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Xfce Screensaver 0.1.5 Released

  • June 13, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

New Features

General

  • Removed a lot of unused code (2,700+ lines)
  • Simplified monitor-handling logic
  • More consistent spacing in makefiles

Bug Fixes

  • Added categories to display in the Settings Manager (Xfce #15507)
  • Added a fallback idle timer for when X11 screensaver doesn’t notify
  • Fixed warning during configure stage (Xfce #15552)
  • Fixed Inhibitor lock (Xfce #15551)
  • Hid screensaver themes from “Open with” options (Xfce #15531)
  • Made numerous cppcheck, cpplint, and Coverity Scan fixes
    • Constant variables guarding dead code
    • Dereferencing before/after null
    • Unchecked return values
    • Unused variables
    • Memory leaks

Translation Updates

Xfce Screensaver 0.1.5 Released

Albanian, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Italian, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Polish, Portuguese (Brazil), Serbian, Slovak, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Downloads

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Xubuntu 19.04: The Exhaustive Update

  • April 18, 2019
  • Sean Davis

Xubuntu 19.04 “Disco Dingo” is just around the corner. It features numerous updates and an updated snapshot of Xfce 4.14 development. If you want to see all the changes, you’ve come to the right place!

What’s New?

Click here for a complete list of package changes.

Changes to the Xubuntu Packageset

Orage and Quick Launcher, Gone!
  • Orage Calendar is no longer included. This decision comes following a team vote during the November community meeting.
  • Xfce Quick Launcher Plugin has been removed from the Debian and Ubuntu archives due to it no longer being supported.
AptURL Now Included!
Installing a package with AptURL.

AptURL provides an easy way to link to and install packages from the repositories. It supports most browsers and works without any additional configuration when installed. Anytime you see an apt:// link on the internet, just click and install. For example, why not install Super Tux Kart?

 

GIMP Returns!

It’s back! Not seen in Xubuntu since 15.04 “Vivid Vervet”, GIMP (GNU Image Manipulating Program), the powerful and feature-packed image editor has been added back to Xubuntu 19.04. While it has a bit of a learning curve, there’s a number of tutorials on gimp.org to get you up to speed.

LibreOffice Impress Has Finally Arrived!
Make great presentations in moments with LO Impress.

With the addition of LibreOffice Impress, the Xubuntu office suite is now complete! Impress makes it possible for users to quickly and easily produce and present high-quality presentations. It comes with a number of great templates already installed, and hundreds more at the LibreOffice Extensions website.

 

Updates to Existing Components

This list will quickly highlight some of the biggest changes in each new update.

Atril Document Viewer (1.20.2-1 to 1.20.3-1)
  • Support was added for RAR-compressed comic archives
  • Files are now saved in the same path they are opened from
Catfish File Search (1.4.6-1 to 1.4.7-1)
  • The classic layout returns to Xfce and Xubuntu.

    All documented URLs were replaced with HTTPS where possible

  • The window layout now respects the current desktop environment, displaying Client Side Decorations (CSD) for desktops that prefer them and traditional titlebar layouts for all other desktops (Xfce #14486)
  • Files can now be dragged from Catfish into other applications, copying or opening the file based on the target application (Xfce #14492)
  • A number of performance improvements were made to guarantee a snappier, more efficient search
elementary Xfce Icon Theme (0.13.1-1 to 0.13.1-1ubuntu1)
  • The icon theme now correctly inherits from the Adwaita icon theme, fixing some issues  with KDE applications (LP #1787989)
Exo (0.12.2-1 to 0.12.4-1)
  • Highlighting fixes are a welcome graphical improvement.

    The thumbnail directory was updated to align with other applications, reducing file duplication and speeding up the desktop (Xfce #14799)

  • Improved icon view highlighting with GTK 3, with items now highlighted in the current theme’s selection color (Xfce #14971)
  • Improved positioning of the icon view type-ahead search, the search overlay will now always be displayed on-screen (Xfce #14994)
Garcon (0.6.1-2 to 0.6.2-1)
  • All application menu items are now rendered at the same size (Xfce #13785)
  • Added support for the Keywords key in desktop entries (Xfce #10683)
  • Added support for composite XDG_CURRENT_DESKTOP variables (Xfce #14137)
Gigolo (0.4.2-2 to 0.4.91-0ubuntu1)
  • Ported to GTK 3! 🎉
  • Improved appearance of various dialogs
  • Improved sizing for the icon view
Greybird GTK Theme (3.22.9-0ubuntu1 to 3.22.10-1)
  • Even the print dialog looks better in Greybird!

    Improved appearance of the print dialog (GH #238) and Xfce Terminal’s tabs (GH #184)

  • Improved margins and padding for the Xfce Panel’s Tasklist plugin (GH #240)
  • Improved sizing of the Alt-Tab dialog (GH #224)
LibreOffice Elementary Style (1:6.1.2-0ubuntu1 to 1:6.2.2-0ubuntu2)

I feel like this update deserves a special mention. rizmut did an amazing job refreshing the elementary theme and making it consistent everywhere.

  • Blurry icons are blurry no more
  • Icons were updated to meet the elementary HIG
  • Icons were made consistent between sizes, and a 32px size variant was added
  • Numerous icons were added for various commands and menu options
  • Support for the Notebookbar layout was vastly improved
MATE Calculator (1.20.2-1 to 1.20.3-1)
  • Equations can now be entered using MathML
  • Equations are copied from the calculator as ASCII text
Mugshot (0.4.0-1 to 0.4.1-1)
  • Mugshot in the Setting Manager, where it belongs.

    Fixed loading of user-specified initials (LP #1574239)

  • Fixed TypeError crash at startup (LP #1443283)
  • Fixed FileNotFoundError crash when comparing profile images (LP #1771629)
  • Added Mugshot to the Xfce Settings Manager, Personal Settings (LP #1698626)
Parole Media Player (1.0.1-1build1 to 1.0.2-0ubuntu1)
  • Fixed various issues with disabling plugins (LP #1698540)
  • Fixed play button sensitivity items are added to playlist (Xfce #13724, LP #1705243)
Ristretto Image Viewer (0.8.3-1 to 0.8.4-0ubuntu1)
  • Fixed thumbnail generation (Xfce #13419)
  • Fixed memory leak related to thumbnail generation (Xfce #12034)
  • Fixed opening of PPM files (Xfce #14709)
  • Added file size to the status bar (Xfce #14791)
Thunar (1.8.1-1 to 1.8.4-1ubuntu1)
  • Skip the trash bin and delete files forever!

    Numerous crashes were fixed, making the file manager substantially more stable

  • Fixed USB drives being mounted with root permissions (Xfce #14719)
  • Fixed high CPU load when parent directories are not readable (Xfce #14900)
  • The spinner will no longer keep spinning after the user cancels an unmount action (Xfce #14539)
  • Fixed expansion of the “Create Document” submenu (LP #1822380)
  • A new preference was added to open new Thunar instances as tabs (Xfce #13314)
  • A new preference was added to enable the “Permanently Delete” option in the context menu (Xfce #13327)
  • Ctrl + = was added as an alternative accelerator for Zoom In (Xfce #14586)
  • Ctrl + PgUp / PgDown was added to switch tabs (Xfce #9585)
Thunar Archive Plugin (0.4.0-1 to 0.4.0-2)
  • Support was added for the Engrampa Archive Manager (Debian #911370)
Thunar Volume Manager (0.8.1-2build1 to 0.9.1-1)
  • Ported to GTK 3! 🎉
  • Added support for Blu-Ray media (Xfce #13297)
  • Automatic browsing of removable media now respects the default file manager (Xfce #9537)
  • Notifications are now transient, reducing notification log spam
Xfce Application Finder (4.12.0-2ubuntu3 to 4.13.2-1)
  • Without the category panel, things are much tidier!

    Ported to GTK 3! 🎉

  • Menu items without a name are no longer displayed (Xfce #14655)
  • Applications can now be launched by pressing Enter once (Xfce #14469)
  • The Application Finder will no longer crash when toggling bookmarks (Xfce #14134)
  • A new preference was added to hide the category panel (Xfce #14893)
  • Searches are now fuzzy (Xfce #10393)
  • Improved application sorting and keyboard navigation
Xfce Desktop (4.13.2-0ubuntu1 to 4.13.3-0ubuntu2)
  • Added orientation option for icon arrangement (Xfce #14979)
  • Added support for the RandR primary monitor (Xfce #10688)
  • Added integration for the AccountsService wallpaper
  • Fixed crash with monitor changes (Xfce #14609)
  • Fixed icon size in the “Open With” submenu (Xfce #14774)
Xfce Dictionary (0.8.1-0ubuntu1 to 0.8.2-1)
  • Crashes related to invalid URLs were resolved (Xfce #14786)
  • Web search links are only displayed when URLs are valid
  • The link tooltip is now escaped, fixing display issues
Xfce Notifications (0.4.2-0ubuntu3 to 0.4.3-1)
  • The fadeout preference is now correctly displayed (LP #1763674)
Xfce Panel (4.13.3-1ubuntu1 to 4.13.4-1ubuntu1)
  • Specify the maximum icon size for improved control.

    Added per-panel icon size preferences

  • Numerous improvements to plugin display and sizing issues
  • Added support for alternative menu editors, with MenuLibre as default (Xfce #11684)
  • Fixed issues with clicking panel items at the top or left of the screen (LP #1795135)
  • Fixed space reservation on the bottom and right of the screen (Xfce #14886)
  • Fixed crashes in the Directory Menu plugin and when removing certain plugins (Xfce #14418)
  • Fixed alignment of various plugin menus (Xfce #14803)
  • Fixed display of the binary clock
Xfce Screenshooter (1.9.3-1 to 1.9.5-1)
  • Added width and height to the region select overlay (Xfce #12664)
  • Fixed delay functionality in the panel plugin (Xfce #14604)
  • Fixed saving screenshots from the panel plugin (Xfce #15187)
  • Improved Imgur upload results dialog (Xfce #14973)
  • Improved support when XInput is not available (Xfce #15166)
  • Improved support for HiDPI displays
Xfce Session (4.12.1-3ubuntu4 to 4.12.1-6ubuntu1)
  • Replaced packaging recommendation on Xscreensaver with Light Locker (LP #1754872)
  • Added support for MATE Screensaver and Xfce Screensaver
Xfce Settings (4.13.4-1ubuntu1 to 4.13.4-1ubuntu2)
  • Fixed scrolling in the Settings Manager (LP #1653448)
Xfce System Load Plugin (1:1.2.1-0ubuntu1 to 1:1.2.2-1ubuntu1)
  • Reworked preferences dialog (still functionally the same)
  • The default update interval was updated to 0.5 seconds (Xfce #13536)
Xfce Task Manager (1.2.1-1 to 1.2.2-1)
  • Builds now default to GTK 3, with GTK 2 being removed in the next release
  • Improved UTF-8 normalization (Xfce #14172)
  • Fixed crash when closing processes (Xfce #14466)
Xfce Terminal (0.8.7.4-0ubuntu1 to 0.8.7.4-2ubuntu1)
  • Improved support for longer and more complex URLs
Xfce Weather Plugin (0.8.10-1build1 to 0.9.1-0ubuntu1)
  • Now with an adaptive forecast background!

    Port to GTK 3!

  • HTTPS is now used for all network connections (Xfce #13645)
  • The latest Sunrise API (version 2.0) is now used (Xfce #14972)
  • The displayed weather icon now respects the panel icon size
  • Improved forecast background with both dark and light themes
  • Improved spacing in the preference and forecast dialogs
Xfce Whisker Menu Plugin (2.2.1-1 to 2.3.1-1)
  • Fixed crash when the menu is reloaded
  • Fixed sidebar being wider than categories without icons
  • Added buttons for individual logout commands (Xfce #14639)
  • Added option to stay visible when focus is lost (Xfce #12240)
  • Improved spacing in the preferences dialog (Xfce #14683)
Xubuntu Artwork (18.10.3 to 19.04)
  • New desktop wallpaper for 19.04
  • New release-agnostic wallpaper for Plymouth (see below tweet for a video)

Xubuntu Default Settings (18.10.2 to 19.04.1)
  • Added F4 accelerator to open a Terminal in Thunar (LP #1793395)
  • Added Ctrl + Shift + F accelerator to open Catfish File Search from Thunar (LP #1793395)
  • Added Shift + Print accelerator to capture a region screenshot (LP #1812234)
  • Added GNOME/GTK 3 dconf keys for fonts (LP #1769774)
  • Added support for startup notifications in Thunar’s custom actions (LP #1794118)
  • The default inactivity mode is now set to Suspend on AC and Battery (LP #1768038)

Wrapping Up

You’re still here after all that, amazing! Excited about Xfce or Xubuntu, and want to help out? Share this post on your favorite social media and let everybody know how much you love our work. If you want to contribute (and anybody can, really!), check out the Xubuntu contributor documentation to learn how to get started.

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 Released

  • April 5, 2019
  • Sean Davis

A new (more) stable version of the Xfce media player is now available! Parole 1.0.2 fixes several bugs and improves packaged releases for distributions.

What’s New?

Bug fixes. So… many… fixes!

Build Fixes

  • Fixed compiler error -Wcast-function-type with GCC 8
  • Fixed Appstream validation by removing <em></em> tags from translations (Xfce #14260)
  • Resolved g_type_class_add_private warnings (Xfce #15014)

Playback

  • Fixed play button sensitivity items are added to playlist (Xfce #13724, LP #1705243)
  • Improved support for missing Gstreamer plugin installers (Xfce #14529)

Plugins Manager

  • Fixed crash when opening files after disabling plugins (LP #1698540)
  • Fixed disabling plugins enabled by distributions (e.g. MPRIS2 in Xubuntu)
  • Fixed display of active/inactive plugins when reopening the Plugins Manager

Translation Updates

Albanian, Arabic, Asturian, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Bokmal, Occitan (post 1500), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Uighur, Ukrainian

Downloads

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 will likely be included in Xubuntu 19.04 (we’ve uploaded it!). Other distributions will likely add it soon. If you can’t wait or want to install from source, download it below.

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 Released

  • April 4, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 Released

Bug fixes. So… many… fixes!

Build Fixes

  • Fixed compiler error -Wcast-function-type with GCC 8
  • Fixed Appstream validation by removing <em></em> tags from translations (Xfce #14260)
  • Resolved g_type_class_add_private warnings (Xfce #15014)

Playback

  • Fixed play button sensitivity items are added to playlist (Xfce #13724, LP #1705243)
  • Improved support for missing Gstreamer plugin installers (Xfce #14529)

Plugins Manager

  • Fixed crash when opening files after disabling plugins (LP #1698540)
  • Fixed disabling plugins enabled by distributions (e.g. MPRIS2 in Xubuntu)
  • Fixed display of active/inactive plugins when reopening the Plugins Manager

Translation Updates

Albanian, Arabic, Asturian, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Bokmal, Occitan (post 1500), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Uighur, Ukrainian

Downloads

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 is included in Xubuntu 19.04, with other distributions likely adding it soon. If you can’t wait or want to install from source, download it below.

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 Released

  • April 4, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 Released

Bug fixes. So… many… fixes!

Build Fixes

  • Fixed compiler error -Wcast-function-type with GCC 8
  • Fixed Appstream validation by removing <em></em> tags from translations (Xfce #14260)
  • Resolved g_type_class_add_private warnings (Xfce #15014)

Playback

  • Fixed play button sensitivity items are added to playlist (Xfce #13724, LP #1705243)
  • Improved support for missing Gstreamer plugin installers (Xfce #14529)

Plugins Manager

  • Fixed crash when opening files after disabling plugins (LP #1698540)
  • Fixed disabling plugins enabled by distributions (e.g. MPRIS2 in Xubuntu)
  • Fixed display of active/inactive plugins when reopening the Plugins Manager

Translation Updates

Albanian, Arabic, Asturian, Basque, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), Finnish, French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Kazakh, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Bokmal, Occitan (post 1500), Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Telugu, Thai, Turkish, Uighur, Ukrainian

Downloads

Parole Media Player 1.0.2 is included in Xubuntu 19.04, with other distributions likely adding it soon. If you can’t wait or want to install from source, download it below.

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Xfce Screensaver 0.1.4 Released

  • March 22, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

Features

  • Added support for screen locking when the system goes to sleep (Xfce #15001), via a shared preference with Xfce Power Manager. A new configuration option, “Lock Screen with System Sleep” was added to the Screensaver Preferences dialog to accommodate this.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed password entry after forcefully grabbing input focus (Xfce #15042)

General

  • Faster screen locking when activated
  • Faster rendering of the authentication prompt
  • Improved handling of monitor (dis-)connection events
  • Improved screensaver and locking activation when idle
  • Improved laptop lid support: The lock screen is now displayed immediately when the laptop lid is open, instead of requiring a wake event from the keyboard or mouse
  • Improved low-power state: Screensavers are now suspended when monitors are powered off via DPMS (Debian #921835)

Translation Updates

Xfce Screensaver 0.1.4 Released

Basque, Belarusian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Galician, Lithuanian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish

Downloads

This is the second beta release of Xfce Screensaver. If you’re feeling adventurous, check it out  and report bugs so we can continue building an awesome screen locking tool for Xfce.

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Xfce Screensaver 0.1.4 Released

  • March 22, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

Features

  • Added support for screen locking when the system goes to sleep (Xfce #15001), via a shared preference with Xfce Power Manager. A new configuration option, “Lock Screen with System Sleep” was added to the Screensaver Preferences dialog to accommodate this.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed password entry after forcefully grabbing input focus (Xfce #15042)

General

  • Faster screen locking when activated
  • Faster rendering of the authentication prompt
  • Improved handling of monitor (dis-)connection events
  • Improved screensaver and locking activation when idle
  • Improved laptop lid support: The lock screen is now displayed immediately when the laptop lid is open, instead of requiring a wake event from the keyboard or mouse
  • Improved low-power state: Screensavers are now suspended when monitors are powered off via DPMS (Debian #921835)

Translation Updates

Xfce Screensaver 0.1.4 Released

Basque, Belarusian, Catalan, Czech, Danish, Galician, Lithuanian, Malay, Portuguese, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish

Downloads

This is the second beta release of Xfce Screensaver. If you’re feeling adventurous, check it out  and report bugs so we can continue building an awesome screen locking tool for Xfce.

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Catfish 1.4.7 Released

  • January 27, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

General

  • Cleaner, easier to read manpage contents
  • Information about the --path command-line flag was added to help and the manpage
  • Updated AppStream components to align with the latest specification
  • Replaced project URLs with HTTPS where possible

Desktop Integration

  • The window layout now respects the current desktop (Xfce #14486)
  • A headerbar layout is used for Budgie, GNOME, and Pantheon
  • All other desktops use the traditional titlebar layout
  • This option can be overridden using the use-headerbar option
    in the Catfish configuration file (~/.config/catfish/catfish.rc)
  • Files can now be dragged into other applications (Xfce #14492)
  • For file managers, the files will usually be copied to that location
  • For other applications, the files will be opened by the application

Performance

  • Thumbnails will now only be generated when the thumbnail view is active (Xfce #14689)
  • Added /dev to list of standard excluded directories
  • Files within /dev can still be searched if explicitly selected by the user

Bug Fixes

  • Quoted search strings now allow for searching for specific phrases, instead of searching for actual quote characters (Xfce #14501)
  • The file context menu can now be opened multiple times (Xfce #14621)
  • Fix crash as startup when Catfish enables multi-file selection (LP #1753163)

Translation Updates

Catfish 1.4.7 Released

Albanian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian

Downloads

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Catfish 1.4.7 Released

  • January 27, 2019
  • Sean Davis

What’s New?

General

  • Cleaner, easier to read manpage contents
  • Information about the --path command-line flag was added to help and the manpage
  • Updated AppStream components to align with the latest specification
  • Replaced project URLs with HTTPS where possible

Desktop Integration

  • The window layout now respects the current desktop (Xfce #14486)
  • A headerbar layout is used for Budgie, GNOME, and Pantheon
  • All other desktops use the traditional titlebar layout
  • This option can be overridden using the use-headerbar option
    in the Catfish configuration file (~/.config/catfish/catfish.rc)
  • Files can now be dragged into other applications (Xfce #14492)
  • For file managers, the files will usually be copied to that location
  • For other applications, the files will be opened by the application

Performance

  • Thumbnails will now only be generated when the thumbnail view is active (Xfce #14689)
  • Added /dev to list of standard excluded directories
  • Files within /dev can still be searched if explicitly selected by the user

Bug Fixes

  • Quoted search strings now allow for searching for specific phrases, instead of searching for actual quote characters (Xfce #14501)
  • The file context menu can now be opened multiple times (Xfce #14621)
  • Fix crash as startup when Catfish enables multi-file selection (LP #1753163)

Translation Updates

Catfish 1.4.7 Released

Albanian, Belarusian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese (China), Chinese (Taiwan), Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English (Australia), French, Galician, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Indonesian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Lithuanian, Malay, Norwegian Nynorsk, Polish, Portuguese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, Serbian, Sinhala, Spanish, Swedish, Thai, Turkish, Ukrainian

Downloads

Source tarball (md5, sha1, sha256)

Xfce & Xubuntu 2018 Year In Review

  • January 2, 2019
  • Sean Davis

2018 has been a busy year for Xfce & Xubuntu. As we enter 2019 and continue to inch closer to Xfce 4.14, let’s look back at one of the busiest development years in a while.

January

News

Major Releases

  • MenuLibre 2.1.4 introduced some useful new features to the popular menu editor, including a Test Launcher button to try out a launcher before saving and the Parsing Errors dialog to easily identify menu configuration issues.

Other Notable Releases

The Parsing Errors dialog in MenuLibre simplifies menu cleanup and debugging.

February

News

Major Releases

  • Exo 0.12.0 was the first stable Xfce 4.14 release for the Xfce application development library. The new release included support for both GTK+ 2 and 3, and added Brave, Geary, Google Chrome, and Vivaldi to the natively supported application defaults.
  • MenuLibre 2.1.5 expanded it’s support of desktop environments. With this release, MenuLibre’s powerful menu editing options are available for Budgie, GNOME, KDE Plasma, LXDE, LXQt, MATE, Pantheon, Unity, and Xfce.

Other Notable Releases

March

News

Major Releases

  • MenuLibre 2.2.0 was finally released with an expansive list of improvements. Expanded desktop environment support, easy window identification, launcher testing, and parsing error reporting are just a few of the key improvements.
  • Parole Media Player 1.0.0 included playback performance updates, automatic video output selection, and improved podcast and live stream support. The new Mini Mode reduces the player to a small window that simultaneously stays out of the way and in reach.
  • Xfce PulseAudio Plugin 0.4.0 introduced device manage and MPRIS support to the audio management plugin. Available input and output devices can be selected from the plugin menu, immediately moving streams to the new device. MPRIS support adds media player controls for supported applications.
  • Xfce Settings 4.12.2, 4.12.3, and 4.13.2 improved multi-monitor support for both stable and development releases. The mouse cursor can now be shown with the press of a key, configurable with the Xfce Settings Manager.

Other Notable Releases

Xfce PulseAudio Plugin
The Xfce PulseAudio Plugin makes it easy to manage devices and play your jams.

April

News

Major Releases

  • Xubuntu 18.04 “Bionic Beaver”, an LTS release supported for 3 years, was released with 32-bit and 64-bit downloads available. This release included some new desktop applications: Some MATE components replaced their GNOME counterparts for improved desktop consistency; Xfce PulseAudio Plugin replaced the Sound Indicator; and the Xfce Notifications plugin, featuring a new Do Not Disturb mode, was added to the panel.

Other Notable Releases

Wallpaper Contest
The results of the Xubuntu 18.04 wallpaper contest were exceptional.

May

This was the first month I started published monthly news roundups. For an in-depth look at May’s development progress, check out the June Development Update.

News

Notable Releases

June

June Development Roundup

Major Releases

  • Thunar 1.8.0 and 1.8.1 were the first stable GTK+ 3 releases of the Xfce file manager, offering major usability and developer-friendly improvements. The pathbar now includes navigation buttons and a much tidier location selector. GObject Introspection for Thunar’s plugin library makes it possible to develop plugins in a number of programming languages.
  • Xfce Settings 4.12.4 and 4.13.4 featured improvements to display manufacturer recognition. The mappings were updated and various manufacturer names were simplified for better screen real estate. 4.13.4 introduced Xrandr display scaling, making it possible to scale the X display and all applications.

Other Notable Releases

A comparison of Thunar’s old and new pathbar. Image credit: Andre Miranda (see link to Thunar 1.8 release announcement)

July

July Development Roundup

News

Major Releases

  • Xubuntu 18.04.1, the first point release in the Bionic Beaver series, became available. At this time, users of a prior release should have received an upgrade notice. This release included several stability and performance improvements.
  • Xfwm 4.13.1 included a massive amount of updates, including a full port to GTK+ 3 and various fixes. This component is one of the critical pieces of the Xfce 4.14 release, so it’s great to see it humming along.

Other Notable Releases

August

August Development Roundup

Notable Releases

September

September & October Development Roundup

News

Notable Releases

Elementary Xfce’s Manila folder icons headline September’s development updates.

October

September & October Development Roundup

News

Major Releases

  • Xubuntu 18.10 “Cosmic Cuttlefish” featured a number of appearance updates and Xfce 4.14 components. Our icon theme, elementary-xfce, was updated with new manila folder icons and optimized, resulting in a smaller install size and improved performance. Many more GTK+ 3 Xfce applications were included.
  • Xfce Screensaver 0.1.0 (and 0.1.1) was announced as a new screen locker and screensaver for Xfce. This application is a port of MATE Screensaver, adapted to tightly integrate with the Xfce desktop. It shares theming with LightDM GTK+ Greeter to guarantee a consistent login and lock experience for users of both.
  • Xfce Settings 4.13.5 featured the new display profiles: saved multi-monitor layouts that are automatically applied when a new monitor configuration is detected. This works with multi-monitor layouts as well as switching a laptop to use only the external display when connected.

Other Notable Releases

November

Major Releases

  • Xfce Screensaver 0.1.3 is the first beta release of the new Xfce Screensaver. It features an expanded configuration dialog, better support for X11 Screensaver and XDG Screensaver, and fully documented functionality. With a focus on improved code quality, contributors should have a much easier time with the project going forward.

Other Notable Releases

Xfce Screensaver is compatible with all Xscreensaver themes.

December

News

  • Lubuntu and Xubuntu announced that they will no longer ship 32-bit ISOs for Ubuntu 19.04 and onwards. Ubuntu 18.04 will continue to be supported for the 3-year LTS support window.
  • André Miranda published The Ultimate Contributor’s Guide to Xfce, which is definitely a worthwhile read for new and existing contributors.

Notable Releases

Cheers to 2019

Look out for Xfce 4.14, we’re so close! Keep an eye out for more updates in the coming months.