Xubuntu 10.10 woes

After installing Xubuntu (sudo apt-get install xubuntu-desktop) in Ubuntu 10.10 (Maverick) I had some issues: when starting Xfce, both xfce4-power-manager and gnome-power-manager started, resulting in two applets in the panel and general weirdness with screen brightness; and both xscreensaver and gnome-screensaver started. Also, NetworkManager wouldn't remember/save any passwords.

To fix the dual power applet thing, I removed /usr/share/dbus-1/services/gnome-power-manager.service. But gnome-power-manager was still being started in the background. The real solution - which fixed both the power manager and the screensaver - was to disable GDM, as I describe here. I put exec xfce4-session in my ~/.xinitrc and just startx. I don't like login managers, but if you do, try XDM or SLiM.

To fix the issue with NetworkManager not remembering passwords, I replaced it with wicd - which I think is superior, anyway: sudo apt-get install wicd. Next time you start Xfce, it should be in the tray. To access the wicd GUI right away, run wicd-client -n. (Remember, wicd-client is just a front-end; the wicd daemon is running in the background. Once you've configured a network with a password to autoconnect, you can forget about wicd.)

2010-10-05 · ubuntu