Debian: Try It; You’ll Like It (Part 2)

(The updated version of this series can be found here (gone).)

XFCE is a wonderful desktop environment, but it’s not the simplest to configure. There are several items we need to consider for desktop display.

Extra wide displays are popular right now for several reasons, but aside from entertainment, it’s almost wasted space on either end. On my laptop, I have elected to move the main toolbar from the top over to the right side. You can’t just grab it and drag it. You have to right click on the toolbar, choose “Panel” because that’s what it’s actually called in XFCE. Then select panel preferences. You’ll get a dialog window and a dashed red line will outline the panel in question. Click and uncheck the box for locking the panel, then click the selector above it and change from horizontal to vertical. This will cause the panel to stand upright in the center of the screen. Now click-and-drag to move it to the right side (or left if you like), let it attach itself, then put back the check mark to lock the panel in place. I recommend changing the width to 50 pixels for now.

At this point the labels will run sideways. Chances are you really don’t need them once you recognize what the icons mean. Besides, just hover the mouse over any of them and you should get a popup box with the same information. So while you have the dialog open for panel configuration, select the “Items” tab. This is where a lot of configuration details are hidden. You’ll get a small window with a list of what’s on the toolbar. Select any one of the items and you’ll have the option to make detailed choices of how it displays. Click on the first item, “Applications Menu”. From the right side of this dialog, select the fifth button down, which should open the configuration dialog for that item. A new dialog will open and you can de-select the check box for “Show button title” and make the rotated text go away so it takes up less space.

You’ll notice each of the other items on the panel are listed and you can explore the various configuration options there. For example, I don’t use the mail notification in the Notification Area, so I open the config and de-select that. Once you are finished, close the dialog and your panel is ready to use. The disappearing panel at the bottom offers the same set of controls. On my laptop, I leave it set to disappear and pull it up only to use it as a quick-launch panel. You can change what buttons appear. If you know that something in the main menu is an item you will use often enough, you can open the menu from that panel, drag the item down to the other panel — give it a chance to recognize what you are trying to do; be persistent — and drop it where you want it. The panel will eventually open a square where you like. If it turns out you are a little clumsy at this, the drop it anywhere on the panel. Then right click and select “move” to specifically engage that function. You can easily remove buttons you don’t want to use there by right clicking and choosing that from the popup menu.

Back on the main panel, I usually work through the panel configuration submenu to add some items not there by default. I like to have a networking indicator for my wifi. Once added and it shows up on the panel, right click to configure. I change the label to “Wifi” and type in the Linux name for that connection “wlan0” — chances are, if you have a wifi chip on your system, that’s what it will be called. Notice that’s a zero at the end of the label. We’ll learn more about that later. This little tool allows you to see when traffic is moving across your wifi connection. Similar kinds of things can be added, but don’t crowd the panel with things that aren’t important to you. You may need to consider adjusting the width of the panel again if it’s too thickly populated. Narrower means more room for stuff, but harder to see.

Chances are by this time you realize the fonts look clunky. It can easily be much better. In a later lesson we will learn to add Windows-type fonts, but for now, we’ll use what comes with the system by default. In the Applications Menu, select Settings > Settings Manager. Usually the second item is “Appearance.” Open this dialog and click on the “Fonts” tab. Click the box labeled “Enable anti-aliasing” until a checkmark appears. Click the selector below that labeled “Hinting” and choose “full”. Immediately the fonts should look much sharper. You probably won’t need to mess with anything else for now. Go to some of the other tabs at the top and explore what you can do with the color scheme, icon sets, etc. When you are through, you can click the “Overview” button and go back to make more changes under the heading “Window Manager.” Once you add more fonts, you can revisit these settings to change your default fonts displayed onscreen.

Feel free to explore the other options in the Settings Manager. Most people also want to make their pointer/mouse move a little quicker, and it’s not too hard to figure that out. Select that item in the settings overview. For the most part, just increase the acceleration factor and test repeatedly until you are comfortable. You’ll probably change it several times over the first few hours of use until you get it just right. For laptop touchpads, things get complicated very quickly because there is no simple way of handling it. Don’t lose heart; I promise we’ll cover this later in more detail. This is where I remind readers that Linux in general, and Debian in particular, is very much a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) type of computer technology. Sometimes the defaults work fine, but if you want more control, it’s there, you’ll just have to learn a bit. You can only get just so much hand-holding before you are simply on your own. If it really matters to you, learn to fix it. You can’t be lazy with Linux, but the information is most certainly not that hard to find.

Another popular item is the desktop background or wallpaper. Simply right-click on any blank space on the desktop background and select “Desktop Settings.” The dialog offers your background as the first item of business. You can choose from a number of images. If you know where to find them, you can choose from your own collection.

Finding your files is our next lesson.