edition
- Adding packages, artwork, default configuration, and so on that you do need for your edition

Then work tirelessly with testers from the community and testing team to fix all bugs You might have to patch some packages, add some or remove some, or get help from LXDE/LXQt team with that or from other community members interested in a LXDE/LXQt edition.

And of course work with the Linux Mint developers to align the respin "look and feel" with their vision for the desktop; it won't be an official community edition without their approval. (And you can't use the Linux Mint name [trademark], or brand or artwork [copyright] without that approval.)

If you are seriously interested, you could run the idea by Clem (Linux Mint's founder and project lead). Open HexChat from your menu to connect to the Linux Mint IRC channels and to join the developer IRC channel then type /join #linuxmint-dev. You're always welcome to come say hi to the developers

[last2throw]

this honestly sounds like something that would be awesome and very rewarding but I don't think I have the experience or know-how to do this. Like I said I'm still fairly new to the world of Linux. I've used Ubuntu off and on since 8.10 and recently decided to check out mint for some older hardware I had (including the Google CR-48 I'm using to write this) but honestly I still feel like a complete newcomer. I use mint as my daily driver on a new haswell i5 laptop i purchased and I use Mint all the time now, only dipping back into Windows for some games that aren't compatible. How difficult would something like this be? I've got some time I can put into it but if it's something I'm not going to be able to accomplish without a lot more experience I'd like to know what I'm getting into before I try to start something like this.

[xenopeek]

Well, it is not something to get into without having time available. It is a commitment. The skills needed are something every ISO maintainer has had to learn. Sure, it helps if you are comfortable with Linux command line, compiling things, etc. But at end of the day perseverance, being a bit tech savvy and willing to learn / delve into documentation. that is probably most important. It's not a 3 week task though

[last2throw]

Like I said this looks like it would be great fun and very rewarding but unfortunately I don't think I'm the guy for the job... If anyone else is willing to do something about this I would be more than willing to test and provide suggestions and help in any way I can but I don't think I'm the right guy to head-up something like this.

If anyone else is interested in working on a LXDE (or LXQT) spin of linux mint I would love to help out in anyway possible! Please feel free to contact me and I'll do whatever I can for this project!

EDIT:

I am sorry. I would love to do something about this more directly but I just don't have the skill needed. I know I probably sound like everyone else who suggest something like this, but I would honestly love to be a part of this. I'm just not the right guy to head it up.

[xenopeek]

This went off-topic and diverted to recommendations for other distros. Suggestions & New Ideas for Linux Mint isn't the place for such discussions. Stay on topic.

Off-topic posts moved to Chat about Linux: http://forums.linuxmint.com/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=193279

[last2throw]

I'm very sorry for going off topic. As I stated though, I would love to help out anyone who is working on a Mint release with LXDE (or LXQT). Anything I can do to help. Testing, Suggestions, Anything!

[DeVIL-I386]

Their site states that support for LXDE was dropped officially

Can you do something with the unofficial German version?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/linuxm ... nofficial/

When the DVD boots up and the text "Automatic boot in 10 seconds ..." is displayed > press the Enter button > press Tab > Change the strings "de_DE" in "en_US" and "de" in "us" > press Enter to start the System

[deleted]

^ I have installed it and used it before (pre-17,1). It worked well.
-Z