Desktop Linux

From Gentoo Linux Wiki

[edit] About

This document will link to several packages to get your desktop running with all features expected from a desktop, without installing Gnome or KDE. If you're looking for the 'easy' way, install Ubuntu and be done with it. Here we want to be able to equip any desktop running a minimal environment (Fluxbox,XFCE, or TWM for example) with the same features provided by GNOME or KDE. Think, for example, of automounting/hotplugging of USB devices, etc.

[edit] Software

[edit] Sans X

These packages are to basically make the system just work. E.g. If the user inserts a CD it should be recognized by the system, if I press the eject button, it should eject and uppon re-inserting of a different CD, it should again, just work. Basically, the basics.

[edit] Gentoo

Step one, obviously is getting the your favorite distro out there installed.

[edit] CUPS

CUPS[1] is a popular solution to printing in GNU/Linux. Gentoo.org has an article on printing. Though there are some other choices here, CUPS is probably what you want.

[edit] Ivman

Ivman[2] is "a generic handler for HAL events." It can be used to automatically mount USB sticks, digital cameras, etc. There is an article on setting up Ivman here on the wiki.

[edit] X

Here you can think of frontends or applications normal users will be interacting with. Obvious packages would be OpenOffice, firefox, thunderbird etc, but smaller things like gnome-system-monitor for example go here. Gnome-system-monitor is obviously a bad example, as it not only brings huge amounts of gnome dependencies with it (which I really don't get why it would need it) but it does the job, so untill someone comes up with a better alternative ... This shouldn't be a list of all possible software that's out there. We have packages.gentoo.org for that. What should go here? Software that simple users who want stuff to 'just work' could want, but don't want (or we don't want them) to use Gnome or KDE because maybe there hardware is to slow.

[edit] Basic packages

[edit] Window Managers

• Fluxbox (derived from blackbox - supports grouping, slits, fbpager)
• XFCE
• Enlightenment
• Blackbox
• Openbox
• FVWM
• Afterstep
• WindowMaker
• UWM / UDE

[edit] Office/Productivity

• OpenOffice.org (a little large but very extensive functionality, and crucially: self-contained)
• Abiword (Optional Gnome dependency)
• koffice (Warning KDE dependencies)
• ROX-Filer (Very nice little (RISC OS based) graphical file manager - depends on GTK+ 2)

[edit] Internet/Email/Communication

• Firefox
• Thunderbird
• Seamonkey
• Evolution (Gnome dependencies)
• Konqueror (KDE dependencies)
• Gaim
• Ekiga

[edit] Multimedia

• mplayer
• xine
• audacious (xmms fork, more extensive features than xmms, but a little less stable)
• gtkpod
• totem (Gnome dependencies)
• rhythmbox (Gnome dependencies)
• amarok (KDE dependencies)
• banshee
• xcdroast (for all your CD/DVD burning needs - depends only on cdrtools)

[edit] Other packages

The following are some less obvious packages, software that many non-gnome/kde users know about. Some can be found on liveCDs.

[edit] gnome-system-monitor (Gnome dependencies)

The gnome-system-monitor allows users to view processes & systemload just like other OS's process-viewers do.

Also allows tree-structure view of processes, and displays their full command lines - very useful indeed, so I can thoroughly support its place in this 'alternative desktop HOWTO' (ed: ahurst)

[edit] tsclient

Tsclient is a RPD/VNC frontend. Terminal service clients allow users to remotely access computers.

Alternatively use:

 ssh -X