It is not possible to install Xfce on Damn Small Linux without extensive modification. Damn Small Linux uses a very crude Xserver that is not capable of rendering Xfce. Also, the versions of several libraries needed for Xfce are too old. It would be far easier to start of with a distro that supported Xfce from the start, like Xubuntu.

Xfce is a GTK+ based desktop environment for Linux. It is similar in many respects to GNOME, but is designed to use less RAM.

The XFCE desktop interface is used with Unix and Unix compatible platforms. It is something that can be used with Solaris and Linux. It is distributed as freeware and can be downloaded from the CNET website.

There are packages available on the repositories that allow you to change desktop environments. Just run a "apt-get search xfce" to look at the available packages that may be related to Xfce.

SparkyLinux is a lightweight Linux distrubition.

It has a lot of versions:

In the stable line, it has LXQt, Xfce, MinimalGUI, MinimalCLI and ARMHF version.

In the (Semi-)Rolling line, it has LXQt, MATE, Xfce, MinimalGUI and MinimalCLI version. They also have three special verions: GameOver, Multimedia and Rescue.

Ubuntu - GNOME

Kubuntu - KDE

Xubuntu - Xfce

Puppy Linux - JWM

Damn Small Linux - JWM, Fluxbox

Fedora - GNOME (default)

OpenSUSE - KDE (default)

Debian - GNOME, KDE, Xfce

Red Hat Enterprise Linux - GNOME

Linux Mint - GNOME

Xandros - KDE

PCLinuxOS - KDE

There is no set file manager in linux. Examples of Linux file managers include but:

Nautilus (GNOME)

Thunar (XFCE)

Dolphin (KDE)

Xfce

LXDE

Fluxbox

Blackbox

Openbox

JWM

Mezzo

WindowMaker

GNUStep

i assume by gui, i assume you mean the window manager. gnome and kde are popular. i personally like to use xfce, the "cholesterol free desktop environment".

No. There is no single user interface for Linux. GNOME. KDE, Xfce, Fluxbox, and CDE are all examples of user interfaces / desktop environments for Linux.

Some of the Linux desktop environments that are available are: Unity, Cinnamon, Gnome, Sugar, Enlightenment, Mezzo, Xfce, Xmonad, KDE, MATE, LXDE, and ROX.

Slackware Linux has a number of advanced features. Some of them are GCC 4.1.2, XII 7.2.0, HAL, Linux 2.6.21.5, Xfce 4.4.1, The K Desktop Environment and Apache 2.2.4.

The ability to run a GUI is commonly called X11 with different implementations. The most popular in the Linux world is called X.Org Server. There are several but the most popular it seems are Gnome, KDE, and Xfce.

Xubuntu is a Linux distribution based upon Ubuntu. It uses a lighter desktop environment, known as Xfce. Appearance and usage-wise, it differs little from Ubuntu, and can run the same programs. This makes it a better choice for some older computers.

There is no singular user interface for Linux. Linux itself makes no requirement for a user interface.

There are plenty of interfaces: GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE, BASH, ZSH, CSH, TSH, FISH, and dozens of window managers.

There is no "default" in the sense that Fedora provides only one out of the box, or even one at all. The main "Desktop Edition" disc uses GNOME, but the project also provides discs for KDE, LXDE, and XFCE, as well as a CLI-only installation.

There are many user interfaces for both unix and Linux and most can be used on both. For example kde,gnome,bash shell, ect.

Different Linux distributions can use different GUI's some will use Gnome or KDE. Most distributions will let you choose which you want. If you have an older machine you might want to use XFCE or LXDE window managers. If you are looking for a distribution you might want to try Linux Mint it uses all of these Window Managers.

There's nothing about this computer that particularly limits what distro you can put on it. Ones that are more graphics-intensive, like those that use KDE or GNOME, may be slightly sluggish, but still usable.Those that use Xfce, Enlightenment, or JWM should be quite adequate. Examples would include Xubuntu, dreamlinux, gOS, ELive, or Puppy Linux.

Yes. Those distributions are targeted at more modern computers, though, and would not perform terribly well. A Xubuntu, Debian (with Xfce), SAM Linux, or Dreamlinux installation would have a more responsive GUI and use fewer resources.

Operating systems graphical user interfaces (GUIs) can be customised and modified by the user to various degrees so they cannot be truly said to belong to the OS or be "cleanest".

However, on of the cleanest OS interfaces available by default is Xfce for the Linux operating system. Also, the absolute cleanest interface is a command-line interface, of which many OS's possess, among which Windows (all versions), GNU/Linux, various flavours of Unices etc.

There are many desktop environments in linux. Most prominent would be:

KDE

Trinity - KDE fork (response to KDE 4.0 dissatisfaction)

Gnome

MATE - Gnome fork (response to Gnome 3.0 dissatisfaction)

Cinnamon - Gnome fork (response to Gnome 3.0 dissatisfaction)

Unity - Ubuntu's desktop environment (built on top of Gnome 3.0)

XFCE

LXDE

There are many more. Also, there are window managers that have comparable functionality (ex. Enlightenment)

The GNOME Display Manager (GDM) and KDE Display Manager (KDM) are X display managers that allows a user to start an X session on an X server.

In other words, the display manager shows the login screen when nobody is logged in. After it checks your username and password, it hands off the work to the actual display manager (e,g, GNOME, KDE, Xfce, LXDE).

GDM uses the GTK windowing toolkit, while KDM uses the KDE counterpart, Qt.

There are two main variants; the desktop and server editions. There are also other projects that use the Ubuntu base to provide other features or services:

Ubuntu Education Edition - Formerly known as Edubuntu, is targeted at schools and children.

Kubuntu - Uses KDE instead of GNOME as its desktop environment.

Xubuntu - Uses Xfce instead of GNOME as its desktop environment.

Gobuntu - Removes all proprietary software and firmware from the distribution.

This isn't a straight-forward question to answer.

Desktop configuration is generally done in the KDE, GNOME, or XFCE (or another) desktops themselves, to set languages and themes and keyboard behaviour and monitor setting and the like.

Networking configuration may be done in a Graphical (GUI) app but it may be on the command line or by editing a text file.

Printing may be in a GUI app or in a web browser at http://localhost:631

Some distros, like OpenSuse and Mepis, have a GUI to configure mush of the system; other distros rely on the users to know how to use text editors and read the wikis at the distro websites.

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to this question. More appropriate questions would be: How do I use my computer on a daily basis? How do I use it for recreation?

Even those questions are tough to answer. First, which variation of Linux are you using? Red Hat? Debian? Ubuntu? Or perhaps you want to mix your own? Each one of the Linux variations has different desktops available to it. Once you decide on a variation (or "flavor"), then you can ask the above two questions about daily basis and recreation.

I use Ubuntu (Debian) so my answer will be about desktops in that flavor. The Unity desktop seems to be touch-screen oriented, buttons on one side. Gnome has been the standard for several years, now with 2 variations: Gnome Shell, which reflects the old Gnome desktop, and Gnome 3, also known as redesigned Gnome. XFCE is a very basic but still very good desktop, lightweight, not too many "bells and whistles," but it gets the job done. MATE (pronounced mah-TAY) is a newcomer, it's very much like the Gnome standard desktop. (I use the MATE desktop on my primary machine, XFCE on my other one.)

The KDE desktop has been around probably as long or longer than Gnome. It's very good, and easy to use and maintain.

You can download the various desktops that are available within your Linux variation and test drive them. This can get tricky; I suggest using a non-production computer that you can wipe and reinstall the OS if need be.

That's a very low-level question, that can't really be done justice outside of a programming course. Basically, most desktop environments in Linux run on top of an X server, which is in charge of basic rendering and acceleration, as well as receiving input from a keyboard / mouse. The actual interface is built using objects from a "widget" toolkit. Widgets are things like scrollbars, buttons, and text boxes. These widgets form the look and feel of the environment, be it KDE (Qt toolkit), GNOME (GTK+ toolkit), Xfce (GTK+ toolkit), or JWM (Xaw toolkit) and so on. The environment may also provide various IPC methods (such as D-BUS), or it may be left by the applications themselves to implement.

No. QEMU requires an operating system to run on top of. There is also no other method to run homebrew code on the PS3 except through the "Other OS" option.So the only way to run QEMU is on top of an operating system running under the "Other OS" hypervisor. And Linux is the only system that has been ported to the hypervisor so far. Besides, it wouldn't provide any real advantage to not run it on top of Linux. Linux doesn't have much of a performance overhead. Getting rid of Linux would save you maybe 20 MB of RAM over a command line system, and 64 MB over an Xfce GUI. It also wouldn't give much more CPU utilization to QEMU. Finally, QEMU is a lot more difficult to use than most Linux distros are themselves.

An old compaq laptop with XP is only considered obsolete because Microsoft has stopped issuing updates for it. Without the updates, the machine has a greater risk for virus and other malware infection. That is why companies that have successfully run production applications on the XP platform for years were forced to upgrade to a newer system (and newer hardware). Applications and games that run on the machine should continue to run as long as nothing else changes.

You can breath new life into an older computer by installing a suitable Linux distribution. It is free, comes with an Office suite that is compatible with Microsoft Office as well as many other applications and games. Linux versions are designed to make use of the latest hardware capabilities but certain version are ideal for use on an older computer. One such release is Linux Mint 13 (named Maya) with the Xfce Desktop interface. It is available in both 32bit and 64bit versions and is easy to install and use, even for windows users.

In Windows10 Operating system the "File Explorer" is used to manage folders.

Linux is not an operating system but a kernel. Operating systems that are referred to as "Linux distributions" have a lot of common software, including mainly the Linux kernel, the GNU software and for most a graphical user interface (GUI) based on the X Window System.

The other software of the basic desktop environment (like office-software, web browser, file manager, PDF viewer, music player or audio player to randomly name a few) is mostly bundled and depends on the choice of desktop environment (like gnome, KDE, XFCE, LXDE to name the most widely used ones).

If the question is, which software will run on "Linux distributions", it is way to much to know it all.

If the question is rather, which software will NOT run on "Linux distributions" as opposed to the latest Windows or MacOS, this includes some software that is taylored for these systems (like the latest versions of MS Office, Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, Safari etc.) and many new programs sold for profit including recent games. The reason for the latter is the small number of "Linux" users in comparison to Windows users, which makes it most profitable for software vendors to primarily aim for the Windows market.

A Linux computer appears like any other computer. The hardware required for Linux is the same. From the outside, just looking at the hardware (monitor, keyboard, tower, tower guts) it is impossible to tell what operating system is running on the computer.

Desktop-wise, this is a very difficult question to answer. There are a wide variety of desktop that can be used for Linux (GNOME, XFCE, KDE, E16/17, LXDE, etc.). Some eschew the use of these desktops and stick purely to the use of command line. Further complicating the answer is the fact that many of these desktops are highly customizable and can be made to appear however the user chooses. Generally though if one uses a graphical desktop, it will be familiar to windows users. Often there is a menu where one can access applications and places and the use of icons is near ubiquitous.

Many programs that are used in Windows/ Apple computers have Linux equivalents and have similar looks.

The Linux kernel itself does not include a GUI. However, most Linux distributions have one.

Yes, Linux have a GUI.Today many kind of vendor available in Linux Like Redhat fedora,Ubuntu,Suse, Mandriva and many more. Those Linux version provide Cmd and GUI mode for work.

That depends on what you are looking for. If you want an OS that is fabulous for multimedia editing, But you are willing to pay a tad more, Mac is the way to go. If you are looking for a professional or gaming environment, I would say Windows.

Then there's Linux. I have only spent much time researching the line of Ubuntu and Linux Mint. All of them have more personalisation options, minimal expenses(you do need a CD, DVD, or Flash Drive to install it), and run faster to some degree or another than either of the others. Also, with both, you can choose a distribution that fits your needs. Ubuntu has official distributions with Gnome(basic) KDE(heavyweight; Kubuntu), XFCE(lightweight; Xubuntu), LXDE(superlight; Lubuntu)

Linux Mint also has the same releases, but some have switched over to Debian Testing(continuous updates rather than new releases).

Other distributions I have looked at are Edubuntu, Ubuntu netbook edition, and UbuntuStudio.

Linux Mint is based for people who want a desktop more like a Windows or a Mac, more button-pushing and less terminal-typing.

It really depends on the speed of the computer, too. If your computer only has 512 MB RAM, It will not be able to run one of the bigger OS's out there, like Kubuntu, Windows 7 Ultimate, or Mac OS X Lion. I would choose something like Lubuntu, so it doesn't lag without running anything but the OS.

I had an HP desktop that could hardly run Windows XP, and now it runs Linux Mint 11 with no trace of ever lagging.

Gnome and KDE are desktop environments. They provide a suite of different applications that achieve their own kind of user interface that are tailored to many users' needs (yet some are customizable as well should you need or want to tweak anything).

"Older computers" can encompass a wide range of hardware going back nearly 20 years. To simplify the variables, I'll give some example configurations, along with some appropriate Linux distros you may like to try.

Pentium 4 2.8 GHz

1 GB DDR RAM

60 GB IDE hard drive

This is within the spec of pretty much every Linux distro. Ubuntu, Kubuntu, OpenSUSE, PCLinuxOS, and Debian are all good choices for a computer like this. If you demand an extremely responsive desktop, try Xubuntu, Debian with an Xfce desktop, or Dreamlinux.

Pentium III 1 GHz

256 MB PC133 RAM

20 GB hard drive

Things start to get a little tighter here. More RAM on such a system would improve performance immensely. On a Pentium III, an Xfce desktop (as found in Xubuntu or Dreamlinux) is ideal. Puppy Linux (with JWM) would also run well.

Pentium II 400 MHz

128 MB PC66 RAM

10 GB hard drive

While Xubuntu and Dreamlinux will still run decently, they no longer exude a large amount of speed. Puppy Linux should still be good. Debian does not provide a JWM CD by default, but it can be installed from the netinstall version from the command line. Damn Small Linux, based on an older version of a Knoppix LiveCD, begins to look attractive.

Pentium MMX 233 MHz

32 MB of DIMM modules RAM

4 GB hard drive

From this point on, Linux becomes a little more "down to basics." Desktops are still available, but they lack as much "user-friendliness" as many distros aimed at newer computers have created. Damn Small Linux is one of the best choices for a desktop system. Puppy Linux is no longer usable, as it requires 128 MB to boot a LiveCD. A Slackware install with a JWM or Fluxbox desktop is a decent choice. Xubuntu is still technically bootable, but will take so long to boot as to be useless. Debian is still possible, as long as you know how to use the command line to install a desktop.

Intel 486DX-66 MHz

16 MB of RAM

1 GB hard drive

This is likely the end of the line for most users. Beyond this point lies only ancient console-only distros, kernel recompiling, alternative C libraries, and FPU emulation. Only the brave, daring, and masochistic dare tread this path. These requirements are the bare minimum for Damn Small Linux, the most minimalistic Linux desktop still developed. You could skimp slightly on the processor (say a 486DX-40) and hard drive (Damn Small Linux needs only 50 MB) but the X server will probably not run under less RAM.

Intel 386SX-33 MHz

4 MB of RAM

40 MB hard drive

Linus Torvalds began the Linux kernel on a machine similar to the above. In the ye olden days, a 386 with 8 MB of RAM was enough to run a state-of-the-art web server (and a crude X server). Today, you'd be hard pressed to even fit the kernel into such a small amount of memory. Honestly, you'd probably get more of the functionality you want on such a machine from FreeDOS than an ancient Linux kernel.

This was my first question before trying Linux, it took a while to know advantages of Linux. I thought I should post my thoughts. Perhaps experts can give their inputs, that would benefit end users.

There are several reasons or plus points for Linux.

1. Software center + Open source. Since the most softwares are open source, their source code can be checked and modified to suit OS.

Adding to it, Software center has it's own repository, so one can install software from the distro's server (which may be tweaked to suit that distro or OS). Since the distro developer will never want his system to be unstable and prone to viruses, he will make sure that his softwares are virus-free. This is easy for him, since the source code is available). This avoids risk of downloading softwares from other 3rd party sites, and even from the site of software developer.

2. Linux is rock solid and you do not login as root (admin) as a default. This makes you safe in case something goes wrong. Terminal is very powerful and one can troubleshoot using it.

3. Fast troubleshooting and bug-fix due to open-source nature.

4. Old kernel images are available on boot loader. Just in case the newer kernel has some iissues like kernal 3.0.4 having iissues with nvidia graphic cards. One can safely uninstall it and roll-back to older version.

5. Live-CD: Check for compatibility with drivers and wifi connection without installing OS.

6. GUIs are not integrated into kernel. If GUI (called as desktop environment - DE) crashes. OS does not crash and you do not see an infamous blue screen of death as in case of windows XP

7. Offers more than one DE. Gnome, KDE, XFCE and LXDE. Alternatively you can install more than one DE. Live CD can help you to get the feel of DE, before installing. It only takes some Mbs to download distro with another DE. (most developers offer multiple ISO files of same distro with different DE like Ubuntu, Mint, PClinuxOS)

8. Out-of-the-box OS complete with office suit, media player, CD/DVD burner, photo viewer and editor, pdf viewer, mail client, instant messenger, internet browser and more.

9. Great community, support and documentation. Popular distros like Ubuntu, Mint, Bodhi, Pinguy, PClinuxOS have great forums, where users volunteer to help others.

10. Offer more flexibility and is highly customizable and modular by nature.

11. Free security updates (for limited period). Free Os upgrade.

12. Centralized safe auto-update of softwares through Update manager or software center or synaptic. Repair or install broken packages (software) through synaptic package manager. (Generally advanced users use synaptic).

13. No virus trouble. No OS is bullet-proof to viruses. Linux is designed to be more stable. Downloading software from repos help reduce virus. Nothing installs without password prompt. On the other hand, there are very few viruses as compared to tons for windows. Antivirus softwares are available. Most viruses are targeted for windows may land in linux, but are harmless. These viruses can be again transferred to windows through USB drive or by any other means. Some AV do not work in the way they work in windows and do not monitor in real time. Dual boot users also install firewall and AV so that windows is protected.

14. There is no registry, a centralized place to store sensitive info about system and softwares installed. Each Software files are stored in separate folders. So in case if the software crashes. OS does not crash.

15. No need to install additional drivers after OS installation, as in case of windows. Drivers are preinstalled and if any hardware is changed, Linux, re-configures and updates the drivers. This saves times during installation. To add to it many distros give out-of-the-box OS. After after fresh installation, which takes 10 - 15 minutes, a full fledged system is ready for use.

16. Thousands of additional softwares are available in repos, (found in software center / synaptic package manager).

17. Distros designed for specific purpose: Taking advantage of Linux's open source nature, freedom of flexibility and high level of customization, there are forks and re-mastered versions of very popular distros with are designed for a specific purpose. e.g. some distros are designed keeping in mind old hardware. They offer excellent support for old hardware, have latest softwares with latest kernel with light weight applications (softwares) and light weight DE like LXDE and window managers (WM). To know the difference between DE and WM read robins excellent info

E.g Lubuntu, an Ubuntu derivative has LXDE which only consumes 128mb RAM. Users lightweight window manager PCManFM (instead of Thunar for XFCE and Nautilus for Gnome) and lighter word processor and spreadsheet app. To make OD less resource intensive, develops use only window manager with no DE. e.g. Open box is used as exclusively as windows manager and DE. Some e.g. are PCLinux OS Openbox version, Pippermint OS, Puppy Linux. Some even use E17 - Enlightenment distos like Ubuntu derivative Bodhi Linux. The concept is to make maximum RAM available for resource intensive apps. DE's should not eat up RAM.

There are distros which can be run entirely on RAM and do not need to be installed on hard disk. They help in data recovery and are like portable OS. popular ones are puppy linux (90 Mb) and macpup (puppy linux derivative - 160 Mb ISO file)

18. No piracy - Be mentally free.

P.S. Please ignore my typing blunders

Linux is popular for many reasons.

1. It is very fast, easy to use and reliable.

2. Writing programs and scripting on Linux is often times much easier than doing so on Windows as many of the users are that use Linux are computer savy but also because the framework that makes up Linux is completely open source, thus allowing programmers to program with Linux not around it.

3. Linux's security features are that of excellence, most distributions and server editions of Linux have the highest security ratings of any OS.

4. It Looks really cool and has many desktops to choose from (KDE, XFCE, FLuxBox, and Gnome)

5. There are so many different distros or flavors of Linux to choose from, many with the same use in mind but more features and positives than others.

6. It uses an advanced shell scripting terminal allowing for an easy to use command line system based off of Unix making it very powerful and versatile.

7. Last but not least its FREE! and open source so you are free to do with it what you want at absolutely no cost.

Some complain that its not compatible, well no its not with windows programs but for every program that runs on NT theres 3 better for any Linux distro, games are also a problem with Linux, but I manage Crysis at 60FPS and COD 5, and HL2 all at superb graphic levels.

It is all around an extremely good and well rounded operating system once you learn how to use it.