Does XFCE really work?

tashirosgt · #1 2nd June 2012, 03:33 AM

After trying the XFCE spins of Fedora Cores 15,16,17 on 3 different computers, a question comes to mind:

Does XFCE really work?

By that I mean are the people who say they have switched to XFCE really using XFCE exclusively? Are they doing normal things with their computers? - no mental health issues or anything like that?

I tried the XFCE spin of FC 15 , which had (as I recall) XFCE 4.6. The desktop kept hanging. This happend both on a machine with an ATI video card and on another machine with Nvidia built-in video. Updates didn't fix the problem.

I tried the XFCE spin of FC 16 with XFCE 4.8. The desktop hung periodically. One guaranteed way to freeze it was to pick the logout icon and check the box that said "Save session on logout" (or something to that effect).

I read a thread on the forum that advised using XFCE 4.10 from a non-official Fedora repository. I tried it. I was amused to see that the checkbox to save the session had been removed form the logout icon. From the Settings menu you can navigate to an option to "Automatically save session on logout", which doesn't work. You can save a session by using a button "Save session" in the ...->Session->General tab. However, this action will not save sessions of LibreOffice. It does save sessions of Firefox, Thunderbird email, terminals, the file browser. It will even save sessions of gedit and bring it up in the document you were editing.

I tried the XFCE spin of FC 17. The XFCE rpms that it has (after doing updates) are variously designated 4.8 or 4.9. The desktop freezes occasionally ( but what the heck, that could just be FC 17's signature behavior). Sessions aren't saved automatically. LibreOffice sessions are not saved by the "Save session" button.

I suppose I'll investigate using XFCE 4.10 on FC 17. I'm putting myself in the position of a person who only uses XFCE. This is from curiosity and stubborness. Maybe the part about mental health issues applies to my case.

mikee · #2 2nd June 2012, 03:45 AM

II think it's working ok.
It's not as nice as gnome 2 was, but it is servicable.

Do you know what is hanging?
On my computer, I can induce a hang at will, but it's a bug in I915G graphics, not xcfe.

---------- Post added at 09:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:43 PM ----------

My sessions are automatically saved.
There is a little funkiness with it and it's not perfect.

Doug G · #3 2nd June 2012, 04:48 AM

Since gnome3 drove me away from gnome I've been using xfce exclusively on my three or four fedora machines running F15 and F16, and for what I do I have no problems.

tashirosgt · #4 2nd June 2012, 05:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stoat

I always installed XFCE (and everything else I needed) in Fedora and Arch from the repos after starting from a minimal base system..

Is your method to install from the Gome LiveCD or Installation DVDs and to install XFCE and then to remove Gnome? Or do you leave Gnome?

One wild guess about XFCE problems is that they might be fixed by something that is missing from the XFCE spin, but does get installed if you do Gnome and then install XFCE.

***DBelton*** · #5 2nd June 2012, 06:31 AM

starting from a minimal install, Gnome isn't installed at all.

I started trying out XFCE when F15 went to Gnome 3, and just played around with it for awhile. Since the F17 release, I have been using it exclusively since Gnome 3 shell is getting to be worse and worse.

I haven't experienced any lockups here on my system running XFCE 4.10

tashirosgt · #6 2nd June 2012, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DBelton

I haven't experienced any lockups here on my system running XFCE 4.10

I suppose "Doesn't lock up" is one recommendation for a desktop. It might not be a case of "damned by faint praise" depending on one's experience with Gnome3.

I haven't had any lockups with XFCE 4.10 on FC 16 after I overwrote the session files left over from XFCE 4.8, but I had to go to an unofficial repository to install 4.10 with yum. I notice that after installing the FC 17 XFCE spin and doing an update, I end up with XFCE 4.8.

Do people who successfully swtich to XFCE sidestep the Fedora XFCE spins? Is that what these replies are telling me? Is it the Fedora spins of XFCE that don't really work?

***DBelton*** · #7 2nd June 2012, 08:44 AM

I always install from the DVD media, not any of the LiveCD spins.

But, I installed XFCE 4.10 from the unofficial repo. 4.8 is what is included with the F17 release.

UndiFineD · #8 2nd June 2012, 10:42 AM

I like using XFCE, but its not exclusive.
I use gdm3 for the login, and NetworkManager is also gnome gtk based as well as many other tools.

BBQdave · #9 2nd June 2012, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashirosgt

I suppose I'll investigate using XFCE 4.10 on FC 17.

If your use of Xfce is motivated by a desire for a DE similar to Gnome 2, I would suggest checking out Linux Mint 13 - MATE. Nice enjoyable (stable) DE.

And too, I think to offer a more rich DE, spins of Xfce become blends with Gnome, which IMHO cause some of the buggy-ness you (and me too) have experienced.

bigflopper2 · #10 2nd June 2012, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashirosgt

[...]

Does XFCE really work?

[...]

Well, you're joking...right?

Only because you're experiencing problems doesn't mean the DE is "garbage"

I'd rather try using other DEs if your hardware doesn't fit at all, Xfce (not XFCE) is the most stable DE I've ever used, and I'm enjoying this DE for a long time. My hardware for example is not working that fluently with LXDE (never found any solution, tried the free and proprietary drivers), razor-qt instead is working pretty well (even though razor-qt is still "incomplete" I'd say). Repo can be found here.

If you wanna try other lightweighted DEs try razor-qt or LXDE, I'm currently running F17 with Xfce 4.10 without any problems, stable as hell.

***DBelton*** · #11 2nd June 2012, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UndiFineD

I like using XFCE, but its not exclusive.
I use gdm3 for the login, and NetworkManager is also gnome gtk based as well as many other tools.

I have actually had much better results switching desktop managers to something besides GDM now. They are integrating GDM and Gnome more and more, and other desktop managers seem to be much more efficient if you are running any desktop environment other than gnome.

I guess what really changed me over to Xfce was when there was a bug in the wacom settings stylus definitions used in gnome-control-center and gnome-settings daemon that caused a big crash loop every time GDM started or I went open the system settings, and it took them nearly 2 months just to acknowledge the bug, and only acknowledged it then because there was mention of adding it to the F17 release blockers.

stevea · #12 2nd June 2012, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tashirosgt

After trying the XFCE spins of Fedora Cores 15,16,17 on 3 different computers, a question comes to mind:

Does XFCE really work?

Does Gnome really work ? Slamming the mouse from edge to edge, typing to get a simple app started, nothing worthwhile except time/date/logout on the panel, icons as big as your fist.

Yes - I'm still toggling between LXDE & XFCE but they are both very functional.

Quote:

Are they doing normal things with their computers? - no mental health issues or anything like that?

What I and a consenting computer do is between us.

pindakoe · #13 2nd June 2012, 02:08 PM

Been using Xfce since 3.something on Mandrake/Mandriva. Switched end last year to F16/Xfce and remain quite pleased. No fluff, simple & gets the job done. Xfce does lack some of the integration and polish that Gnome 2 has, but it ran like a charm on my previous (and ageing) system (Athlone XP2800+) where Gnome & KDE weer just 'too heavy'. I seldom use the Xfce apps, but tend to use the ones which come with Gnome but seldom have seen desktop freezes.