Linux: The Ultimate Guide

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Linux 
• Whiskermenu: A menu that provides access to favorites, recently 
used, and search applications installed
• Xkb: Sets and uses multiple (currently up to 4 due to X11 protocol 
limit) keyboard layouts
xfdesktop Usage – Desktop Manager
The xdesktop is responsible for drawing the desktop’s background, or 
“wallpaper,” and the images on the desktop.
Background
The background is made of solid color or gradient, with an image 
(optional) mounted on top. Images can be used in various ways to comple-
ment the screen, such as enlargement, zoom, scale, center, or tilt. Instead 
of a picture, a color or gradient of two colors can be used as a desktop 
background. Gradients can be horizontal or vertical.
Since the back end can be color-coded and the image at the top, you can 
mix both to produce stimulating effects using images that show across the 
various colors. If the image is medium or scaled and does not fill in the 
correct size, the background color is displayed on both sides of the image.
Thumbnails (Icons)
The icons drawn on the desktop can be file/launcher icons or minimized 
windows applications. It can be customized to various sizes, with custom 
font and tooltip size, with the option to turn off tooltips completely. The 
file/launcher option displays files, folders, and launchers as icons on your 
desktop that can be edited, composed, copied, and exported, modeled to 
have the same look and feel as a regular file manager. Launches can be 
configured with the right-click and select Edit Launcher.
Note: You can use the custom folder icon optionally to use external 
images in the desktop icon folders.
The reduced application icons option displays minimized windows as 
icons on your desktop and can be edited freely, and provides window con-
trols such as a drop-down menu when you click the program icon to the 
left of the title bar with the right-click.
All icons can be found in the ~ / Desktop directory and accessed via 
the file manager. Launches are desktop files that can be edited using a text 
editor or created and placed in the ~ / Desktop directory to create applica-
tion icons for desktops.

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xfce Desktop Environment 
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xfce4-session – Session Manager
xfce4-session is the xfce session manager. Its job is to save the status of 
your desktop (open applications and their location) and restore it during 
the next launch. You can create several different sessions and choose one 
of the first.
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