LXDE is an acceptable substitute for Gnome 2

[Rick Stevens]

On 09/16/2011 09:30 AM, Charlie Brune wrote:
> On 09/15/2011 01:13 PM, Joe Zeff wrote:
>> On 09/15/2011 11:03 AM, Christopher Svanefalk wrote:
>>> I never really tried XFCE to be honest, guess someone else would have to
>>> give the verdict on that.
>> I use F14.  As soon as I learned what Gnome3 was like I did some
>> research and ended up with XFCE.  Even if they make a version of Gnome3
>> that I don't find horrible I'd never go back.
> Agreed. I initially went to XFCE because I didn't like Gnome3.
> 
> My reaction is the same. The desktop settings of XFCE are really easy to 
> modify and I have it the way I want it. I plan to stay with XFCE as well.
> 
> I haven't tried LXDE, but this thread is making me want to take a look 
> at that, too.

I've worked with both and both are more "Gnome-2-ish".  IMHO, I think
XFCE starts out being a bit more like Gnome 2, but both can be tweaked
fairly easily.

By default, LXDE only has one taskbar (at the bottom) and it can get a
bit cluttered, but adding a second one at the top and moving things
between the taskbars isn't hard.

XFCE's default is two taskbars, a full-width one at the top with
currently running stuff (workspace switcher, clock, icon bar, etc.)
and a short one at the bottom center with shortcuts to often-used tasks
on it (terminal, browser, file manager, etc.).  I think I'm sticking
with XFCE, but switching would be no great hardship.

I concur with the general impression of Gnome-3--it appears targeted at
tablets and it is a right pain to use in its default configuration on
anything that requires a trackpad or mouse.  You need serious graphics
hardware to make it go at any reasonable speed.  Configuring it is
certainly no walk in the park and the need to add about ten add-ons to
make it tolerable is downright ridiculous.

A note to any Gnome developers that may be out there lurking on this
list:  Change for the sake of change is bloody short sighted.  The
already incredibly convoluted configuration process of Gnome 2 has
grown more complex by an order of magnitude.  It is not usable on a
laptop with a trackpad.  It takes too many resources.  You haven't even
come close to creating a usable GUI out-of-the-box here and succeeded
only in alienating most previous Gnome users.  Well done!  You should
work for the US government or the DMV.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
- Rick Stevens, Systems Engineer, C2 Hosting          ricks at nerd.com -
- AIM/Skype: therps2        ICQ: 22643734            Yahoo: origrps2 -
-                                                                    -
-  BASIC is the Computer Science version of `Scientific Creationism' -
----------------------------------------------------------------------