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 A typical Xfce 4.4 desktop. Various Xfwm effects are visible (drop shadows behind windows, semi-transparent windows and panel). |
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| Developed by | Multiple developers, enumerated here |
|---|---|
| Latest release | 4.4.3 / 27 October 2008 |
| OS | Cross-platform |
| Type | Desktop environment |
| License | GNU General Public License and GNU Lesser General Public License |
| Website | www.xfce.org |
Xfce ([ɛks ɛf siː iː]1) is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use.
The current version, 4.4, is modular and reusable. It consists of separately packaged components that together provide the full functionality of the desktop environment, but which can be selected in subsets to create the user's preferred personal working environment. Xfce is mainly used for its ability to run a modern desktop environment on relatively modest hardware.
It is based on the GTK+ 2 toolkit (as is GNOME). It uses the Xfwm window manager, described below. Its configuration is entirely mouse-driven, and the configuration files are hidden from the casual user.
Xfce is somewhat similar to the commercial CDE, but has been getting a little further away from that comparison with each new major version.
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History
Olivier Fourdan started the project in 1996. The name "Xfce" originally stood for "XForms Common Environment", but since that time Xfce has been rewritten twice and no longer uses that toolkit. The name survived, but it is no longer capitalized as "XFce", but rather as "Xfce". The developers' current stance is that the initialism no longer stands for anything specific.
First versions
Xfce began as a simple project created with XForms, meant to be a free Linux clone of CDE. The program, a simple toolbar, was released by Fourdan to ibiblio (then "SunSITE"), and the community showed an impressive demand for expansion of the project.2
Version 2
Fourdan continued developing the project, and in 1998, Xfce 2 was released with the first version of Xfce's window manager, Xfwm. He requested to have the project included in Red Hat Linux, but was refused because the project was based on XForms. Red Hat only accepted software that was free and open source, but, at the time, XForms was closed source and free only for personal use.2 For the same reason, Xfce was not in Debian before version 3. Xfce 2 was only distributed in Debian's contrib component.3
Version 3
XForms, the proprietary library that Xfce was based on, was limiting the progress of the project. The popularity of the GTK+ toolkit was increasing, and Fourdan saw it as a fitting replacement. In March 1999, he scrapped the old XFce and began a complete rewrite of the project based on GTK+. The result was Xfce 3.0, which was licensed under the GNU GPL. Along with being based completely on open-source software, the project gained many benefits from using the GTK+ libraries, including drag-and-drop support, native language support, and improved configurability. Xfce was uploaded to SourceForge.net in February 2001, starting with version 3.8.1.4
Version 4
Xfce made a major jump in version 4.0.0 - it was upgraded to use the GTK+ 2 libraries. There were many other major changes made in this series as well, including a compositing manager for Xfwm in 4.2.0 which added built-in support for transparency and drop shadows, as well as a new default SVG icon set.5 In January 2007, Xfce 4.4.0 was released. A notable feature of this release was the inclusion of the Thunar file manager, a replacement for the aging Xffm. Support for desktop icons was added. Also, various improvements were made to the panel to prevent buggy plugins from crashing the whole panel.6
Xfce applications
Xfce also provides a development framework for applications. Other than Xfce itself, there are third-party programs which use the Xfce libraries, most notably the Mousepad text editor, Xfmedia audio player, Orage Calendar and Terminal. One of the services provided to applications by the framework is a red banner across the top of the window when the application is running with root privileges warning the user that they could damage system files.
Other Xfce components include:
Xfwm
Starting with version 4.2, the window manager of Xfce, Xfwm, integrates its own compositing manager. Other compositing managers exist, but have been rather unstable, and Xfce was the first to integrate its own compositing manager into the window manager. At its inception, many users called it the most stable one available, though at the time, in late 2004, xcompmgr was the only other compositing manager available.
Orage
Starting with version 4.4, Xfcalendar was renamed to Orage and several features were added making Orage a real option for daily calendar. Orage has full featured alarms and uses iCal format making it compatible with many other calendars. It also includes a panel clock plugin and Global Time international clock application capable of showing several clocks from different timezones simultaneously.
Thunar
Thunar is the default file manager for Xfce, replacing the earlier Xffm. It resembles Nautilus and is designed for speed and a low memory footprint7 as well as being highly customizable through plugins. Xfce also has a lightweight archive manager called Xarchiver, but this is not part of the core Xfce 4.4.0. 8 More recently, Squeeze has been started as an archive manager designed to integrate better into the Xfce desktop.
Prevalence
While not as common in Linux distributions as the KDE and GNOME desktop environments, there are a handful of distributions where Xfce is the default desktop environment, and most support it as an optional component.
These distributions include Xfce in their default environment:
- ALTLinux 4.0 Lite (CD)(Russian)
- Debian Xfce CD
- sidux Xfce version, or selectable at boot
- Dreamlinux
- dyne:bolic
- Fedora Xfce Spin
- FreeSBIE (FreeBSD Live CD)
- Gentoo Linux 2008.0 installation
- Gentoo Linux for the Playstation 3citation needed
- GrumpyLinux
- KateOS
- Linpus Lite Edition
- Linux From Scratch Live CD, if user switches to graphical user interface
- Linux Mint Xfce Community Edition
- Myah OS
- Mythbuntu
- SAM Linux
- Slackware
- SLAX Popcorn Edition
- VectorLinux Standard Edition
- Wolvix
- Xubuntu
- Zenwalk Linux
- Granular Linux
See also
References
- ^ "Xfce FAQ". Retrieved on 2007-01-06.
- ^ a b Jacobowitz, Norman (1999-07-01). "Interview with Olivier Fourdan". Linux Gazette. Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ Debian xfce source package 3.4.0.20000513-1 changelog
- ^ "SourceForge.net Project Page". Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ "Xfce 4.2.0 Changelog". Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ Meurer, Benedikt (2007-01-21). "A Visual Tour of Xfce 4.4.0". Retrieved on 2007-01-31.
- ^ ThunarWiki: Thunar in comparison to Nautilus, ROX, Konqueror and Xffm
- ^ "4.4.0 release status so far".
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Wikipedia content modification information:
- This page was last modified on 18 November 2008, at 12:39.
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