LXDE

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LXDE

logo
Screenshot
Desktop Environment
Basic data

developer LXDE community
Publishing year 2006
Current  version 0.99.2
(January 25, 2017)
operating system Unix , Linux , BSD
programming language C.
category Desktop environment
License LGPL , GPL ( Free Software )
German speaking Yes
lxde.github.io

LXDE is a free desktop environment for Unix and other POSIX- compliant platforms, such as Linux or BSD . The name LXDE stands for "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment".

The project was started in 2006 to create a desktop environment that works quickly and saves energy. It is therefore well suited for use on netbooks or on older PCs , where today's usual performance requirements cannot be met. In contrast to other desktop environments such as KDE or Gnome , the individual components in LXDE function with only a few interdependencies and can thus be easily transferred to other systems one by one.

Technical details

Like Gnome 2, Xfce and ROX, LXDE is based on the GTK + 2 toolkit and is written in the C programming language. The source code is published under the free GPL license and partly under the LGPL . Computer architectures such as Intel, MIPS and ARM are supported. It also runs on the OpenSolaris and BSD operating systems . LXDE conforms to the freedesktop.org standards and can therefore also handle GNOME and KDE programs - and vice versa. LXDE is, among other things, the standard desktop environment for the live distribution Knoppix and Raspbian , which are all based on Debian GNU / Linux. LXDE currently supports over 35 languages. The appearance of the graphic theme, font style and icons can be customized and it offers a utility launcher similar to Microsoft Windows. It's more energy efficient than KDE, Gnome and Xfce and doesn't need 3D acceleration . The hardware requirements correspond to those of an old Windows 98 PC, a Pentium II CPU is sufficient.

history

The project was started in 2005 by Hong Jen Yee (PCMan) from Taiwan and produced its first publication in 2006. After LXDE has been included in Mandriva and Fedora and is also available as a standard desktop in Debian , there are projects such as U-Lite (formerly Ubuntulite) and Linux Mint LXDE. In February 2009, the Lubuntu project was launched, which is based on Ubuntu . The first test version was created in September of the same year. At the Ubuntu Developer Summit in mid-May 2011 it was announced that Lubuntu will become an official descendant of Ubuntu. With the release of openSUSE 11.3, LXDE is also available there as an officially supported and selectable desktop environment. In the following years, LXDE was integrated into a large number of other Linux distributions.

At the end of July 2011, the GUI toolkit GTK + 3 was introduced, which was declared the successor to GTK + 2, but at the same time is not downwardly compatible with GTK + 2. The introduction of Gtk + 3 had already been worked towards months before. For the chief developer of the LXDE project, Hong Jen Yee, the question arose as to which toolkit the LXDE team wanted to use in the future, as LXDE was based on the GTK + 2 widget set until then, which should no longer be further developed from now on. Yee turned in a blog - posting states that GTK + 3 "memory intensive and slower" than GTK + 2 is what his project concept "lean, resource-saving" from an contradicted desktop environment. LXDE stayed with GTK 2.

He announced a Qt version of LXDE, scheduled for completion in early July 2013. In May 2014 a first version (0.7.0) of the Qt-based LXDE, now called LXQt , was released.

System requirements

LXDE has the following minimum hardware requirements:

CPU R.A.M. HDD
architecture Tact
Pentium II 266 MHz 45 MB approx. 16 MB

LXDE components

Like ROX or Xfce , LXDE has a modular structure, LXDE offers the following components:

GPicView
A sleek and fast picture viewer
Leafpad
A fast text editor (external project)
LXAppearance
A program for topic management
LXDE Common
A configuration file for default settings for the standard integration of the different LXDE components
LXDE Icon Theme
A uniform set of miniature images - the so-called icons, which are intended to symbolize certain programs and which, through their design, also influence the external appearance of the desktop
LXInput
A tool to configure the keyboard and mouse
LXLauncher
A program starter
LXMenu Data
A collection of files for adapting LXDE's menus to the freedesktop.org menu guidelines
LXMusic
A front end for the music player XMMS 2
LXPanel
A desktop panel
LXRandR
A front end for the screen manager xrandr, which is responsible for the selection of the graphic image resolution and for the graphic configuration as well as for the handling of external monitors
LXSession
Lead the session
LXTask
A task manager based on the Xfce task manager
LXTerminal
A terminal emulator based on the Xfce terminal
LXDM
An X window display manager
Menu cache
An accelerator for rendering freedesktop.org compliant menus
Openbox
A window manager (external project)
PCManFM
A file manager (external project). To implement remote desktop functions and a recycle bin system on LXDE, PCManFM also requires the gvfs package.
Xarchiver
An archive manager (external project)

Components with uncertain prospects with regard to further development

For some components of LXDE, their further development is unclear or they are about to be abandoned again:

GtkNetCat
A front end for Netcat
LXAdmin
A collection of Python script applications for handling some LXDE settings and process tasks (this component is still in the testing phase and can currently only be obtained from the corresponding git development branch. A tar package is still pending).
LXine
An LXDE version of the xine media player , which plays video and audio files as required. For the compilation of LXine via Makefile, the backend, consisting of the object code library package xine-lib, must be provided before the compilation process (the LXine component is still in the testing phase and can currently only be obtained from the corresponding git development branch tar package is still pending).
LXPolkit
An authentication agent based on simple security "policies". Among other things, this component checks whether the use of certain programs by certain users or user groups is permitted in accordance with the present policies or not, and if the use is permitted but is security-critical, it switches an authentication query.
LXSession Edit
A program for session management based on Xfce4-session
LXShortCut
A tool for defining key combinations for triggering special functions

The network management tool LXNM was discarded unfinished.

System services from LXDE

System services that play an LXDE-specific role are:

lxde-settings-daemon
A daemon that is responsible for topic management, keyboard and mouse and works together with the LXInput configuration tool

Distributions with LXDE

The following distributions contain LXDE in the official package sources or as the standard user interface:

It is also included in the FreeBSD ports and packages.

Web links

Commons : LXDE  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sourceforge project page , as of March 15, 2017
  2. ↑ The lxde Open Source Project on Open Hub: Languages ​​Page . In: Open Hub . (accessed on September 20, 2018).
  3. ↑ LXDE . LXDE Foundation eV. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved December 25, 2015. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lxde.org
  4. ↑ a b main page - page at LXDE Wiki , as of March 21, 2010
  5. ↑ LXDE may let netbooks run even faster ( Memento of the original from January 7, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) - Article on Geek.com , August 8, 2008 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.geek.com
  6. ↑ About LXDE (English) - Page at SourceForge.net , as of August 21, 2008
  7. ↑ LXDE . LXDE. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved April 23, 2014. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lxde.org
  8. ↑ Jens Ihlenfeld: GUI library: GTK + 3 is ready. golem.de, February 11, 2011, accessed March 4, 2014 .
  9. ↑ PCMan: PCManFM Qt 0.1.0 released LXDE blog, entry from March 26, 2013 (English). Retrieved March 4, 2014.
  10. ↑ Jerome Leclanche: LXQt 0.7.0 released. sourceForge , May 7, 2014, accessed May 9, 2014 .
  11. ^ Liane M. Dubowy: First version of the Linux desktop LXQt published. heise online , May 8, 2014, accessed on May 9, 2014 .
  12. ↑ a b LXDE: System Requirements ( Memento of the original from October 14, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) - Pages section at LXDE.org ; As of March 21, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lxde.org
  13. ↑ Download ( Memento of the original from March 17th, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English) - page at LXDE.org ; As of March 21, 2010. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / lxde.org
  14. ↑ Sum of the sizes of the stable LXDE packages from Debian as of July 15, 2010.
  15. ↑ a b c d e f Status of LXDE components. Retrieved December 22, 2018 .
  16. ↑ wiki.lxde.org
  17. ↑ Main page at Cubian.org
  18. ↑ BUG # 511287 - debian-installer: Should have a task for installing KDE or XFCE instead of Gnome
  19. ↑ NewInLenny . Debian Project. Retrieved September 3, 2008.
  20. ↑ Features / LXDE . Fedora Project. October 31, 2008. Retrieved November 8, 2008.
  21. ↑ gentoo.org
  22. ↑ Golem: Knoppix 6.0 has been shrunk , January 29, 2009.
  23. ↑ Linux Mint 9 LXDE released! , July 18, 2010.
  24. ↑ lxle.net
  25. ↑ de.opensuse.org
  26. ↑ Marius Nestor: Parted Magic 3.1 Offers Hard Disk Install Method . Retrieved October 19, 2008.
  27. ^ Gary Richmond: SliTaz live CD: small but beautifully marked . Archived from the original on February 5, 2009. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved August 13, 2008. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.freesoftwaremagazine.com
  28. ^ Lubuntu homepage . Retrieved September 3, 2009.