Thunar is the default File Manager for Xfce , which, in order to be simple and lightweight, lacks some options that Nautilus and Dolphin , for example, have.
The following article explains how to use Nautilus to manage your desktop and folders even when using Xfce , and I adapted it from a post on the Ubuntu forums . I just tested this method on a friend's laptop running Xubuntu 10.04 , but it should work for any other distribution. Let's get started!
Disabling the Xfce Desktop
The first thing we'll do is disable all elements of Xfdesktop , that is, the Xfce desktop . To do this, go to Menu » Preferences » Desktop . Once there, follow these steps:
<° – In the Background tab , we disable the wallpaper. To do this, we modify the following options:
- Image: None
- Colors: Solid color and we choose the Black.
<° – In the Menus tab , we disable all the options that appear there.
<°- In the Icons tab, we disable the icons in the Appearance options.
Installing Nautilus
Next, we need to install Nautilus . To install as few dependencies as possible on Ubuntu/Debian, open a terminal and type:
$ sudo apt-get install --no-install-recommends nautilus
We then launched Nautilus with [Alt] + [F2] typing, logically, "nautilus" without the quotes.
Nautilus as default File Manager
To make Nautilus start the next time we log in and replace Thunar and Xfdesktop, we need to go to Menu » Preferences » Session & Startup and then to the Session tab . There, we should only leave the option that we want it to start when we log into Xfce.
Normally the following processes would have to be left:
- xfwm4
- xfce4-panel
- xfce4-settings-helper
- Nautilus
If there is anything else open, we close it and then save with the button: Save Session.
This will be enough so that the next time we start Nautilus , it will manage our desktop and open the folders. Now, we need to do a couple of extra things, one from the original tutorial and another that I added later.
Managing the wallpaper with Nitrogen
If you try to change the wallpaper using the "Change Desktop Background" option with a right-click, nothing will happen. This is because that option calls gnome-appearance-properties, which is included in the gnome-control-center package.
We could install this package, but that involves a number of Gnome dependencies that we won't need, so we'll use Nitrogen, a very simple program for managing wallpapers in Gnome . So we install it and run it with this command:
sudo apt-get install nitrogen && nitrogen
Once the application is launched we will only have to configure in which folders the images we want are located.
Normally we could use:
- / usr / share / xfce4 / backdrops
- / usr / share / backgrounds
Setting up Nitrogen is very simple, so I don't think I need to explain how to add or remove image folders. To launch Nitrogen when we try to change the wallpaper, we need to create a file as root in /usr/bin named: gnome-appearance-properties , which should contain the following:
[code] dir = »ltr»> function –show-page = background{
nitrogen
}
"$ 1"
exit 0
[/ Code]Then we give it execution permissions:
$ sudo chmod +x /usr/bin/gnome-appearance-properties
And that's it. Every time we click on Change Desktop Background, Nitrogen will appear.
Activate folders in Nautilus.
Now, in Xubuntu , next to the Menu , we have the Places plugin , which runs Thunar instead of Nautilus . I couldn't immediately find how to change this, so what I came up with was to put the Home Folder on the Desktop.
To easily activate the folders, we need to install gconf-editor.
$ sudo aptitude install gconf-editor
Then, press [Alt] + [F2] to run it by typing " gconf-editor " (without the quotes). Next, go to Apps » Nautilus » Desktop and enable the home folder.
Ready, we close the session, we go back in and Voilá !!