How to remove desktop icons

Not one of them - all of them, and the boxes around them (`connect`, `files` etc), and the search bar. I just want to see the backdrop and use the panel at the bottom and the right mouse button to run apps.

Cheers.

 

viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1525#p10213

 

Thanks - I'll give that a go. I did see that when I was browsing this forum, but I don't know what a `kfce4 desktop` is! I've added it to my list of things to learn:

linux file system
compiz/fusion/emerald
rpm
yum

etc etc

It's a steep curve (I'm a Windows developer) but I'm going to keep climbing it.

 

i'm a linux beginner too!

 

I had a look there. It goes on for 5 pages, and I'm not sure that the problems involved in doing it that way are resolved. It seems to have negative effects on some aspects of the system.

I tried it manually (ie typing the commands in the script into Terminal by hand rather than running it as a script. When I try and kill the process (?) and run a new one, it works, but I get an error, and when I close the Terminal program it makes the new interface go away. I googled and it seems that putting & at the end of a command makes the new process fork, which I assumed meant that it would be independent of the Terminal session, but this doesn't seem to be the case - unless the error message is telling me that it couldn't fork. I can try again later and report back on exactly when the error occurs and what it says. I tried a few different things. I was making the changes in a Terminal box rather than entering scripts (i'm not online with the netbook yet) and sticking them in the startup folder because I don't want to render my netbook unbootable.

 

Hi Poldie
There is an easy way to achieve what you are after. Here's what I did:
step 1.
Alt/F2 -> run "xfce4-panel -a" This allows you to add items to the panel at the bottom.
I then added "Xfce Menu". don't need "right click" (drag the menu item onto the panel)
step 2.
from Xfce Menu, select "Settings / Settings Manager / Desktop"
select "Behaviour" tab
select "Desktop Icons -> None"
back on the Appearance tab you can select background image if you need a change. these are files stored in "/usr/share/xfce4/backdrops"

step 3.
get rid of the search bar - see here "viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3019&p=24573&hilit=elegant#p24573"

simple as that.
have fun
Ron

 

Ron, when you say "I then added xcfe menu", what are you referring to please? Am I right in thinking it's a "button" on the bottom panel that acts a bit like the "start" button on Windows XP? Is that why you then don't need to right-click?
Do you have a screenshot please?
Thanks.
J.

 

That is precisely what he means.

Cheers.

 

HomeBrewRon:
thanks for your help - I'll try that out later.

Jaycb:
I think he means you do:

1) Alt/F2 -> run "xfce4-panel -a"
2) drag the 'xfce menu' to the bottom of the screen. From memory I think the icon is of a little black dog or something.

(I can't believe I'm giving other people advice about Linux!)

 

It's not a dog, it's a mouse!

 

This is far easier:
viewtopic.php?f=39&t=1612

Also allows switching back if one changes his/her mind

 

Hmm. I've added the menu. Settings doesn't have `settings manager` under it. It has `desktop settings`, though, so I click on that. No Desktop icon/tab/button, but it has a Behaviour tab, so I click on that. There's a `desktop icons` option, so I select none. No difference, so I quit the app - no difference. I had a look at the help, and there's nothing about making the changes take affect there. Nearby, though, it mentions running `xfdesktop` from a terminal, so I try that and I get my backdrop (which I set the other day but which only lasted a few seconds before some app or other reset it) back. I reboot and the icons are finally gone (but so is my backdrop!). I got rid of the search bar your way, as the `far easier` way requires an internet connection, which I've not got working yet (perhaps at the weekend).

No sign of that backdrop though. I get the feeling there are 5 programs managing the desktop/windows/tasks on my PC and they're not talking to one another!

 

Sorry I forgot to mention you need to reboot to get rid of the backdrop.
your new backdrop will only persist if the image file is placed in the "/usr/share/xfce4/backdrops" folder.
You'll need to run Thunar as SU to be able to copy a file to that folder.
cheers
Ron

 

Brilliant.

One more thing...

Why does pressing Ctrl make my backdrop go away and kill my right-click menu? Can I make that stop?

 

??? I can't replicate this. I press Ctrl my backdrop remains. I haven't activated right click menu so no change.

 

I can't replicate it any longer, as I got fed up with the slightest change to the system having bizarre effects. The last straw was installing firefox 3, then trying to get the firefox 2 libraries set up so that some internal apps like the rss and email apps worked again - somehow my box didn't boot properly after that, although I followed the instructions to the letter.

It turns out that it's simpler to just install Ubuntu, and be able to install/uninstall apps at will without them having unpredictable consequences. It seems generally a lot more stable, and by being apparently a more mainstream and popular distro than a weird version of an old Fedora one means it's better supported.

 

Hi,
Thanks,
I believe this is an easy and relatively elegant way of ignoring the aspire desktohowever, I have one minor problem.

For some reson I have several Icons of the trash-bin on my task-bar, but don't know how to delete them.

Any idea?????

thxs and cheers
Christian

 

Hey Poldie
know how you feel. I've persevered with the default OS but it is as frustrating as all hell sometimes.
I added a new user (so I could try out a few different things) but nothing works with another user as everything seems to rely on the default "user".
I also hate the whole restrictive thing. I was waiting for Onelinux, but that seems to have stalled.
The new Ubuntu (8.10) should be good as it appears to support most things in the "One".
I sometimes think I would have been better buying an XP One, not to keep XP but to install PCBSD. I've tried it on this little baby but it really needs the extra RAM and a HDD.
anyway hope you have a good experience with Ubuntu. I tried Xubuntu for a while and that was pretty encouraging.
cheers
Ron (quietly drinking a fine home brew)

 

viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2556&p=17072&hilit=how+to+trash#p17068

 

I've become aware that there's a new version of Ubuntu soon (didn't spot it on the offical site though). I understand that upgrading from one release to another is made pretty painless so I'll be giving that a go when it comes out. There's also a Mandriva distro. To be honest, although I want to learn more about Linux, I'm not that bothered about installing 5 different flavours - one working flavour is plenty. There are a few more tweaks I have to perform (mostly in terms of window handling), and I'd love for wifi to be less of a hassle than it is, but it works for now.

Multi-users seems to work out of the box on Ubuntu.

It would be a shame for you to install XP just because of stress with Linpus. Installing Ubuntu took a few hours but that was mostly waiting while the image was downloaded, then burnt, then booted, then copied to usb key, then finally installed from usb key. It was a no-brainer. I have absolutely no idea why Acer didn't pay someone to customize Ubuntu for the Aspire One. I'm sure people would have done it practically for free.