Would you like to be able to do something in particular in Xubuntu, but don’t know if and how it is possible? Do you have your own Xubuntu tip you’d like to share? Perhaps you would like to make a guest post which you think would add some value to this blog?
If your answer to any one of these questions is yes, then I invite you to leave a comment on this post (be sure to leave your correct email address!) and I’ll get in touch with you. Of course I won’t use your email address for anything else 
Note: do not use this as a support forum! If you need help with anything I’ll be glad to help you, but then contact me using the contact form on the About page.
If you need an example of what I consider a post suitable for this blog, see my “Email Notification” post. Thanks.
Can you do a guide on installing xubuntu on compact flash? I’m just concern about about the lifetime of compact flash if i install it in the normal way.
James, I’m not that familiar with CompactFlash cards, but I think this post on Xubuntu on USB might work for that as well. Otherwise, perhaps you could try at the Ubuntu forums?
As long as it hasn’t been superseded by something else, how about doing a guide on installing the SLED Menu in Feisty Fawn? I can’t seem to find much on it.
Toad, unfortunately the SLED menu is a Gnome Panel applet and cannot be used in Xubuntu. Well, actually, it might just be possible using the xfapplet Panel Plugin which allows you to use Gnome Panel Applets but those require loads of Gnome dependencies. I might just do a post on Xfapplet (and perhaps the SLED menu) just before an upgrade if I don’t forget
I’d really like to see a guide to setting up remote access with Xubuntu. It’s really easy with Ubuntu, so I have one of my old computers set up so I can access it with my Windows laptop through Real VNC. But I really want to switch over to Xubuntu to get more performance out of the old box, and I’ve never quite figured out how to get remote access running.
Darn it, why does everyone ask these difficult questions?
Peter, unfortunately I myself have no experience with remote access, but I think that grumpymole has some posts about it. And if it isn’t there, you could try asking at the xubuntu-users mailinglist.
hello!
Your blog is awesome, dude! Thanks for creating it
I also have a blog that tells (sometimes) about ubuntu and kubuntu, but in this new version 7.10, I would like to give a try to xubuntu.
I used sometime xubuntu but I don’t used it in the…er… ‘power user mode=on’, can you understand me?
In my experience, I noticed MANY things that works on ubuntu (basic installation), that doesn’t work on kubuntu, like my printer (hp laserjet 1010, and my cellphone, a samsumg e250, and my video card: ati 9250). I would like to know if the compatibility between x/k/ubuntu is better than the previous version. Thank you!
pascutti, I’m not too sure about this since I don’t use Ubuntu nor Kubuntu, but I can imagine that the compatibility between Ubuntu and Xubuntu is better than between Ubuntu and Kubuntu since they both make use of many the same libraries… But perhaps I should install Ubuntu again sometime
(I got the feeling that this page isn’t really working out… I can’t answer about every request made here *sigh*)
Hey, can you post the Xubuntu Gutsy md5 checksums? I can’t find anywhere online that has ‘em.
Peter, here they are:
$ md5sum ./xubuntu*
8a6e05a36ff5098ece6e3d28ad3b279a ./xubuntu-7.10-alternate-i386.iso
877ae9aceb9fa5abcc8f8758c3f9f111 ./xubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso
I only have the i386 images though.
Peter:
try here http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/xubuntu/releases/gutsy/release/MD5SUMS
Some Feisty / Gutsy experiences:
- The reason why the XFCE-program manager was dropped for the Gnome system monitor was not only the extra info. In Feisty there was a bug in the XFCE program manager that would lead to a out-of-memory system crash when running large SH scripts a.k.a a memory leak. Took my ages to figure that out. The enr result was me replacing the manager with the gnome-system monitor as well which fits fine. A good choice.
- Totem still crashes on my PC, replaced it VLC media player.
- Thanks for the clipman tip, that was a big annoyance to me already for a long time.
If you want to share experiences (I have many more), let me know.
Vincent, I wrote about it in another post, but now I see there is a discussion dedicated to post requests.
Jouke, I think it will be great if you could make a full list of your observations. I set up Xubuntu on a new [old] computer and some things don’t work as expected. I can’t blame it on my lack of skills because the computer is old and some of its hardware can have issues - so I can’t be sure if the problem exists because the machine is old, or because I’m doing something wrong.
For example, whenever I scroll a window, I see little white dots (which look like video noise) on some parts of the screen. My guess is that it is the video card’s driver (the system is an IBM Thinkpad A22m), but I can’t check that and be sure (I don’t know how to check that).
Alex, I’ve sent you an email and replied to your comment at http://xubuntublog.wordpress.com/2007/11/12/installing-xubuntu/#comment-3426
Vincent,
I am so glad I stumbled onto your blog… I have not used any Linux except for a test of running off a CD-ROM a year or so ago, but I did use Unix in graduate school about 12 yrs ago. I’ve got a couple of old laptops that I will be putting new hard drives in and installing xubuntu using your instructions… they look really clear…
Once I get up and going in xubuntu I want to do the following:
- Find a package and compile / launch it in xubuntu - being a noob can you do a post on this general process so that it does not seem to scarry?
- Specifically, I want to use the xubuntu powered laptops for two primary tasks: Writing (Science Fiction / Fantasy) and Writing C# apps in Mono / MonoDevelop. What notetaking / writing apps can I compile for xubuntu? And would you think about doing a post on geting MonoDevelop up and running?
Thanks!
Will
Will,
First of all, there is no more need to compile applications. Installation of applications is extremely simple, but I think a post on methods of application installation is a good idea
In the same way, the installation of MonoDevelop is just as easy. Unfortunately, I do not develop in C# or write anythin more than school essays, so I can’t really help much more. If, by writing apps, you just mean a word processor then the one that comes with Xubuntu, Abiword, is quite good, though, if you want something more powerful, you should try OpenOffice.org’s word processor (again, easy installation). Both of these word processors are available for Windows and Mac OS X too (though for the latters, OpenOffice.org is called NeoOffice) so you can try them out on other operating systems too.
Hi,Could you help me in getting xubuntu to show the same screen that we see when we start the computer(the blue bar loading) during shut down too.I mean with the bar receeding.When i press shutdown,all i see is some text and finally the shut down.I wanna make xubuntu look more polished.Thanks
Ace, unfortunately, this is not possible AFAIK because of the command issued when you press the Shutdown button in Xfce’s logout dialog (Kubuntu has the same problem). However, if you insist on a polished shutdown, a workaround is to first logout and then press Shutdown in the login screen, which will display Usplash (the application that displays the bootup and shutdown screen).
Hi.Its me again.I have made a conky startup script.But do not know how to add it to the startup applications so that conky is started on bootup.How can we add things to startup in Xubuntu?
Ace, see
Applications->Settings->Autostarted Applicationsfor thatHi,
Could you detail how to get conky to autostart without messing up xfce wallpaper and icons. Thanks a lot !!!!
Lowitusa - a little bit of Googling turned up a post on Xfce and Conky that seems to solve your problem. (Create a new text file that contains the configuration mentioned there and save it in the file
.conkyrcin your home directory.)How about an update post for the Xubuntu on a Usb drive when Hardy Heron is released?
Toad, that, and a review of 8.04, are all planned. It’s just that I’m a lazy ass
Hi Vincent,
Thanks for you very much for all your hints on setting up the xubuntu on a USB drive. I have just have one question for you. At this point i am working with a VIA mini-itx board that i will use to control a robot. I was hoping to use a usb drive that boots xubuntu. At this point i am able to boot fine but it seems that after i make changes to the os, like install a new tool or such, then reboot i loose everything and i have to do it all over again. I understand the casper-rw is used for that purpose but it seems to not be working for me. I am sure there is probably a simple solution to this. I was wondering if you can please help me out.
Thanks,
Mussie
Hi Vincent,
I wanted to know about Xubuntu/Xfce’s Drag and Drop capabilities. I’ve figured out that you can drag and drop from the AppFinder to a Launcher Properties dialog and also to the Menu Editor, but that seems like it for Drag and Drop. Is that a bug or a feature? Am I missing something here? The XDND standard doesn’t seem to indicate such limited drag and drop. Maybe there needs to be a pasteboard server created for Xfce? Thoughts?
Hi Leo, it’s a not-yet-implemented feature, though it’s a high priority for 4.6 IIRC
I’ve searched high and low for a good tutorial on getting video thumbnails in thunar, and I can’t find one. Please can you write one?
James, when I browse a folder with videos in Thunar I get video thumbnails… Or should they be playing? If that is the case then I can imagine that to be an intentionally unimplemented feature as it probably is hard to implement in an efficient (speed-wise) way.
If the thumbnails just do not show up for you, then you might want to report a bug.
Being new to Linux and Xubuntu if something isnt working out of the box I assume that I need to do another step to get it to work rather than it being some random bug. Are you saying that I should have video thumbnails as soon as I have installed the codecs to play the videos?
I know that I have not done anything special to get these thumbnails working. If this is a default Thunar feature then it ought to be working when the appropriate codecs are installed. I’m not sure which codec package Thunar uses, but I think that if you have the restricted extras installed you should be fine. If not, then it’s probably a bug (yes, they do happen
) and if not, you will probably find a solution among replies to your bugreport 
If you still feel uncomfortable filing a bug report, then I recommend you to sign up for the Thunar mailinglist and ask it there, as I’m afraid I don’t have enough experience regarding thumbnailers and Thunar to help you. Sorry