The Xfce Desktop

Xfce is a lightweight desktop designed to run fast without the kind of overhead required for full-featured desktops such as KDE and GNOME. You can think of it as a window manager with desktop functionality. It includes its own file manager and panel, but the emphasis is on modularity and simplicity. Like GNOME, Xfce is based on GTK+ GUI tools. The desktop consists of a collection of modules, such as the thunar file manager, xfce4-panel panel, and the xfwm4 window manager. Keeping with its focus on simplicity, Xfce features only a few common applets on its panel. Its small scale makes it appropriate for laptops or dedicated systems that have no need for complex overhead found in other desktops. Xfce is useful for desktops, such as multimedia desktops, designed for just a few tasks or for computers with limited capabilities, such as older computers. You can find out more about Xfce at https://xfce.org/ .

To install Xfce as an alternative desktop on a system, install the xfdesktop package.

You can also use Xfce as a Live DVD, which you can download from https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ .

The Xfce Live DVD is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, such as Fedora-Xfce-Live-x86_64-28-1.1.iso. You can then burn the DVD and run it as a Live DVD. Click the Install icon to install an Xfce-based Fedora system on your computer. Double-click the Install icon to install an LXDE-based Fedora system on your computer. Follow the same basic steps for installing Fedora as for the Fedora Live DVD. The Installation Summary screen shows items for Installation Destination, Date & Time, and Keyboard. Be sure to choose the disks to install on and to check the time zone. Once installed, you use the GDM login screen to log in.

The desktop displays icons for your home directory, file system, and trash (see Figure 11-1). Xfce displays a top and bottom panel. The top panel will have buttons for an applications menu at the left. From this menu, you can access any Fedora software applications, along with Fedora administration tools. To the right of the menu is the task bar, showing buttons for open windows. The left side of the panel shows workspace switcher, time and date, network connections (Network Manager), and the session menus displaying the user name. The session menu has entries for shut down, log out, lock screen, suspend, and switch user. The bottom panel has icons for hide/show desktop, terminal, file manager, web browser, applications finder, and a directory menu for your home folder.

You can add more items by clicking the panel and selecting Add New Items. This opens a window with several applets, such as the clock, workspace switcher, applications menu, and launcher. The launcher applet lets you specify an application to start and choose an icon image for it. To move an applet, right-click it and choose Move from the pop-up menu. Then move the mouse to the new insertion location and click.

Xfce file manager is called Thunar . The file manager will open a side pane in the shortcuts view that lists entries not only for the home directory but also for your file system, desktop, and trash contents. The File menu lets you perform folder operations, such as creating new directories. From the Edit menu, you can perform tasks on a selected file, such as renaming the file or creating a link for it. You can change the side pane view to a tree view of your file system by selecting from the menu bar View ➤ Side Pane ➤ Tree (Ctrl+t). The Shortcuts entry changes the view back (Ctrl+b).

To configure the Xfce interface, you use the Xfce Settings Manager, accessible from the Applications menu at Settings ➤ Settings Manager. It will be the first entry. This opens the Settings window, which shows icons for your desktop, display, panel, and appearance, among others (see Figure 11-2). Use the Appearance tool to select themes, icons, and toolbar styles (Settings). The Panel tool lets you add new panels and control features, such as fixed for freely movable and horizontally or vertically positioned.

To configure the desktop , select the Desktop icon in the Settings window or right-click the desktop and select Desktop Settings from the pop-up menu (you can also select Settings ➤ Desktop). This opens the Desktop window, from which you can select the background image, control menu behavior, and set icon sizes (see Figure 11-3).

The LXDE Desktop

LXDE (Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment) is another small desktop designed for use on minimal or low-power systems such as laptops, netbooks, or older computers. To install LXDE as an alternative desktop on a system, select the LXDE desktop package on Packages.

You can also use LXDE as a Live DVD, which you can download from https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ .

The LXDE Live DVD is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, such as Fedora-LXDE-Live-x86_64-28.1.1.iso. You can then burn the DVD and run it as a Live DVD. Double-click the Install icon to install an LXDE-based Fedora system on your computer. Follow the same basic steps for installing Fedora as for the Fedora Workstation Live DVD. The Installation Summary screen shows items for Installation Destination, Date & Time, and Keyboard. Be sure to choose the disks to install on and to check the time zone.

The desktop displays a single panel at the bottom with application applets to the right, followed by the windows task bar and system applets (see Figure 11-4). From the Fedora Applications menu, you can access any applications.

The panel shows applets for the Fedora applications menu, the PC-Man file manager, the terminal window, minimize windows, desktop pager, and window list. On the right side of the panel are the network connection monitor, and the system tray with Network Manager, volume control, clipboard, clock, lock desktop, and the logout button (see Figure 11-5).

The logout entry on the Fedora applications menu, and the logout button on the right side of the panel, open a dialog with buttons for logout, shutdown, suspend, hibernate, and reboot.

LXDE uses the PC-Man file manager, as shown in Figure 11-4. The button bar performs browser tasks such as moving backward and forward to previously viewed folders. The Home button moves you to your home folder. The folder button with the yellow star will open tabs, allowing you to open several folders in the same window. The side pane has a location (Places) and directory tree view. You can switch between the two using the button at the top of the pane. You can also choose from the View ➤ Side Pane menu.

To configure your panel , right-click the panel and select Panel Settings. This opens the Panel Preferences window with tabs for Geometry, Appearance, Panel Applets, and Advanced (see Figure 11-6). The Geometry tab lets you set the position and size of the panel. The Appearance tab lets you set the background, theme, and font for the panel. The Panel Applets tab is where you can add applets to the panel. The applets are referred to as plugins. Currently loaded applets are listed, along with format features such as spaces. You have the option to stretch a particular applet to take up any available space on the panel. By default, only the task bar (Window List) is configured to do this. To remove an applet or feature, select it and click the Remove button. If an applet or feature can be configured, the Edit button will become active when you select the applet. You can then click the Edit button to open the applet’s configuration dialog. This will vary among applets. To set the time display format, select the clock and click Edit to open the Digital Clock settings dialog. Applets settings can also be edited directly from the panel. Right-click the applet and choose the Settings entry, such as Digital Clock Settings for the digital clock applet.

To add a new applet to the panel, click the Add button to open the Add Plugin to Panel window, which will list all available applets and panel features like spaces and separators. Select the one you want and click the Add button (see Figure 11-6, right).

To configure the desktop, right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Desktop Settings from the pop-up menu. This opens the Preferences window with tabs for Appearance and Advanced (see Figure 11-7). The Appearance tab lets you set the background and font. The Advanced tab lets you display window manager menus.

The MATE Desktop

The MATE desktop is designed to be very simple, with a single panel and desktop icons. You can download the Fedora MATE DVD from https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ . To install MATE as an alternative desktop on a system, install the mate-desktop package. On the MATE desktop, the panel appears as a long bar across the bottom of the screen. It holds menus, program launchers, and applet icons. You can display the panel horizontally or vertically, and have it automatically hide to show you a full screen.

The MATE desktop continues the development of the older GNOME 2 interface (see Figure 11-8), providing an enhanced version of GNOME 2 based on GTK+. Most operations can be performed using the Applications, Places, and System menus. There is both a top and a bottom panel. The top-right panel holds applets for sound, Network Manager, and the date. The bottom panel holds the windows task bar and the pager for workspaces. MATE uses a different file manager from GNOME, called Caja, but it operates much like a GNOME 2 file manager. The file manager window has sidebars with places and tree views. You can use the File, Edit, View, and Go menus to perform most operations. There is a home button and computer button for the home folder and for a computer window, respectively. The desktop also displays icons for both the computer window and the home folder. The computer window shows all your devices.

On the left side of the top panel is the button for the main menu. To the right of the panel are system tools such as icons for the Network Manager, Update Manager, Power, sound volume, and the clock. With this menu, you can access places and applications. On the bottom panel to the left is the Show Desktop button, which hides your open windows, followed by the Window List applet, which shows button for open windows. To the right is the workspace switcher and the trash.

The remainder of the screen is the desktop, where you can place folders, files, and application launchers. You can use a click-and-drag operation to move a file from one window to another or to the desktop. A click and drag on a file icon with the Ctrl key held down will copy a file. Your home directory is accessed from the Home Folder icon on the desktop. Double-clicking it opens a file manager window for your home directory. A right-click anywhere on the desktop displays a desktop menu with which you can align your desktop icons and create new folders.

To quit the desktop, you use the Quit entry in the menu. Clicking on it opens a menu with options to Suspend, Hibernate, Restart, and Shut Down.

From a user’s point of view, the desktop interface has four components : the desktop, the panels, the main menu, and the file manager. You have a single panel displayed, used for menus, application icons, and managing your windows. When you open a window, a corresponding button for it will be displayed in the lower panel, which you can use to minimize and restore the window.

To start a program, you can select its entry from the Main panel menu bar menus or the MATE menu. You can also click its application icon in the panel (if one appears) or drag-and-drop data files to its icon. To add an icon for an application to the desktop, right-click on its entry in the Main or MATE menu and select Add to Desktop.

MATE Panels

The panel is the main component of the MATE interface. Through it, you can start your applications, run applets, and access desktop areas. You can think of the MATE panel as a type of tool you can use on your desktop. You can have several MATE panels displayed on your desktop, each with applets and menus you have placed in them. In this respect, MATE is flexible, enabling you to configure your panels any way you want. The MATE panel work the same as the GNOME 2 panel. You can easily add applets to the panel, along with application launchers.

MATE uses the traditional GNOME 2 top and bottom panels by default, though you can add more. The top panel applets for the Main Menu (MATE Main menu bar), a launcher for the Firefox Web browser, and several system applets (see Figure 11-22). The system applets display buttons for the Bluetooth, Network Manager, volume control, the power manager, the clock, and shutdown. If you are using the MATE menu (advanced menu), a single Menu button is shown.

The bottom panel has applets for the menu, the window list on the left, and the workspace switcher (see Figure 11-9).

Caja File Manager

The Caja file manager supports the standard features for copying, removing, and deleting items as well as setting permissions and displaying items. The program name for the file manager is caja. When you click the Home folder icon on the desktop or the Home folder entry on the MATE menu Places section, a file manager window opens showing your home folder. The file manager window displays several components, including a menu bar, a main toolbar, and a side pane (see Figure 11-10). The side pane works like the sidebar in the Nemo and Nautilus (Files) file managers, but with a menu, like the file manager in GNOME 2. The file manager window’s main pane (to the right) displays the icons or listing of files and sub-folders in the current working folder. When you select a file and folder, the status bar at the bottom of the window displays the name of the file or folder selected and for files the size, and for folders the number of items contained. The status bar also displays the remaining free space on the current file system.

Control Center and Preferences

Both Preference and Administration tools can be accessed either from the MATE or Main menus or from the Control Center (see Figure 11-11). You can access the Control Center from the System section on the MATE menu, and from the Main menu's System menu. The Control Center opens a window listing the different applications by section: Personal, Hardware, Administration, Look and Feel, and Internet and Network. Icons for the tools are displayed. Single-click on an icon to open it. The Control Center also has a dynamic search capability. A side pane holds a filter search box and links for the groups. As you enter a pattern in the Filter search box, matching applications appear at the right. Commonly used applications can be listed under Common Tasks. If you want an application to be started when your system starts, you can right-click on its icon and choose Add to Startup Programs to add it directly to the Startup Applications dialog. Several of the tools are administration applications such as Software Boutique, Backups, Users and Groups, and Printers. Others are GNOME preferences used for MATE, such as Appearance, About Me, Screensaver, and Keyboard.

You can configure different parts of your MATE interface using tools listed in the Preferences menu on the MATE and Main menus, and from the Control Center. MATE provides several tools for configuring your MATE desktop.

The keyboard shortcuts configuration (Keyboard Shortcuts) lets you map keys to certain tasks, like mapping multimedia keys on a keyboard to media tasks like play and pause. Just select the task and then press the key. There are tasks for the desktop, multimedia, and window management. In the window management section, you can also map keys to perform workspace switching. Keys that are already assigned will be shown.

The Windows configuration (Windows, in Look and Feel) is where you can enable features like window roll-up (Titlebar Action), window movement key, and mouse window selection.

The Cinnamon Desktop

The Cinnamon desktop is based on GNOME and was developed for the Linux Mint distribution (see Figure 11-12). It uses a variation of the GNOME 3 window manager (Mutter) called Muffin and a variation of the GNOME 3 nautilus file manager called Nemo. Cinnamon, although based on GNOME 3, is designed to work much like a traditional desktop, using a panel, menu, and applets. You can download the Fedora Cinnamon DVD from https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ . To install Cinnamon as an alternative desktop on a system, install the cinnamon-desktop package on Packages. Although the panel operates much like the older GNOME 2 panel, Cinnamon also includes overview modes (a GNOME 3 feature) for workspace (expo) and window selection (scale). You can find out more about Cinnamon at https://cinnamon.linuxmint.com . Numerous enhancements are available from https://cinnamon-spices.linuxmint.com/ , including themes, applets, desklets, and extensions. They can be downloaded and installed directly using the Cinnamon Settings Themes, Applets, Desklets (similar to Plasma plasmoids), and Extensions dialogs.

The Cinnamon desktop is configured using the Cinnamon Settings dialog, which is accessible from the main menu’s dock (third icon) and configures Cinnamon features such as applets and overview access (hot corner).

You can easily configure and extend your desktop and panel using applets and extensions. Additional applets and extensions can be downloaded from the Cinnamon website. The Cinnamon Settings dialogs for applets and extensions have links to those pages.

Cinnamon Panels

The Cinnamon desktop features a bottom panel with buttons for menus, applications, and the windows task bar (see Figure 11-13). On the right side of the panel are buttons for Network Manager, sound, power, notifications, and calendar menus. On the left side are buttons for the Cinnamon menu, show desktop, Firefox, Thunderbird mail, the terminal window, and the home folder.

Panel configuration tasks such as adding applications, selecting applets, setting up menus, and creating new panels are handled from the Panel pop-up menu. Just right-click on the empty space on your panel (the middle) to display a menu with entries for Settings, Troubleshoot, Panel Edit mode, and Panel settings. The pop-up menu lists an additional entry for Add Applets to the Panel. From Settings, you can access commonly used Cinnamon settings such as Applets, Themes, and Menu. From Troubleshoot, you can restart Cinnamon or restore its defaults. You can also turn on the Panel Edit mode, which allows you to change the position of any button on the panel. Using the Cinnamon Settings panel dialog, you can change the position of the panel to the top of the screen or have two panels as GNOME 2 did. You can also change the panel size.

Clicking the Add Applets to the Panel entry opens the Cinnamon Settings ➤ Applets dialog (see Figure 11-14). Click to select an applet and then use the button bar at the bottom to perform a task. The plus button installs an applet and the minus button removes it from the desktop. The x button deletes it from your system. Some applets can be configured and will have a configuration button (gears image). A large number of additional applets can be added that are supported by third-party developers. These are listed on the Download tab. The Sort by menu lets you sort the listing by name, score (most popular), and date (latest). Click on the applet's download button to perform the download it.

Cinnamon Settings

Clicking the System Setting button on the main menu’s favorites (third icon) opens the System Settings dialog showing all your Cinnamon desktop configuration tools (see Figure 11-15).

Cinnamon Menus

The main menu displays three columns of applications and functions (see Figure 11-16). The first column is a dock that shows icons of favorite applications and session tasks. These include the Firefox web browser, Dragora software manager, System Settings, the terminal window, your home folder, lock screen, logout, and poweroff (last icon). The third icon opens the Cinnamon System Settings dialog. The second column lists categories for all your applications, as you move through the categories; the third column shows a listing of all the applications in that category. You can also search for applications and files using the search box at the top of the second column. The results of the search are displayed in the third column.

Cinnamon Workspaces

Workspaces are accessed on Cinnamon from the Expo overview, which you activate by moving your mouse to the top-left corner of the desktop. This opens a workspace switcher displaying your workspaces (see Figure 11-17) (be sure to enable Expo on Hot Corners). Click on a workspace to change to it. A plus button to the right adds new workspaces. When you pass your mouse over a workspace, a close button appears in the upper-right corner, which you can use to remove the workspace. You can move windows from one workspace to another by clicking and dragging them. You can also rename a workspace, by clicking on the text box for its name and entering a new one. To leave the workspace switcher, click a workspace you want to move to, or move the mouse to the hot corner, to return to your current workspace.

You configure access to the workspace switcher (Expo overview) using the Cinnamon Settings Hot Corners dialog (see Figure 11-18). The corners in Hot Corners are not enabled by default. Click an entry to enable it. The top-left corner is set to workspace selection by default, and the top-right corner is set to window selection (Scale overview). With window selection, thumbnails of your open windows are displayed, and you choose the one you want.

You can also enable the Scale and Expo applets, which display buttons for the scale and expo overviews. These buttons let you switch to the window selection overview or the window switcher overview from the panel, as shown here:

Cinnamon File Manager

The Cinnamon file manager, Nemo, works much like previous GNOME file managers, with home and computer buttons and buttons for the icon, list, and compact views (see Figure 11-19). It is based on the GNOME 3 file manager but restores much of the functionality found in the older file manager releases. File, Edit, View, and Go menus let you perform most functions, much like earlier versions of GNOME. The sidebar works much like the current GNOME file manager. Right-clicking an entry in the sidebar lets you open it in a new window or tab. The button before the find button lets you toggle to a location text box view, where you can enter a folder path name. The Computer window (Computer entry in the Go menu) displays your devices.

The LXQT Desktop

LXQT is another small desktop designed for use on minimal or low-power systems such as laptops, netbooks, or older computers. To install LXQT as an alternative desktop on a system, select the LXQT desktop package on Packages.

You can also use LXQT as a Live DVD, which you can download from https://spins.fedoraproject.org/ .

The LXQT Live DVD is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, such as Fedora-LXQt-Live-86_64-28.1.1.iso. You can then burn the DVD and run it as a Live DVD. Double-click the Install icon to install an LXQT-based Fedora system on your computer. Follow the same basic steps for installing Fedora as for the Fedora Live DVD. The Installation Summary screen shows items for Installation Destination, Date & Time, and Keyboard. Be sure to choose the disks to install on and to check the time zone.

The desktop displays a single panel at the bottom with system applications like the clock and Dragora software manager to the right (see Figure 11-20). From the Fedora Applications menu on the left, you can access any applications. Next to the menu is a workspace switcher, Quicklaunch plugin, and a task bar for open windows. You can drag any application entry in the menu to the Quicklaunch plugin to have its icon displayed on the panel.

The panel shows applets for the Fedora applications menu, the PC-Man file manager, the terminal window, minimize windows, desktop pager, and window list. On the right side of the panel are the network connection monitor, and the system tray with Network Manager, volume control, clipboard, clock, lock desktop, and the logout button (see Figure 11-21).

The logout entry on the Fedora applications menu, and the logout button on the right side of the panel, open a dialog with buttons for logout, shutdown, suspend, hibernate, and reboot.

LXQT uses the PC-Man file manager, as shown in Figure 11-20. The button bar performs browser tasks such as moving backward and forward to previously viewed folders. The Home button moves you to your home folder. The folder button with the yellow star will open tabs, allowing you to open several folders in the same window. The side pane has a location (Places) and directory tree view. You can switch between the two using the button at the top of the pane. You can also choose from the View ➤ Side Pane menu.

To configure your panel , right-click the panel and select Configure Panel. This opens the Configure Panel window with tabs for Panel and Widgets (see Figure 11-22). The Panel tab lets you set the position and size of the panel, the background, and the autohide option. The Widgets tab is where you can add plugins (applets) to the panel. Currently loaded applets are listed. To add a plugin, click in the plus button to the right, which opens the Add Plugins dialog. To remove an applet, select it and click the minus button. If a plugin is configured, the edit button (menu button to the right) will become active when you select the plugin. You can then click the edit button to open the plugin’s configuration dialog. This will vary among applets. Plugin settings can also be edited directly from the panel. Right-click the plugin and choose the Configure entry.

To configure the desktop , right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose Desktop Settings from the pop-up menu. This opens the Preferences window with tabs for General and Advanced (see Figure 11-23). The Advanced tab lets you display window manager menus.

The Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) Desktop

The Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) learning platform is designed for OLPC (One Laptop per Child) computers.

To install Sugar on an installed Fedora system, select the Sugar Desktop Environment package in the Package Collection category on Packages.

As a separate Live USB spin, the Fedora 28 OLPC desktop has been integrated into the Sugar on a Stick (SoaS) project at https://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_on_a_Stick .

You can find out more about the Fedora spin of Sugar on a Stick at https://spins.fedoraproject.org .

The Sugar on a Stick live ISO image is available in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, such as Fedora-SoaS-Live-x86_64-28-1.1.iso. You can then burn the image to a USB drive.

The Sugar on a Stick project also provides a creation kit that you can use to create your own customized Sugar on a Stick system.

The Sugar desktop initially displays a panel with a circular favorites menu (see Figure 11-24). Each icon will start a simple application, including a calculator, text editor, chat, a moon description, terminal window, web browser, and log. The top panel has buttons on the right for the circular favorites menu, or the list version.

To quit Sugar , pass your mouse over your person image at the center of the main screen and leave it there, or right-click the person image. A pop-up menu will appear with the Shutdown, Restart, and My Settings entries.