Netbook

Lots of people install Linux / Ubuntu on their Netbook. LXDE is perfect for this: lightweight and configurable.

If you like the feel of the easy Asus EEE interface, LXDE has a similar launcher being developed. It is relatively lightweight (similar to the panel).

Install it with:

sudo apt-get install lxlauncher

You'll notice it has a gnome-menu dependency. Don't worry, it is only a small library.

Just as your main menu, it automatically picks up .desktop configurations.

However, it uses Gnome settings, so if you want something not to appear in the easy launcher, but remain in the main LXDE menu, simply add the following to the relevant .desktop file (don't forget the final ;):

NotShowIn=GNOME;

It's the opposite if you want something in the easy launcher, but not in the main menu:

OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

Additionally, the category tabs used are pretty obvious:
Network; appears as Internet
Settings;System; appears as Settings
Education; appears as Learn
AudioVideo; appears as Play
Game; appears as Play->Games
System;, GNOME; and GTK; appear as Work
Utility; appears as Work->Accessories
Office; appears as Work->Office
Graphics; appears as Work->Graphics

Haven't worked out if you can add other tab categories…

To launch as a one-off:

lxlauncher

Of course, this is no use; you obviously want it to autostart at login.

First, you need a .desktop file:

gksudo leafpad /usr/share/applications/lxlauncher.desktop

Then copy and paste the following into the file before saving:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=LXLauncher
Comment=Netbook Launcher
Exec=lxlauncher
Icon=lxlauncher
Type=Application
Categories=GTK;Utility;
NotShowIn=GNOME;
NoDisplay=true

Then copy the .desktop file to your autostarted list (for your user only):

mkdir ~.config/autostart
cp /usr/share/applications/lxlauncher.desktop ~/.config/autostart/lxlauncher.desktop

It should start on your next login now.

To add a Logout button in the Settings tab, create a new .desktop file for Session Logout:

gksudo leafpad /usr/share/applications/lxsession-logout.desktop

And add the following code and save:

[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=Logout
Comment=Logout LXDE
GenericName=Logout
Exec=lxsession-logout
Icon=/usr/share/icons/nuoveXT2/128x128/apps/gnome-logout.png
Terminal=false
StartupNotify=true
Type=Application
Categories=Settings;Application;System;Utility;
OnlyShowIn=GNOME;

It's also nicer to have a "My Computer" icon rather than the PCManFM icon in the Work tab, since the PCManFM folder icon also applies to subcategories.

To achieve this, I added NotShowIn=GNOME; to pcmanfm.desktop, and copied this new pcmanfm.desktop to mycomputer.desktop in /usr/share/applications. Then, just edit mycomputer.desktop with the following:

Name=My Computer
Icon=/usr/share/icons/nuoveXT2/128x128/places/folder_home.png
OnlyShowIn=GNOME; (instead of NotShowIn)
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