[olug] xfce and the other guys

[Scott Jones]

On Tuesday 13 December 2005 10:29, thelarsons3 at cox.net wrote:

> But I've also noticed that XFce isn't mentioned nearly as much. 

The lack of PR is a decision on the part of the developers.  Gaining a large 
userbase such as Gnome/KDE have is not one of the goals of the project.

> As I'm again using a Linux desktop (and one fast enough that I'd like to
> try a DE not just a bare WM) I'd like to know its merits in comparison to
> the other two.  Any non-ranting commentary gratefully appreciated.  ;)

ObDisclaimer: I've been using Xfce as my sole desktop for about seven years 
now, since shortly after Olivier switched from XForms to gtk+.  I've also 
been the binary package manager for the Xfce-Goodies subproject (which has 
since been folded into the Xfce svn repository), as well as providing Xfce 
RPMs for SuSE 8.x.  Still, I'll try to remain objective or at least avoid 
ranting.  No guarantees about this being snark-free, though.

Xfce is lightweight and modular.  Use the whole thing, or only the parts you 
like.  Don't like the panel?  You aren't forced to use it.  Kill xftaskbar if 
you want.  Ignore the iconbox to your heart's content.  Use a different 
window manager if xfwm4 doesn't suit your needs.  It's your choice.

Xfce is fast.  Okay, so this is more subjective.  On my machine (K6-2 500, 
256MB RAM, fixed-frequency S3 Savage3D w/o hardware accel), Xfce starts and 
runs quickly.  Window redraws/refreshes are hardly noticeable.  The only 
thing that slows down the startup time is the fact that I have Xfce's session 
manager preload some Gnome and KDE stuff, which is completely optional.  I've 
had it perform acceptably on lower spec machines, as well.  Running on more 
modern machines, it is quite fast.

Most importantly (to me), Xfce is *developer-driven*.  The goal isn't to 
become the One True Desktop.  The developers' goal is to create a set of 
tools for themselves.  If other people like it, that's just a nice little 
bonus.  Features aren't added based on how many users want them, but on 
whether the developer feels it will enhance the the overall product without 
affecting resource usage and ease of use.

Don't know if this is what you were looking for, but feel free to ask more.  
Don't forget that Xfce also has a general discussion list.  Go to 
http://foo-projects.org/mailman/listinfo/xfce to subscribe or view the 
archives.  On IRC, there is #xfce at irc.freenode.net.  Some of the devs can 
be found hanging out there on occasion.

-- 
Homepage                        http://scottj.org
XFce desktop environment        http://www.xfce.org