LXDE / XFCE setup

Some notes on my LXDE and XFCE setup, so I can re-create them.

XFCE

In Settings:

LXDE

Audio control: sudo apt-get install pavucontrol

Caps-Lock is extra Esc key, for vim. Put this somewhere it will get run automatically, like .bashrc:

xmodmap -e 'clear Lock' -e 'keycode 0x42 = Escape'

Keyboard shortcuts: Add WindowsKey-1 to start terminal, WindowsKey-2 to start browser. This matches my previous Unity setup. Edit ~/.config/openbox/lxde-rc.xml, add:

<keybind key="W-1">
  <action name="Execute">
    <command>lxterminal</command>
  </action>
</keybind>

<keybind key="W-2">
  <action name="Execute">
    <command>sensible-browser</command>
  </action>
</keybind>

Add window tiling with WindowsKey-w then h, j, k, or l (vim movement keys):

<keybind key="W-w">
  <keybind key="h">
    <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <width>50%</width>
      <height>100%</height>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="l">
    <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
      <x>50%</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <width>50%</width>
      <height>100%</height>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="j">
    <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
      <x>0</x>
      <y>50%</y>
      <width>100%</width>
      <height>50%</height>
    </action>
  </keybind>
  <keybind key="k">
    <action name="UnmaximizeFull"/>
    <action name="MoveResizeTo">
      <x>0</x>
      <y>0</y>
      <width>100%</width>
      <height>50%</height>
    </action>
  </keybind>
</keybind>

Clock: Right-click the clock in the panel, set the format string to: %A %d %B, %R.

Terminal colors: Right-click anywhere in terminal, select Preferences. Set font to Inconsolata 12, background color #1c1c1c, foreground color #e6d6d6, tick Hide menu bar.

Panel: Right-click, select Panel preferences. Move it to the top and add some applets.

Pidgin auto-start: Empathy uses system sounds, and I can’t get that working, so I’m using Pidgin instead:

cd ~/.config/autostart/
cat empathy.desktop | sed 's/empathy/pidgin/g' | sed 's/Empathy/Pidgin/g' | grep -v NotShow > pidgin.desktop

In Pidgin settings, turn Pidgin’s volume all the way up.

Autostart, tidy up: Click the LXDE icon on far left of panel, Preferences, Desktop Session Settings, Automatically Started Applications.

Desktop: LXDE icon, Preferences, Customize Look and Feel. Select Ambiance for the widget set, increase font size to 11. Then Preferences / Openbox Confguration Manager, select theme Openbox-Human-Like.

Sound: ?Is this still needed with pavucontrol? Allow pulse audio to change output device. Edit /etc/pulse/default.pa and change relevant line to:

load-module module-stream-restore restore_device=false

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