On Wed, 16 Aug 2017 15:55:30 -0700
Rick Moen <rick@???> wrote:


> So, here's a point: If you have a Linux system with Thunar (graphical
> file manager) and the xfwm4 window manager, I'm betting that those
> _are_ 99% of what you think of as 'XFCE4'.

That wouldn't be true of me. Back when I was an Xfce user, I defined
Xfce as:

* Able to use multiple panels
* Able to config the panels via right click
* Kinda twitchy during config on Linux, but rock solid on OpenBSD

>
> I'm betting that you don't actually have a specific desire and need

[snip]

> (also) for XFCE Terminal,

You got that wrong. I *always* install both XFCE Terminal and LXDE
Terminal.

> Parole media player,

I use that from time to time, during the frequent events when my
erstwhile favorite media player starts acting stupid.

> Midori Web browser,

Everybody uses Midori when the usual suspects fail, or when they want a
little lighter browser.

> Eatmonkey download manager,
> notification-daemon-xfce, the Xfce4 Volstatus system tray notification
> icon, Xfce4 Power Manager,

How would anyone separate those from Xfce? I expect my Xfce (which I
never use anymore) to have a tray full of excellent tools including a
battery meter.

[snip]

> _Or_ you might prefer, as many XFCE4 users do, the window manager
> named 'awesome' rather than xfwm4.

About 1/2 of 1% of my friends use Awesome on a regular basis. It's a
committment few are willing to make.


> And if you started out with less than the entire marching band of
> those things (which with artwork and bindings are the ensemble known
> as 'XFCE4') and at any point you decided you wanted any of them or
> all of them, you can trivially add those with a single apt-get
> command.

The preceding is what I've been trying to tell people for years.

>
> So, why do you need to start with the whole marching band? And,
> moreover, install a 'task' metapackage whose presence requires
> installation, at all times, of all of the constituent packages
> thereafter.
>
> 'A la carte' is not a swear word, you know. But somehow, most of an
> entire generation of Linux newcomers have been conned into thinking it
> is. My point is merely that I think this tunnel-vision is
> unfortunate.

I agree with you, but mostly thanks to the systemd debacle I'm an
experienced user and a committed DIY guy. I remember when I started in
Linux, I *never* could have remembered which packages put a battery in
your panel, or which panel worked with which GOSFUIs, so in my early
years I saw Gnome2 and later Xfce as a single-install way to give me a
user interface I liked.

It's just too bad people turned those package-deal GOSFUIs into a
religion.

SteveT

Steve Litt
July 2017 featured book: Quit Joblessness: Start Your Own Business
http://www.troubleshooters.com/startbiz