panel icons in lxde

By basd on Mar 30, 2010 | In linux, lxde

Given that I'm using lxde on 4 computers and that customizing the desktop is time consuming, I've been studying the architecture so that I can hopefully replicate my desktops.

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The first thing I discovered, looking at ./config/lxpanel/LXDE/panels is that the application launchers all refer to .desktop files. Well, this is cumbersome, since the configuration system will only adopt launchers from the menu system, so I have to cumbersomely create menu items (which creates .desktop files), which I then can incorporate into the panel.

So, I tried manually editing the panel configuration file, since it is pretty straight-forward. But my first test didn't work, apparently because it can't process a kde .desktop file? Can't say for certain -- my kde .desktop files will launch from the actual desktop, for instance. But, in any event, I copied one of the custom .desktop files referenced in the existing panel and modified it to launch the program I wish to launch.

Sure enough, it worked! So, that is good, as I can manually create panel launcher icons much faster than I can do it creating menu items and thence launcher items via the lxde configurator. Also, this gives me the possibility of creating a set of transportable .desktop files. Now, the next step is to try and determine whether I can create .desktop files that are compatible with both lxde and kde. I have previously set up a bunch of these in the ~/bin directory so that I can replicate them from computer to computer by copying that folder. Then (for kde) all I have to do is drag them onto the panel.

Lxde is a bit more cumbersome, since I can't click and drag (and also, apparently I will have to create an entire separate set of .desktop files). But OTOH, I probably will be able to copy the panel configuration files as well, which means re-creating the desktop will become considerably easier.

Another thing I have tried to do, so far unsuccessfully, is to synchronize these setup folders (and other configuration folders) via ifolders. But, that is an entirely different topic. My ifolder efforts are temporarily stalled while I rethink the architecture of my server ifolder client-server system.

And, thinking about that, I recently came across Eucalyptus, an open source cloud system. So much to learn, so little time.

Thank you for visiting and have a pleasant tomorrow.

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Later: I may be wrong on the .desktop thing, the ones I've tried subsequently all seem to work without modification. Also, if I "right-click" in dolphin and use the properties editor, the "basic" .desktop turns into a .kde or opensuse one or whatever, anyway. Editing the panel configurations has been really helpful and accelerated my desktop setup so I am just a few icons away from duplicating my kde4 plasma desktop.

I'm running compiz, cairo-dock and google gadgets (ggl-qt) and everything is working great with relatively low cpu load. Oddly enough, I've been using the kde4 personal settings system to add items to the autostart, which works pretty well. The only problem I've had is that I haven't figured out how to set the order of the loading. For instance, cairo-dock and ggl-qt load BEFORE compiz. That's okay for cairo-dock, since it corrects itself to compositing after compiz loads. But, the google gadgets are not transparent.

My next step will be to work on launching a startup script via autostart that thereafter launches programs in the order I want them. This may work, but my last effort on this did not work out well because the script would not launch everything I wanted launched. But, I think I have new ideas since the last go-round on the autostart script.

I mean, of course, I can click on an icon -- but that is so inelegant!

Otherwise ... and I say this with all due respect to the KDE4 programmers ... this desktop is WAY BETTER than plasma, because IT IS WORKING. And I say that while also acknowledging that most of the programs I'm actually using are KDE programs (dolphin and the like).

I wish that google gadgets had more system monitoring type stuff.

The lxde file manager will not split the window as far as I know. OTOH, it's fast -- and when trying to locate appopriate icons for the launchers in my panels, the ability to browse svg files is useful.