I have been exploring netbook systems with various Linux distributions for some time now. I have tried (and still have loaded in one place or another) both Gnome and KDE "standard" desktops, the Ubuntu Netbook Remix, Moblin (does anyone really like this? It drives me screaming into the night every time I try it), Xfce, SuSE Linux Enterprise Desktop, and a very preliminary version of Kubuntu for netbooks (although to be fair, so far that is nothing more than a few tweaks in font sizes and such, and is not significantly different from the standard KDE desktop). I have heard that more interesting things are coming "soon", such as a Mandriva version specifically for netbooks. Not being one to sit and wait quietly, I have been trying some different Xfce configurations, and I've ended up with a setup that is pretty easy to create, and I'm pretty happy with. Here are instructions and comments on how to do it.
- There are getting to be a number of good Xfce distributions available: Linux Mint Xfce is my current favorite, but Xubuntu, Zenwalk and Dream Linux are all popular, and most of the other major distributions will let you select Xfce as an option.
- Most netbook computers have relatively small displays, with rather limited resolution. Most common is 1024x600, the lowest I have is 1024x576 and the largest is 1280x768. In my opinion what they all have in common is limited screen space, and more available space in the horizontal than the vertical direction. So I have chosen to use two panels, one at the bottom of the screen with text-oriented items, such as menus and the task list, which I auto-hide, and one at the right side of the screen with icon-only items which I do not hide, so the icons and status information are visible and easily accessible. I also set both panels to "Normal Width" rather than "Full Width", so that they don't use screen space for nothing.
- To customize the Xfce panels, right-click on a panel and choose "Customize Panel". (Duh). If there is only one Panel standard in your distribution, click the "+" next to the panel name at the top to create a second panel. Then make sure they are both set to "Fixed Position" rather than "Freely Moveable", and position Panel 1 at the bottom center of the screen, and Panel 2 at the right center. Set both for "Normal Width/Height" rather than "Full Width/Height". Do not auto-hide either of them yet, as it is easy to customize them when they don't keep disappearing!
- Start on the right panel by adding an "Action/Logout" icon. To do this, right-click on the panel, choose "Add New Items...", and then select "Action Buttons". Position that one at the bottom of the panel.
- Move items from the bottom panel to the right panel by right-clicking and selecting "Move", then drag them to the right panel. Do this for the Workspace Switcher, Mixer, Notification Area, and any other icon-only items in the bottom panel. If the panel has a normal clock, you can set it to analog and move it over; if you are using the orage clock, you probably want to leave it on the bottom panel, and perhaps add a Clock icon to the right panel.
- When all of this is done, you should have a panel on the right side of the screen with a column of icons, and a panel on the bottom of the screen with menus and the task list. Set the bottom panel to auto-hide, and you're done with the first stage of the setup.
- The Xfce desktop by default shows desktop icons for Home, Trash and Filesystem. I generally remove either the Filesystem or Home icon, as they are redundant. This can be done by right-clicking on the desktop, and choosing "Desktop Settings...".
I find this desktop layout to be efficient and easy to use. But for inexperienced users, you still need to set up easy access to the most commonly used programs. The question now is, how and where to add those. They could go on the desktop itself, either as individual icons or folders grouping icons; they could be added to the existing panels (probably the right one); or you could create a new panel at the left (or top) for commonly used programs. At the moment I am leaning toward a left panel, based on the same idea of what little space is available being in the horizontal direction, and then grouping program icons on the left and status/information icons on the right. This preference is probably coming from the fact that I hate a cluttered desktop, I've had to work with or help out too many people who have hundreds (or thousands) of icons covering the entire desktop, but others seem to like it that way. Perhaps that is why I don't particularly care for the Ubuntu Netbook Remix style of having everything "in your face" on the desktop.
I'm interested in other opinions on this, and in hearing about experience others might have had with all sorts of users on netbooks.
jw 15/9/2009