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Xfce 4.6 General Info

Components

libxfce4menu

libxfce4menu is an implementation of the freedesktop.org menu standard. It is not complete yet but already covers the most important features (except for Merging which is a requirement for proper menu editing). Starting with Xfce 4.6 it is used by xfdesktop and xfce4-appfinder for menus and lists of installed applications.

xfconf

Xfconf is the new configuration system for xfce 4.6, it replaces the 'old' mcs-manager that came with previous versions of xfce.

xfconfd

Xfconfd is the daemon handling the storage of settings. Just like mcs, settings are stored in 'channels'.

xfconf-query

Xfconf-query might be one of the tools many users have been waiting on for years. Especially those hanging around in our IRC-channel. Instead of having to guide new users through several dialogs and windows, it is now possible to have every control over your xfce desktop at your finger-tips. You can change any setting stored in xfconf with xfconf-query.

The following example allows you to set the wallpaper on your first monitor:

xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -p /backdrop/screen0/monitor0/image-path -s ~/path-to-wallpaper
xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -p /backdrop/screen0/monitor0/image-show -s true
xfconf-query -c xfce4-desktop -p /backdrop/screen0/monitor0/image-style -s 0

xfsettingsd

Xfsettingsd is an independent XSETTINGS daemon, it uses xfconf to read its settings from the 'xsettings' channel and then exposes these settings using the XSETTINGS protocol.

libxfconf

Libxfconf is a client-library which can be used by applications if they want to store their settings with xfconfd. Libxfconf also contains a set of functions to bind GObject properties to Xfconf properties, making connecting UI elements to properties trivial.

xfce4-settings

xfce4-settings is the front-end replacement for the mcs-manager, it comes with several different components for configuring application-independent settings inside xfconf.

Settings dialogs

New settings-dialogs have been written for the configuration of Xfce.

xfce4-mouse-settings
xfce4-keyboard-settings
xfce4-appearance-settings
xfce4-accessibility-settings
xfce4-display-settings

xfce4-settings-manager

The xfce4-settings-manager is the replacement for the 'old' mcs-manager settings-dialog.

It enables users to execute the various settings-dialogs within xfce.

xfce4-settings-helper

The xfce4-settings-helper is a daemon which provides special features:

  • keyboard-shortcuts for executing commands
  • AccessX notification using libnotify (mention when Sticky-keys and the likes are toggled)
  • Update kb and mouse-pointer data.

xfce4-settings-editor

The xfce4-settings-editor is a tool for editing ALL settings within xfconf. It is the graphical counterpart of xfconf-query.

Both xfconf-query and the xfce4-settings-editor can be used to perform maintenance on the xfconf property database.

xfdesktop

xfce4-panel

xfce4-mixer

The package xfce4-mixer is a full-featured volume control application. It is also a replacement for the buggy old mixer written from scratch. It is based on GStreamer 0.10 (gstreamer-0.10 and gstreamer-plugins-base-0.10 and, on most machines, gstreamer0.10-alsa) which makes it run on a variety of platforms out of the box. Features include:

  • Support for different sound systems at the same time (ALSA, OSS, PulseAudio etc.)
  • Support for multiple sound cards
  • Provides a new mixer plugin

xfwm4

xfce4-session

xfce-utils

xfprint

thunar

thunar-volman

xfce4-appfinder

The appfinder is a program that gives an overview over the installed programs and allows to start them. It can also be used to drag applications into the properties dialog of panel starters which makes creating complex starters a breeze. The appfinder has been rewritten from scratch based on libxfce4menu.

Xfce 4.6 ALPHA

Build-order

  1. xfce4-dev-tools
  2. libxfce4util
  3. libxfcegui4, libxfce4menu, libexo
  4. xfconf
  5. xfce4-panel
  6. thunar
  7. xfce4-settings, xfce4-session, xfdesktop, xfwm4, xfce-utils, xfce4-mixer, xfprint