Help me build desktop I'm proud to use - desktop guis and addons
 

Hey LQ,

I think I'm decided on going with Debian but am not sure what window maker I want to use. When I search up on the subject I see lots of screen shots but I don't really get much information on what addons and configurations were used to set it up.

So I'm hoping someone can point me towards some software packages that help me get situated.

Here is what I want in my gui:

1. Fast! I want it to be lightweight
2. Beautiful! I want it to have nice fonts and crisp lines and a clean aesthetic about it
3. Multiple virtual desktops
4. Not a task bar, but I want some kind of icon somewhere that represents an open program
5. System monitoring widgets. I want to see my cpu load, ram usage, network usage etc, usb devices as well
6. Secure and well supported

I know that's a lot to ask, and so thank you in advance for your suggestions.

I did something like 1 through 6. Though I left the taskbar in place.

Icewm + Rox Desktop = AntiX 15 (alias Debian Jessie with no systemd)

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post5306623

My current fluxbox with tint2

http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...ml#post5496987

HI:

If you want light and fast go with XFCE.
You want nice fonts and crisp lines; than install other fonts from the Debain repository or look in the Applications Menu under Accessories.

Most applications when launched and left open will provide a task bar.
In order to not have a task bar I would imagine that you would have to reconfigure the API in some way.

For CPU Performance, RAM usage and the like install a CPU Monitoring program.

With Debian you can bet your boots that it's stable and secure.

http://www.tecmint.com/command-line-...x-performance/
http://www.binarytides.com/linux-sys...itoring-tools/
https://packages.debian.org/wheezy/k...widgets-addons
https://wiki.debian.org/Fonts

Good Luck-;)

if you want to be proud of it, do it yourself.
start with X and a window manager (hint: simply apt-get installing e.g. openbox will pull in the necessary dependencies) and work your way up from there.

btw, it's called window manager, not window maker - but windowmaker is a nice, retro windowmanager/minimal gui in itself.

As Ztcoracat said, XFCE would probably work. To make an icon-only taskbar, you could just tell XFCE to not show labels on it.

Ok, here is a question for all of you. Are all of the addon widget things compatible with all of the window managers?

That's exactly what I'm hoping to do! I have openbox installed in a debian vm at the moment. I'm having troubles editing the xml file. The obconf I'm using doesn't seem to save my settings.

No and yes. Because

Is not in this scooter tramps vocabulary.

Lol scooter tramp. What are they called? They are desktop addons or widgets on windows. They are app widgets on android.

Since you said you are running openbox.

Crunchbang forums has a ton of info that can be mined for your questions.

Linky

Me? I don't run openbox or LXDE for a long time now. I did once long ago in a time when I had free time for core install build ups.

http://forum.lxde.org/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=31202

This widget thingy must be a younger generation thingy. I can be clueless at times.

Linky

Haha, must be. Thanks for the advice.

i admit it can be confusing at times.
on windows, things either work or they don't. it's one-dimensional.
on gnu/linux, it expands in all 4 dimensions.
no, not everytyhing is compatible with everything else, but anything is possible.

giggle giggle


aaahh yeah, do lots of experimentation and read up on what is out there to use, and how to use it.

do you want titling or what?
source Arch Wikici eekie

make a dummy account that you'll have no problem screwing up, then when you get it, what it is you like and want, save the config files for use in your real account....

It is with a little hesitation that I recommend at least looking at Enlightenment mostly because it is sort of always "a work in progress" but then again what isn't? You can use searches for specific issues and forums for any general ones (again, just like any Desktop) but to my knowledge unless you like extremely Spartan desktops Enlightenment is IMHO the most beautiful and configurable WHILE having a miniscule footprint. You can see such items at the The Enlightenment Wiki and there are screenshots galore because it is brag-worthy pretty, at least many including me think so. Version 0.20 is out and has a completely revamped (and actually better) option to set it up as a Tiling desktop. Those are great on laptops, servers or anywhere a person prefers to keep both hands on the keyboard and not have to reach for a mouse.

Pretty has some practical advantages for someone new since more people are motivated to do screenshots (all over the place) and videos on the likes of YouTube covering installation and modification. Just be completely aware of versions both in what you view and what sort of installation you find suits you and your distro best. There was a time around v 0.18 that development stalled for awhile but in the past 2 years it's being heavily developed and very aware of what makes it special so snappy and beauty are always held in high regard and priority.

I don't mean to scare you off before you even begin since it is specialized under-construction stuff that has a few issues but the common install is very solid, it's just that I think people are best served by bot setting expectations so high that the slightest bug sours the whole deal. Just know that it is Linux and configurability and speed not to mention heavy dev cycle comes at a cost, namely you need to research your hardware (for how it affects some driver install options) and have at least a sketch in your mind about your final, best-case look so you go in like a Pro instead of fumbling around.

Anyway I'm going to shutup now and let you go see some screenies to see if it's visual options suit your taste/needs. Whatever you choose (and remember you can easily have several desktops to try out if you use a graphics manager login like kdm, gdm, or even xdm. There may be others but those 3 have been around the longest and all 3 offer a "chooser" dropdown menu. Best wishes.

Edit: Incidentally be sure to dig deep for visual options because it seems Black, Charcoal Grey, etc. (dark colors) are especially popular these days but I assure you there is still much more possible. This is how diverse it looked even way back in 2011 on v 0.17 shown here for reference to dev progression. It's even cooler now on 0.20.x especially easy if you like simpler and/or darker themes.

Note: Enlightenment meets all of your criteria with the only nudge being that ideally you should use GKrellM or Conky for monitoring which are 3rd Party addons but that will be true for almost all DE/WMs