The XFce Desktop Environment
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# XFce Overview

The XFce desktop environment consists of different components, each providing a part of the functionality.

XFce Panel (xfce)

  The panel provides a clock, icons, pop-up menus, buttons to change the virtual desktop and gives access to the configuration dialog.

Window Manager (xfwm)

  The window manager controls the placement, movement and decorations of the windows. It also provides a root menu, keybindings and session management.

File Manager (xftree)

  XFTree is a small, but versatile file manager.

Utilities

  XFce comes with a lot of utilities to make your life easier:

  - xfbd / xfbdmgr : xfbd sets the background of your desktop and xfbdmgr allows you to create lists of backdrops for xfbd to choose from.

  - xfclock : clock and calendar (with appointment management).

  - xfdiff : graphical frontend to diff to view difference between files or directories (and make or apply patches).

  - xfglob : graphical search tool.

  - xfgnome : xfwm module that provides gnome compatibility (activated from the xfce setup dialog).

  - xfmenu : xfwm module to read gnome and kde menus and add them to the xfwm menu.

  - xfmouse : xfwm module manage the mouse settings.

  - xfpager : xfwm module that shows the virtual desktops and allows you to switch between them. It can be activated from the xfce setup dialog.

  - xfrun : let's you run any command (includes a command history).

  - xfsamba : samba network browser. Samba is the protocol used to communicate with windows computers.

  - xfsound : xfwm module that manages the sounds played for certain events.

  - xfumed : user menu editor. Can be started from the xfwm menu. Editor for the `User Programs' submenu.

Scripts

  There are several scripts included in the XFce distribution to offer some additional functionality:

  - xfhelp : started from the info icon on the right of the panel. Starts a browser with the HTML help file (nestscape or another browser defined by the $BROWSER environmental variable).

  - xflock : started from the lock icon on the center part of the panel. Starts xscreensaver or xlock (one of these must be installed for this to work).

  - xfmountdev : this script mounts a device and opens the appropriate path in xftree. It looks at /etc/fstab for info on devices and mountpoints. Takes a mountpoint as argument (e.g. xfmountdev /mnt/floppy).

  - xfprint : started from the printer icon on the panel. allows you to drag and drop files on the icon to have them printed.

  - xfterm : wrapper around an x terminal (xterm or another terminal defined by the $TERMCMD environmental variable) that allows some intelligent behaviour when dropping files on it from the file manager, like showing a text file with less or a html file with lynx.

  - xftrash : started from the recycle icon on the panel. Allows you to drag and drop a file on the icon to put it in the recycle bin of xftree.

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