Desktop Environment – Sick Gaming

Posted on February 28, 2020 by — Leave a comment

Fedora’s gaggle of desktops

There are 38 different desktops or window managers in Fedora 31. You could try a different one every day for a month, and still have some left over. Some have very few features. Some have so many features they are called a desktop environment. This article can’t go into detail on each, but it’s interesting to see the whole list in one place.

Criteria for desktops

To be on this list, the desktop must show up on the desktop manager’s selection list. If the desktop has more than one entry in the desktop manager list, they are counted just as that one desktop. An example is “GNOME”, “GNOME Classic” and “GNOME (Wayland).” These all show up on the desktop manager list, but they are still just GNOME.

List of desktops

9wm
Emulation of the Plan 9 window manager 8 1/2 dnf install 9wm
awesomeHighly configurable, framework window manager for X. Fast, light and extensible
https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install awesome
blackboxVery small and fast Window Manager
Fedora uses the maintained fork on github dnf install blackbox
bspwmA tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning
https://github.com/windelicato/dotfiles/wiki/bspwm-for-dummies dnf install bspwm
byobu
Light-weight, configurable window manager built upon GNU screen dnf install byobu
CinnamonCinnamon provides a desktop with a traditional layout, advanced features, easy to use, powerful and flexible.
https://projects.linuxmint.com/cinnamon/
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/cinnamon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Cinnamon Desktop"
cwmCalm Window Manager by OpenBSD project
https://steemit.com/technology/@jamesdeagle/the-calm-window-manager-cwm-a-quick-start-guide dnf install cwm
Deepin
Deepin desktop is the desktop environment released with deepin (the linux distribution). It aims at being elegant and easy to use. dnf group install "Deepin Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Deepin Desktop Office" "Media packages for Deepin Desktop"
dwmDynamic window manager for X
https://fedoramagazine.org/lets-try-dwm-dynamic-window-manger/
https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install dwm (optional) dnf install dwm-user
enlightenmentEnlightenment window manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-enlightenment-desktop dnf install enlightenment
e16
The Enlightenment window manager, DR16 dnf install e16 (optional) dnf install e16-epplets e16-keyedit e16-themes
fluxbox
Window Manager based on Blackbox  dnf install fluxbox (optional) dnf install fluxbox-pulseaudio fluxbox-vim-syntax
fvwmHighly configurable multiple virtual desktop window manager
http://www.fvwm.org/
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/fvwm-linux-desktop dnf install fvwm
GNOMEGNOME is a highly intuitive and user friendly desktop environment.
* both X11 and wayland
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/gnome-linux-desktop
https://fedoramagazine.org/3-simple-and-useful-gnome-shell-extensions/ dnf group install "GNOME" (optional but large) dnf group install "Fedora Workstation" herbstluftwmA manual tiling window manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/herbstluftwm-linux-desktop dnf install herbstluftwm (optional) dnf install herbstluftwm-zsh herbstluftwm-fish
i3Improved tiling window manager
https://fedoramagazine.org/getting-started-i3-window-manager/
https://fedoramagazine.org/using-i3-with-multiple-monitors/ dnf install i3 (optional) dnf install i3-doc i3-ipc
icewmWindow manager designed for speed, usability, and consistency
https://fedoramagazine.org/icewm-a-really-cool-desktop/ dnf install icewm (optional) dnf install icewm-minimal-session
jwmJoe's Window Manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/joes-window-manager-linux-desktop dnf install jwm
KDE Plasma DesktopThe KDE Plasma Workspaces, a highly-configurable graphical user interface which includes a panel, desktop, system icons and desktop widgets, and many powerful KDE applications.
* both X11 and wayland
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-kde-plasma
https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-kde-plasma-5/ dnf group install "KDE Plasma Workspaces" (optional) dnf group install "KDE Applications" "KDE Educational applications" "KDE Multimedia support" "KDE Office" "KDE Telepathy" (optional for wayland) dnf install kwin-wayland plasma-workspace-wayland
luminaA lightweight, portable desktop environment
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-lumina-desktop dnf install lumina-desktop (optional) dnf install lumina-*
LXDELXDE is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers.
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXDE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXDE Office" "Multimedia support for LXDE"
LXQtLXQt is a lightweight X11 desktop environment designed for computers with low hardware specifications like netbooks, mobile devices or older computers.
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/lxqt-lxde-linux-desktop dnf group install "LXQt Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "LXQt Office" "Multimedia support for LXQt"
MATEMATE Desktop is based on GNOME 2 and provides a powerful graphical user interface for users who seek a simple easy to use traditional desktop interface.
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/mate-linux-desktop
https://fedoramagazine.org/installing-another-desktop/ dnf group install "MATE Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "MATE Applications"
musca
A simple dynamic window manager fox X dnf install musca
openboxA highly configurable and standards-compliant X11 window manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/openbox-linux-desktop
https://fedoramagazine.org/openbox-fedora/ dnf install openbox (optional) dnf install openbox-kde openbox-theme-mistral-thin-dark
PantheonThe Pantheon desktop environment is the DE that powers elementaryOS.
https://github.com/elementary
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pantheon-linux-desktop dnf group install "Pantheon Desktop" (optional) dnf install elementary-capnet-assist elementary-greeter elementary-shortcut-overlay
pekwmA small and flexible window manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/pekwm-linux-desktop dnf install pekwm
qtileA pure-Python tiling window manager
https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install qtile
ratpoisonMinimalistic window manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/ratpoison-linux-desktop dnf install ratpoison
sawfish
An extensible window manager for the X Window System dnf install sawfish (optional) dnf install sawfish-pager
spectrwm
Minimalist tiling window manager written in C dnf install spectrwm
SugarA software playground for learning about learning.
* Possibly the most unique desktop of this list. dnf group install "Sugar Desktop Environment" (optional) dnf group install "Additional Sugar Activities"
swayi3-compatible window manager for Wayland
* Wayland only
https://fedoramagazine.org/setting-up-the-sway-window-manager-on-fedora/
https://fedoramagazine.org/5-cool-tiling-window-managers/ dnf install sway
twmX.Org X11 twm window manager
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twm
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/twm-linux-desktop dnf install xorg-x11-twm
WindowMakerA fast, feature rich Window Manager
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/linux-window-maker-desktop dnf install WindowMaker (optional) dnf install WindowMaker-extra
wmx
A really simple window manager for X dnf install wmx
XFCEA lightweight desktop environment that works well on low end machines.
https://opensource.com/article/19/12/xfce-linux-desktop dnf group install "Xfce Desktop" (optional) dnf group install "Applications for the Xfce Desktop" "Extra plugins for the Xfce panel" "Multimedia support for Xfce" "Xfce Office"
xmonad
A tiling window manager dnf install xmonad (optional) dnf install xmonad-mate

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash.

Posted on December 16, 2019 by — Leave a comment

Setting up the sway window manager on Fedora

Sometimes during a critical activity, working with overlapping windows becomes counterproductive. You might find a tiled window manager like sway to be a good alternative.

Sway is a tiling Wayland compositor. It has the advantage of compatibility with an existing i3 configuration, so you can use it to replace i3 and use Wayland as the display protocol.

Installing sway

To setup sway, open a new terminal and type the following command

sudo dnf install sway

Once the installation is completed, log out of your user session. At the login screen, select your user account. Before you enter your password, choose Sway from the menu, as shown in the following image.

After login, your desktop looks like this:

Configuration

To begin configuration, copy the default config into your user directory. Do that using the following commands.

mkdir -p .config/sway
cp /etc/sway/config ~/.config/sway/

Sway is highly configurable. It’s suggested you read the project’s wiki page to fine tune your settings. For example, to change the keyboard layout, open a new terminal and run this command:

$ swaymsg -t get_inputs
[george@mrwhite ~]$ swaymsg -t get_inputs Input device: VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse Type: Mouse Identifier: 2:19:VirtualPS/2_VMware_VMMouse Product ID: 19 Vendor ID: 2 Libinput Send Events: enabled Input device: VirtualPS/2 VMware VMMouse Type: Mouse Identifier: 2:19:VirtualPS/2_VMware_VMMouse Product ID: 19 Vendor ID: 2 Libinput Send Events: enabled Input device: AT Translated Set 2 keyboard Type: Keyboard Identifier: 1:1:AT_Translated_Set_2_keyboard Product ID: 1 Vendor ID: 1 Active Keyboard Layout: Portuguese (Brazil) Libinput Send Events: enabled

Copy the identifier keyboard code. Open your ~/.config/sway/config file with your text editor and edit the configuration accordingly:

## Input configuration
input "1:1:AT_Translated_Set_2_keyboard" { xkb_layout br
}

Save the settings. To reload the configurations, press Super+Shift+c. (Typically the Super key is mapped to the logo key on a PC.)

Waybar

Sway’s default status bar may not have all the functions you want. Fortunately Waybar is a good replacement. To install, run the follow commands. (Note, however, that COPR is not an official Fedora repository and not supported by the Fedora Project.)

sudo dnf copr enable alebastr/waybar sudo dnf install waybar

Open your ~/.config/sway/config file. Edit the bar configuration like this:

bar { swaybar_command waybar
}

Reload the configuration and you’ll now see the waybar in action, as shown below.

To customize the waybar, you can visit this wiki page for more details and ideas.

Alacritty

Alacritty is a terminal emulator that uses the GPU for rendering, and a good replacement for urxvt. To install run the following lines

sudo dnf copr enable pschyska/alacritty
sudo dnf install alacritty

To enable it as default terminal emulator edit your ~/.config/sway/config. Change this line:

set $term urxvt256c-ml

To:

set $term alacritty

Reload your configuration.

When you open a new terminal with Super+C, alacritty will be open as seen in the following image:

Photo by Ivan Vranić on Unsplash.

Posted on September 13, 2019 by — Leave a comment

GNOME 3.34 released — coming soon in Fedora 31

Today the GNOME project announced the release of GNOME 3.34. This latest release of GNOME will be the default desktop environment in Fedora 31 Workstation. The Beta release of Fedora 31 is currently expected in the next week or two, with the Final release scheduled for late October.

GNOME 3.34 includes a number of new features and improvements. Congratulations and thank you to the whole GNOME community for the work that went into this release! Read on for more details.

Notable features

The desktop itself has been refreshed with a pleasing new background. You can also compare your background images to see what they’ll look like on the desktop.

There’s a new custom application folder feature in the GNOME Shell Overview. It lets you combine applications in a group to make it easier to find the apps you use.

You already know that Boxes lets you easily download an OS and create virtual machines for testing, development, or even daily use. Now you can find sources for your virtual machines more easily, as well as boot from CD or DVD (ISO) images more easily. There is also an Express Install feature available that now supports Windows versions.

Now that you can save states when using GNOME Games, gaming is more fun. You can snapshot your progress without getting in the way of the fun. You can even move snapshots to other devices running GNOME.

More details

These are not the only features of the new and improved GNOME 3.34. For an overview, visit the official release announcement. For even more details, check out the GNOME 3.34 release notes.

The Fedora 31 Workstation Beta release is right around the corner. Fedora 31 will feature GNOME 3.34 and you’ll be able to experience it in the Beta release.