MX Linux Forum

I've begun working on MX-21 Base, where almost all Xfce will be gone. That includes Settings Manager, which IMO is a major loss for the average user.

To deal with that, I have started a yad substitute where I intend to put some of the major settings apps. Right now I have a working first draft, filled out with a first guess, not sure everything below (e.g., Onboard) will stay. Here is the draft image:




1) What do you think of the general idea?

2) What would you add/remove from the list?

3) Other thoughts?

So that would be MXFB-21 Base, i.e. a minimal Fluxbox-only edition of MX ??? I'd find that really awesome!

Fwiw: on my current MX-19 system, I removed most of Xfce (i.e. Xfce session and Xfce applications), but ultimately reinstalled a few of its applications, such as Xfce4 Powermanager (no decent alternatives) and Xfce4 terminal (not so bloated as people claim - and I really like its drop-down option) as well at the exo-utilities. So a few Xfce4 dependencies will still be drawn in. PcManFM (Qt-version) is replacing Thunar as default filemanager - and LX-task instead of Xfce4-taskmanager.

Creating a MXFB-specific Settings Manager is a good idea, especially where fluxbox-related settings are concerned, like toolbar/tint2, appearance, access to fluxbox config files etc.
I do hope that all/most MX-Tools will still be available for overall system configuration?

Yup, that's the plan.

I have kept:

--thunar
--xfce4-appfinder
--xfce4-power-manager
--xfce4-terminal

I use lx-task on the RPi version, so should consider using it here.

Which exo-utilities did you keep?

Jerry3904 wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 8:28 am<snip>
Which exo-utilities did you keep?

I reinstalled 'exo-utils' and 'libexo-helpers' for for exo-open + preferred-application administration.
The exo utilities are actually a dependency for Thunar, so you're good to go.

Thanks

1) I like it Jerry, very cool

2) not sure, I don’t use MXFB much :(

3) keep up the awesome work

Ok, thinking on the vein of Fluxbox only release, here are some settings needed still: Users, MX tools, Add & Remove programs, input devices, Appearance(GTK, icons, wall papers, and cursors,compositor, and log in manager settings). I would remove touchpad as that is only ONE type of input device, and remove bluetooth link but add Network & Internet settings link instead. And lastly, I would add a link for System tools(terminals,root file manager). Adding and setting up these additional settings links in the Sytem Settings Panel instead of having a bunch of single entry links on the root menu of Fluxbox would help to clean up and minimize the clutter of that main menu. Now I know MX team will make popular apps and categorized apps panels, icon desktop links or menu submenu links but the system settings panel should be as complete as it was with XFCE to get the most out of the system without having to hunt for things you did not have to hunt for before and still have a minimalist desktop approach to this particular distro respin. I can go on about other things like what login manager to use or stick with, but I will leave it here for now.. I hope this helps with some ideas.

@Jerry3904

I'm also experimenting with a Yad replacement for my control panel, Yad has a feature where it can read Desktop-like launchers in a directory and you can get away from button based dialogs and have something that that resembles the rest of the system. It is trivial to plop in gtk-stock icons so you don't need a special icon theme or anything I'm not sure if that is a look you'd want but I'm happy to share an example yad script if you're interested (posting this from a Windows session so I can't attach the script right this minute)..

More info with some pics in this topic: viewtopic.php?f=127&t=65431

I'd enjoy seeing what you're doing, though the description doesn't thing my yet.

Thanks

Jerry3904 wrote: Wed Jul 14, 2021 6:48 pm I'd enjoy seeing what you're doing, though the description doesn't ring my yet.

Thanks

I'll make up something with based on the items your screenshot and post it here sometime tomorrow and you can give it a try, if it's not your thing no biggie.. I have a few templates to work from so it's easy to customize