News About Lesser Known Desktop Environments
- Dr. Roy Schestowitz
- 2014-03-05 14:03:29 UTC
- Modified: 2014-03-05 14:03:29 UTC
Debate
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When you install a Linux distribution, a set of programs comes along with it. It's easy to add and delete elements of the programs that don't fit with your needs, but what about altering the look and feel of the distribution to suit you? The key is to add a second desktop environment or window manager.
MATE
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It took the developers nearly a year but their work on the familiar, yet ambitious, MATE desktop is finally stable and available for everyone to use. MATE is a complete desktop environment that was forked from the Gnome Project (Gnome 2 to be exact) nearly 2 years ago. The decision to fork came at a time when a significant amount of Gnome 2 users were displeased with Gnome 3, the next major iteration and core of the Gnome Project.
Enlightenment
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After a fast development cycle and the 1.9 alphas just starting recently and seeing the first betas just days ago, 1.9.0 beta 2 is now available for the Enlightenment Foundation Libraries (EFL) core and also a second beta of Elementary.
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We are ready for our first beta release for the upcoming 1.9 release cycle. Please give it a good testing. Since alpha1 we received to many fixes to list them all. Full NEWS will be ready for the final 1.9 release.
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Just one week after the Enlightenment 1.9 alpha series surfaced, the 1.9.0-beta1 pre-release is now available for users of the lightweight Enlightenment window manager / desktop.
LXDE
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Xfce4's panel was improved this weekend and released in its 4.11 development form but that's not the only lightweight Linux desktop receiving some attention; LXDE's LXPanel has also been flagged as a new development version.
Xfce
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Xfce4-panel 4.11.0 is a development release leading to Xfce 4.12 and it has an improved task-list for multi-monitor handling, fixes transparency issues with GTK3+ plug-ins, a configure flag for enabling the GTK3 mode of the Xfce4 panel library, the middle-click action is now configurable, support for time-zone selection within the Xfce4 panel clock, a calendar pop-up for the clock, and other changes.
Recent Techrights' Posts
- Canonical: Ubuntu is GAFAM (US), We're Resellers of American Proprietary Software
- They want people to pay for a licence
- Links 03/02/2026: "Distraction is a Sin" and Fake "Encryption" (Surveillance With Good Marketing)
- Links for the day
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- We Should Learn From Bulgaria
- Why can't European companies and government recognise and react to a threat (when they see one)?
- Dr. Andy Farnell on Why and How European Authorities Can Adopt Free Software, Parenting in the Age of Digital Abundance
- Will Europe use technology that Europe controls (not the hegemon), for a change?
- Seems Like IBM Trolls Use Chatbots to Vandalise Platform That Discusses IBM's Secret Layoffs, Forever Layoffs
- Not for the first time either
- You Know Your Company is Dead or Basically a Pyramid Scheme When Jim Cramer Keeps Promoting Its Stock
- How much does IBM pay for "puff pieces" or "fluff" about QC?
- Red Hat (Under IBM) Works for Microsoft (Proprietary Software) and Slop
- Yesterday Red Hat's official site, redhat.com, published exactly 5 new blog posts
- IBM is Dying (More Layoffs), Red Hat Will Continue to Suffer From the Acquisition
- Financial engineering
- Colombia Adopting GNU/Linux Even Faster (at Microsoft's and Apple's Expense)
- Do politics play any role in this?
- An Effort to Tackle Slavery in 'Open Source' Clothing
- "a civil rights lawsuit to examine the concerns of censored developers in the free, open source software ecosystem"
- $15 billion lawsuit: Ubuntu, Google & Debian crowdfunding campaign launch
- Reprinted with permission from Daniel Pocock
- The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Delusion - Part II - Why We Need to Expose the SRA to More Daylight, Public Scrutiny
- SRA is neither effective nor regulated
- 400-Page US Federal Court Against Abuses by Google, Microsoft and Front Groups That Abuse Volunteers for American Corporations
- There are 386 pages in total (in the US claim)
- Corporate Influence Never Impacted Us
- There's no reason to assume we'll ever "sell out"
- Growth of GNU/Linux in Cuba
- Right now a lot of the world drafts or already implements a GAFAM exit plan
- A Day After EPO Strikes an Escalation to Heads of Delegations to the Administrative Council
- They rely on the European media playing along, helping them to hide major blunders, even crimes
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Monday, February 02, 2026
- IRC logs for Monday, February 02, 2026
- Gemini Links 03/02/2026: Stargazing, Development Boards, and Tcl/Tk Slop
- Links for the day
- Microsoft Lost 20% of Its Money in the Past 6 Months
- Microsoft is hiding what's really happening while mocking critics
- Great News, IBM 'Gained' Almost 10% in "Goodwill" Value After Firing Tens of Thousands in 2025
- "goodwill" will be inflated despite IBM staff getting sick of IBM
- Americans Move to GNU/Linux
- some of the biggest American populations
- I Still Like Drawing and Various Other Arts (They Help My Activism and Journalism), Slop is an Enemy of Creative People
- Recognise that slop isn't intelligence; it's a generational excuse for plagiarism and privatisation of not only the Commons but also proprietary knowledge (without authorisation)
- Carmen-Lisandrette Maris (Mission:Libre) Explains to Adolescents and Young Adults How Free Software Improves Privacy
- Based on what we've seen and read, Mission:Libre has a solid grasp of Software Freedom
- Chatbots Didn't Do Any Good for Microsoft
- Google "AI" = search + copypasta
- Links 02/02/2026: Cultural Cleansing by China and 'Living Behind Firewalls" in Iran
- Links for the day
- GNU/Linux Measured at More Than 4% in Russia
- growing adoption of GNU/Linux in Russia
- Gemini Links 02/02/2026: Stages of Age, Workflows, and Counting Capsules
- Links for the day
- Oracle's Debt Rose Over 20 Billion Dollars in Just 3 Months
- Is "hey hi" becoming a synonym for debt?
- Oligarchs' 'Speech Zones' Are Not the "Public Square"
- The apologists of social control media, including press that got "addicted" to such fake "media", are helping dictators and oligarchs grab the public attention away from the real press
- IBM Misleads and Gaslights Investors With Slop Sold as "AI" (the Business is Waning, Mass Layoffs Continue)
- People who do this are dishonest. They should not be put in charge.
- Links 02/02/2026: 'Melania' a Horror Movie "Will They Inherit Our Blogs?"
- Links for the day
- Doing More Detailed Series (Long-Form Works)
- Long readings or book-like reading binges are only possible when parts are suitably labeled (name and numbers) if not interlinked
- Mobbing at the European Patent Office (EPO) - Part II - Racism, Cocaine Use and White-Collar Corruption
- When you hire people illegally, to work for cocaine users and keep quite about the cocaine use, what will be the impact on the reputation of an institution?
- A Can of WORMS - Part II - Darkening the Name of RMS, Associating It With Crime
- Beware projection tactics
- Submit Your Suggestions for EU's Embrace of Software Freedom by Tomorrow
- Time to leave GAFAM (US) hegemony behind
- Slopless Weekend
- This is not sustainable
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Sunday, February 01, 2026
- IRC logs for Sunday, February 01, 2026
- Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Fossil Heating Installations and Some FOSDEM Coverage
- Links for the day
- The State of Memory Leaks in GNU/Linux
- The issue won't be solved by adding more memory
- Links 01/02/2026: Nvidia's Jensen Talks Down Microsoft 'Open' 'Hey Hi' and Britain's Starmer Makes Friends With China, Japan
- Links for the day
- Why Microsoft Accenture Has So Many Layoffs in Recent Years
- The debt of Accenture doubled a year ago
- Links 01/02/2026: Public TV Gutted by Cheeto, Billionaires Fund a Cheeto Propaganda Movie in 'Documentary' Clothing
- Links for the day
- The New Site ("New Techrights", SSG Since 2023) Exceeds the Old Site in Requests
- The "New Techrights" gets about twice as many requests as the "old" (WordPress) "Techrights", the site of 2006-2023
- 20 Years Ago
- Some time soon all this slop frenzy will become like yesterday's "blockchain" or "metaverse"
- Gemini Links 01/02/2026: Zdzisław Beksiński and Disconnected Git Workflow
- Links for the day
- Talks About Nadella's Microsoft Exit After Chatter About Tim Crook Leaving Apple (Years Ahead of Retirement Age)
- Mass layoffs and record debt do not represent a company's health.
- We Still Cover the Same Problems We Spoke of 20 Years Ago
- We're not easily seduced by "novelty" (new things), we try to judge them critically
- Patents Standing in the Way
- They also cause environmental harm
- Over at Tux Machines...
- GNU/Linux news for the past day
- IRC Proceedings: Saturday, January 31, 2026
- IRC logs for Saturday, January 31, 2026
- IBM, a Microsoft Company
- Microsoft and IBM as a pair go a long way back
