Xfce Forum

nopposan

Member

Registered: 2005-12-21

Posts: 10

Xubuntu Current User's Customization Default for all New Users

I came across the following post and tried to follow the advice of TomE.
http://forum.xfce.org/index.php?topic=3652.0

TomE said to

Make the changes a user and then copy everything in ~/.config/xfce4/ to /etc/xdg/xfce4/

I did all of that as superuser with cp -r, but when I created a new user via the xfce4 gui app it looks like all of the original defaults were kept.

Background follows.

I'm volunteering for an organization that refurbishes old computers and redistributes them at (or even below) cost to low-income folks.  (These folks have to already be beneficiaries of some kind of government assistance.)  There's a growing demand for laptops and I work in the laptop division.  The trouble is that most of these old laptops that are donated to us have processors that are below 800 MHz and with 256 MB RAM or less.  I'm advocating using Linux with Xfce or LXDE, specifically Xubuntu and Ubuntu with LXDE (although I may switch to Debian Testing) instead of Windows 2000 on these old machines.  I figure that even though there will be "fear and loathing" among our clients, they will discover the advantages of using a new and up-to-date OS and software that's resistant to viruses and probably more compatible with newer peripherals than Win 2K.
So, essentially, I am trying to create a couple of internally available variants of Ubuntu that can be quickly installed on these older laptops.  My prototype is a Dell Inspiron 4000 and I've done the following with it:
* Reconfigured xorg.conf
* Configured Xfce to give new users an initial impression of Windows XP (non-threatening but much better looking than Win 2K):
1) Deleted the top panel and used the charity organization's logo in the Xfce menu app placed at the lower left corner.
2) Changed gtk engine to Silverado and Appearance > Style to Xfce-RedmondXP.
3) Enabled compositing and tweaked window behaviours.
4) Enabled Xfce startup splash and used a custom splash that includes the organization's logo with contact information.
5) Most importantly (for the prototype and all older Dell Inspirons and Latitudes), I installed gkrellm with i8k plugins to get the fans going.  Otherwise, there would be NO active cooling!
6) Configured the looks of gkrellm to look nice with the desktop but then moved it to desktop 2 so as not to tempt new users to remove it from their desktops.  (I know this is a digression, but if you know of a way to run the gkrellm plugins without showing gkrellm on any desktop then please let me know.  I tried gkrellm -w, but that didn't work; 'just made it impossible to move gkrellm window.)
7) Found a background for Xfce which is not the "Bliss" background but is somewhat reminiscent of it.  I really like it; it has a pretty green tree, a dramatic blue sky with storm clouds and stars, and a sister planet coming up on the horizon.

O.K., so ultimately I want to keep all of these tweaks when any new user is created; I want this desktop and all its looks to be the default.

Please help me out if you can.  This is a prototype that I'm trying to "perfect".

Thanks!

Pindakoe

Member

From: NL

Registered: 2003-11-26

Posts: 116

Re: Xubuntu Current User's Customization Default for all New Users

An alternative/complementary approach may be to put some of the user configuration in /etc/skel. Anything in here will be copied over to a new home-directory when a new user is created. Thus, if somebody picks up the Unix/Linux spirit and starts creating new users for others in the household, they will all get the same basic configuration.

nopposan

Member

Registered: 2005-12-21

Posts: 10

Re: Xubuntu Current User's Customization Default for all New Users

Excellent, puting all of the /home/username/.config type files into /etc/skel did the trick!