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7<script src=https://birabittoh.github.io/js/themetoggle.js></script></nav></header><main><article><div class=title><h1 class=title>Modernizing XFCE</h1><div class=meta>Posted 2023-02-05</div></div><section class=body><p>This article is more of a memo for myself. Since I often re-install Linux systems, I spend a lot of time doing repetitive tasks and often forget some steps, which leads me to waste even more time figuring out what’s wrong.</p><p>These instructions allow you to get a fully functional and modern-looking XFCE desktop on a fresh install of <a href>Void Linux</a> (even though they can be adapted to work in any distro).</p><h2 id=initial-system-update>Initial system update</h2><p>First thing I tried was to update the system, but the ISO was quite old. I had to update <code>xbps</code> before anything else:</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-install -u xbps
8</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-install -Su
9</span></span></code></pre></div><h2 id=avoid-session-saving>Avoid session saving</h2><p>One thing I hate about XFCE is its fixation to save sessions. A lot of times I get my session saved and restored even with all settings turned off.</p><p>A quick and easy solution to disable session saving entirely is just to create an empty file in place of the <code>sessions</code> directory.</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>rm ~/.cache/sessions -rf
10</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>touch ~/.cache/sessions
11</span></span></code></pre></div><p>This way, even with everything turned on, XFCE fails create a folder with that name and everything works (or doesn’t, in this case) like a charm.</p><h2 id=change-that-shell>Change that shell</h2><p>Your shell is the main tool you use to communicate with your system, so it makes sense to replace <code>bash</code> with something more modern and feature-rich.</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-install -S zsh zsh-completions curl
12</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>chsh -s /bin/zsh
13</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>zsh
14</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zimfw/install/master/install.zsh | zsh
15</span></span></code></pre></div><h2 id=get-some-good-sound-quality>Get some good sound quality</h2><p>I don’t like <code>pulseaudio</code>. Let’s replace it with <code>pipewire</code> and <code>wireplumber</code>.</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>su
16</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>xbps-install pipewire wireplumber
17</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>mkdir -p /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d
18</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>sed '/path.*=.*pipewire-media-session/s/{/#{/' /usr/share/pipewire/pipewire.conf > /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf
19</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>echo 'context.exec = [ { path = "/usr/bin/wireplumber" args = "" } ]' > /etc/pipewire/pipewire.conf.d/10-wireplumber.conf
20</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>ln -s /usr/share/applications/pipewire* /etc/xdg/autostart
21</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>xbps-remove pulseaudio alsa-plugins-pulseaudio
22</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>reboot
23</span></span></code></pre></div><h2 id=make-firefox-more-secure>Make Firefox more secure</h2><p>I like Firefox as a browser, but it doesn’t come with sane defaults as far as privacy’s concerned.</p><p>First, visit <a href=https://ffprofile.com/>Firefox Profilemaker</a> and create a customized <code>profile.zip</code>.</p><p>Then, extract your zip file to the correct destination:</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-install zip unzip p7zip xarchiver thunar-archive-plugin
24</span></span><span style=display:flex><span>unzip -o ~/Downloads/profile.zip -d ~/.mozilla/firefox/xxxxxxxx.default-default/
25</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Some useful extensions I always install are:</p><ul><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/bitwarden-password-manager>Bitwarden</a>, a password manager;</li><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes>Decentraleyes</a>, to serve common JS libraries locally;</li><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/istilldontcareaboutcookies>I still don’t care about cookies</a>, to hide and auto-reject cookie warnings;</li><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect>LibRedirect</a>, a redirector for <a href=https://github.com/mendel5/alternative-front-ends>alternative front-ends</a>;</li><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/sponsorblock>SponsorBlock</a>, to skip YouTube sponsorships automagically;</li><li><a href=https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/ublock-origin>uBlock Origin</a>, the best ad-blocker.</li></ul><h2 id=customize-your-de>Customize your DE</h2><p>Install the last required packages for desktop usability:</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-install -S xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin xfce4-clipman-plugin xfce4-pulseaudio-plugin xfce4-screenshooter xclip micro neovim mpv yt-dlp
26</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Remove orphaned and cached packages:</p><div class=highlight><pre tabindex=0 style=color:#f8f8f2;background-color:#272822;-moz-tab-size:4;-o-tab-size:4;tab-size:4><code class=language-fallback data-lang=fallback><span style=display:flex><span>sudo xbps-remove -Oo
27</span></span></code></pre></div><p>Now, open XFCE’s Settings Manager and set the following options:</p><ul><li>Appearance → Style → Choose “Adwaita-dark”</li><li>Desktop → Background → <em><Choose your favorite wallpaper></em></li><li>Desktop → Icons → Set “Icon type” to “None”</li><li>Panel → <em><Customize your panels></em></li><li>Screensaver → Disable “Enable Screensaver”</li><li>Text Editor Settings → Enable:<ul><li>“Show line numbers”,</li><li>“Highlight matching brackets”,</li><li>“Wrap long lines”</li></ul></li><li>Window Manager → Style → Button layout → Remove “Shade” button from title bar</li><li>Window Manager → Advanced → Windows snapping → Enable “To other windows”</li><li>Window Manager → Advanced → Wrap workspaces when reaching the screen edge → Disable “With a dragged window”</li><li>Window Manager Tweaks → Cycling → Enable:<ul><li>“Cycle through minimized windows in most recently used order”,</li><li>“Cycle through windows on all workspaces”,</li><li>“Raise windows while cycling”</li></ul></li><li>Window Manager Tweaks → Accessibility → Disable:<ul><li>“Raise windows when any mouse button is pressed”,</li><li>“Use mouse wheel on title bar to roll up the window”</li></ul></li><li>Window Manager Tweaks → Accessibility → Enable “Notify of urgency by making window’s decoration blink”</li><li>Window Manager Tweaks → Compositor → Enable “Show shadows under popup windows”</li><li>Xfce Terminal Settings → General → Scrolling → Set “Scrollbar is” to “Disabled”</li><li>Xfce Terminal Settings → Appearance →<ul><li>enable “Use system font”,</li><li>set “Background” to “Transparent background”,</li><li>set Opacity to 0.80;</li></ul></li><li>Xfce Terminal Settings → Colors → Presets → Choose “Tango”</li><li>Keyboard → Behavior → Enable “Restore num lock state on startup”</li></ul><h2 id=shortcuts>Shortcuts</h2><p>Finally, set the following shortcuts:</p><ul><li>Keyboard → Application Shortcuts</li></ul><table><thead><tr><th>Command</th><th>Shortcut</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><code>exo-open --launch TerminalEmulator</code></td><td><code>Super</code> + <code>Return</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>xfce4-popup-whiskermenu</code></td><td><code>Super</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>xfce4-screenshooter --clipboard --region</code></td><td><code>Shift</code> + <code>Super</code> + <code>S</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>xfce4-screenshooter --clipboard --window</code></td><td><code>Shift</code> + <code>S</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>xfce4-screenshooter --clipboard --fullscreen</code></td><td><code>Print</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>sh -c 'xclip -selection clipboard -t image/png -o > "$HOME/Pictures/$(date +%Y-%m-%d_%T).png"'</code></td><td><code>Shift</code> + <code>Super</code> + <code>V</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>xflock4</code></td><td><code>Super</code> + <code>L</code></td></tr><tr><td><code>loginctl suspend</code></td><td><code>Shift</code> + <code>Super</code> + <code>L</code></td></tr></tbody></table></section><div class=post-tags><nav class="nav tags"><ul class=tags><li><a href=/tags/foss>foss</a></li><li><a href=/tags/advice>advice</a></li></ul></nav></div></article></main><footer><div style=display:flex><a class=border></a><a class=soc href=/articles/index.xml rel=me title="RSS Feed"><i data-feather=rss></i></a>
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