In favor of LXDE

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sean
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In favor of LXDE

Post#1 by sean » 29 Jan 2013, 16:13

Friends !!!,

This is one fantastic distro. It causes me dreams, literally, as I have been following it for about a year now. Would you please consider offering separate distros of LXDE, Xfce, KDE, etc., or create a Live Distro "Menu" allowing one to select the different Desktop Environments. As long as the total package does not exceed the limits of a single CD, there should be no evident concerns.

So far, at this point in time (v2.0-rc2), with Porteus, it is much too vague for a challenged Linux user to "be able" to use LXDE with Porteus. Perhaps it is time for a separate LXDE distro. "Heck" it isn't even evident how to use LXDE from the latest RC2 (1/29/2013).

Sincerely,

Sean

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brokenman
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#2 by brokenman » 29 Jan 2013, 22:45

Thanks for your post sean.
So far, at this point in time (v2.0-rc2), with Porteus, it is much too vague for a challenged Linux user to "be able" to use LXDE with Porteus. Perhaps it is time for a separate LXDE distro. "Heck" it isn't even evident how to use LXDE from the latest RC2 (1/29/2013).
We have a theoretical limit of around 300Mb for our ISOs because we want to remain a lightweight distro and not arrive at the 700Mb size of an optical disk. I'll assume your using 32bit since LXDE is easily seen in the boot menu on 64bit. LXDE is not included in 32bit because the default desktop (razorqt) is a lightweight desktop. I can certainly provide a 003-lxde.xzm module that you can drop into your 'base' folder to have the option of booting into lxde.

EDIT:
Click here to download 003-lxde.xzm

Assuming you are using 32bit Porteus-v2.0rc2 ... Place this in your base folder and you should be able to boot into lxde. If you boot into razorqt just chose to logout which will take you to the GDM login screen. From here choose LXDE from the session list and login again.
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sean
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#3 by sean » 30 Jan 2013, 00:51

Brokenman,

Thank you kindly for the reply, I do appreciate your every effort.

I will need to digest the information you have provided, since being a Guru, with a smile, is a bit out of my reach. I have installed Porteus v1.2 on a USB stick with the Xfce DE. I was hoping to do the same with v2.0 and LXDE, but it seems this will be a bit more challenging for me at this point. Still, I do appreciate your reply!, and I will pursue this endeavor.

The Porteus Xfce thumb drive has been really handy for me as a mobile device. However, it does seem that LXDE may be a bit more configurable, and I'm looking to give it a go, for a while anyway.

Normally I download interesting distro's and burn them to a CD, provided the size is appropriate. In the past year or two it has sometimes become necessary to use UNetbootin to get the image (because of the size) to a USB flash drive in order to test drive the distribution. And this has been perfectly acceptable with the price of the lesser Gigabyte flash drives coming within reach.

Using only 300 MB of a 700 MB CD puzzles me as it seems the menu could simply be extended to include all the Porteus desktop offerings. Doing so, should in no way hinder your endeavor to be a lightweight distro. Simply confide the fact that the .ISO image contains multiple "lightweight desktop choices". And, it seems to me, this would additionally save a lot of wasted storage (over 400 MB per CD). Then again, my saying this could be shining a very bright light on my own ignorance.

Again, thank you for your kind reply, and thank you for Porteus!

Sincerely,

Sean

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fanthom
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#4 by fanthom » 30 Jan 2013, 09:24

hi Sean,
the menu could simply be extended to include all the Porteus desktop offerings.
it's not that easy as may look like.
a) every DE comes with it's own quirks and it's additional level of complexity to write a tool/script which works in each DE
b) every DE comes with it's own set of applications (example: krandrtray in kde4 and lxrandr in lxde) and it's an extra effort to hide doubled apps in each DE
c) most importantly: i think that users have their fav desktop and wont use other very often

i see two solutions to this problem:

1) provide separate ISO for each desktop. this is probably the best way as i could get rid of gtk apps and create almost pure qt experience in kde4 edition. main problem: lack of ISO maintainers.

2) provide modules only and let the users construct their favorite setup through web based wizard.
example: i could maintain 000+001+002 + KDE4, Ahau could maintain XFCE+LXDE+something, brokenman could look after razor+office suite+browsers, hamza could maintain a web tool.
this way users could choose only few components they want: choose desktop (kde4, xfce, razor, lxde), office suite (libreoffice, calligra, abiword+gnumeric), browser (firefox, chrome, opera)
problem: "every DE comes with it's own quirks and it's additional level of complexity to write a tool/script which works in each DE"

which option is better?
Please add [Solved] to your thread title if the solution was found.

sean
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#5 by sean » 30 Jan 2013, 09:59

WOW !!

brokenman and fanthom,

Thank you for your extreme kindness in replying to my initial post
on the subject of LXDE being in the boot menu of Porteus.

I suspected including LXDE was not as easy as a layman such as myself
might envision. So, thank you, fanthom, for your layman level explanation.
Quite easily understood, even by myself :-), and of course it makes
perfect sense.

brokenman, I have downloaded 003.lxde.xzm and copied it into the base
folder of Porteus (as you suggested) on a USB thumb drive. This works,
as you suggested by logging out, and selecting lxde in the session menu,
then logging back in as user: "guest" password: "guest". That sequence
of actions brings me to an LXDE desktop. YEAH!!!! :-)

You are both wonderfully kind to offer me such careful and accurate
solutions and explanations. I look forward to an enjoyable experience
with Porteus.

Perhaps I can offer some positive feelings by telling you Porteus has
replaced Puppy Linux as my portable utility/workhorse here sometime
in the middle of 2012.

Thanks again,

Sean

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brokenman
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#6 by brokenman » 30 Jan 2013, 10:54

Glad you are happy and have things working. If you would like to make LXDE your default desktop let us know and we can walk you through it.

On the topic of remaining space on a CD. Someone booting a lightweight distro on an old computer with 256Mb of RAM would appreciate the small memory footprint of Porteus. Filling up a 700Mb CD makes sense for those with a computer that can handle the runtime memory load, but impossible for those with low spec computers. Finding the medium to please both users is why we have so few applications by default, and a package manager to download the rest.

Fanthom, i really like the idea of simplifying the maintenance of releases. I feel this needs serious consideration by the team and community. Having 000,001,002 in your hands is great (it practically is now) and this means with a unified base we can simply drop in different desktop environments. People love choice. For example i am currently running Gnome 3.6. I think the ability to build your own custom Porteus is a bonus and Hamza no doubt has the server backend covered.

To create a comparison. The base is like the smooth running engine of a car. The average user doesn't even notice it if it is running beautiful. The desktop is like the paint job and interior of the car. People like to personalize it, change it and make it their own. This is why so much variety exists! I think this is why so many people get upset when an operating makes DRASTIC changes to a desktop environment as was the case with XP --> Vista, Win7 --> Win8, Slackware gnome --> KDE. kde3 --> kde4. Once we get things the way we like, we tend to stick to it.
How do i become super user?
Wear your underpants on the outside and put on a cape.

sean
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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#7 by sean » 30 Jan 2013, 17:04

brokenman,

Thank you for the offer of walking me through making LXDE my default desktop. At this time I think I'll defer on that in lieu of the arrival of the actual 2.0 distribution.

You folks seem extremely willing to help in any way. That appeals to your clients, I'm certain, as it does me. And your explanations are great!

I'll be following the Porteus forums more closely, thanks again.

Sincerely,

Sean

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Re: In favor of LXDE

Post#8 by Ahau » 30 Jan 2013, 22:41

I'd be OK with this direction as well. I think we have to weigh the flexibility of this approach (users customizing their ISO prior to downloading) against the simplicity of downloading pre-packaged ISO's. I don't want to confuse or intimdate new users. Perhaps we could have one standard ISO for each architecture (with some discussion as to having one, two or four DE's included) as well as an option to customize?
Please take a look at our online documentation, here. Suggestions are welcome!

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