LXDE Forums

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Just a friendly note to tell others that it's fairly simple to convert a Mint XFCE install to a Mint LXDE install. The fact is, it's a whole lot easier than you might think. I'd be happy to share with anyone that would like to try it.

I've been running 4 laptops with LXDE/Openbox here in my home for a week and all 4 of them are faster and seem more stable now as compared to XFCE. Right now I have Firefox open while I'm typing this post. Task Manager reports only 790 MB of available memory being used for the desktop, window manager, and Firefox. That's a huge difference from any of the XFCE installs I have had in the past. Actually, about half.

It's too bad somebody doesn't create a Mint LXDE community edition for others to try. Yes, I am aware of Lubuntu. I ran into problems getting it to install. I was never able to resolve that situation so I went back to Mint XFCE and created my own LXDE distro, so to speak.

Anyway, if you are even thinking about trying LXDE, I'd recommend you give it a shot. You'll be glad you did.
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You might want to look at other distros then - distros that don't come with a lot of bloat preinstalled.

If the .iso should already have LXDE the options are not so big*, but if you generally want something lightweight that runs on old hardware, there's a lot to choose from:
https://distrowatch.com/search.php?osty ... +Computers
antiX & Q4OS are certainly worth a closer look.

* Distributions with LXDE installation images

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I just downloaded the Manjaro LXDE version. I'm going to try that on my spare laptop later. Might be just what I've been looking for.
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I just gave up on Manjaro. It won't see my network card booting with either open source drivers or proprietary drivers. I fiddled with it for a while then gave up. I'm sure it's somehow possible to fight and get the driver working, but I'm just lacking the enthusiasm to get that involved anymore. Considering I have 4 laptops running Mint LXDE now, I'm going to let Manjaro go. It was worth a shot.
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Hey, by the way. I guess I should point out that I'm in no way trying to convince anyone that switching from XFCE in Mint to LXDE is the best or easiest way to go. I'd actually recommend just the opposite. If you're just wanting to get an LXDE install on your computer, try one of the ready to go distros. My way is NOT the easiest. It just so happened I never found one that I really liked and that would install on my laptops. I'm just volunteering to help anybody that does end up trying what I did.
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smhardesty wrote: ↑Wed Apr 20, 2022 10:12 pmI just gave up on Manjaro.

There were a few more on the list I made, plus a link to distrowatch, and the old LXDE wiki. Lots of stuff for you to go through.

Generally what I'm hearing from you is "I want it exactly just the right way for me, but I don't want to go through any hassle to get that."
You can go on throwing preconfigured distros at your hardware until one sticks, or you can sit down and actually solve the problems you're having - esp. if it tends to be always the same problem.
Or you can use a distro that is designed to be built up by the end user, e.g. Debian.

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Yeah, you pretty much hit the nail on the head. That sums it up really well. I want just what I want and I'm just not that enthused about having to jump through too many hoops to get there.

This Mint XFCE to LXDE I did is working out perfectly. I know there are still some more packages I should be able to remove, but for the most part I'm completely satisfied with how this has turned out. All 4 laptops are running smooth as silk using approximately 300 MB of available RAM to present the desktop. I know I can reduce that amount even more if I forego running Openbox as the WM, but I'm too satisfied with what I have to screw with it any more.

No, I think I'm happy just the way things are.
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interesting information

I'd am very interested in changing a system's XFCE DE to LXDE.

I am trying to build a Void Linux system using LXDE but, even though LXDE is in Void's repositories it, appears that no one in the Void community can provide a step-by-step procedure for installing LXDE on Void which is pretty much what I need at this point (I've never coped with what amounts to a manual install of LXDE. I don't have the lexicon nor do I have an understanding of the install steps).

Void Linux provides a live ISO that has XFCE installed already so if I install that iso I'd be in a position to convert from XFCE to LXDE which I would certainly like to do.

This problem aside Void appears to be a very nice distro. For example, Void's developers created an independent package management system that does not depend on any upstream distro (such as Debian) but, at the same time, it provides tools to convert .deb files to a format that Void's package management tools can install. Void's footprint is small and it is fast.

I hope to hear from you.

Regards,

Linux distributions that offer LXDE, should have a package task-lxde, which will install the LXDE desktop to an existing installation.