A look at XFCE in Debian Trixie

I haven't written about XFCE in Debian for a while. I've noticed that one of my old posts, A look at XFCE in Debian Wheezy, is getting quite a few hits. It's a post from 12 years ago, so I can only imagine that people are really looking for something more current, so it's probably time for an update.

When writing the previous post, I was using a machine that originally came with Windows XP. This time I'm writing on a machine that originally came with Windows 8. The points I made then still apply: XFCE runs quite happily on older hardware, and it's a bit old-fashioned in its desktop paradigm, which may or may not appeal to users.

An interesting point to make is that at the time of writing the previous post, there were a lot of complaints about the performance of Windows 8 on low-spec computers (which this is). XFCE on this machine performs perfectly well, as it does on my even older laptop from the Windows 8 period.

I haven't touched a Windows machine for almost a decade, but I have noticed that Windows 10 has reached its end of life, and that Windows 11 will not run on older, lower spec machines, ones that would be a lot more modern and more powerful than this computer. Deja vu?

This would be a good opportunity to point out that computers running Windows 10 that can't update to Windows 11 will run Linux quite happily for many years to come!

There are of course Linux distributions that are aimed at new users. XFCE in Debian comes very much as shipped by XFCE. There is no welcome screen, there are no tutorials, no helpful system tools, no update, software or driver managers, no system snapshot tool, and no customisation to the desktop panel positions, theme or icons.

Screenshot of the Debian Trixie live image

Screenshot from xfce.org

If you fancy a more bare bones approach, getting to grips with Debian system tools, and customising the desktop to your own preferences, Debian XFCE does offer legendary stability. This is often assumed to be implied by the name of the current release, Debian Stable, but stable in the name means "doesn't change much" rather than "doesn't fall over". Packages are tested during the two-year development process, and then receive only security updates and minor fixes after release. The corollary of this process is that Debian doesn't fall over very often, as bugs are knocked out during testing, and not introduced by package upgrades after release.

This is especially advantageous for older computers, as support for newer hardware can be lacking in the Stable release. My two older machines had a few minor glitches with Debian when new, but now run it faultlessly.

Over the years I have written about a few niggles with Debian XFCE: problem panels and unwanted saved sessions, ugly fonts, suspend doesn't work when the screen is locked, confusing power management behaviour, no icons for special folders in the home directory in the default theme, authentication dialog for root privileges broken, and media playback and non-free firmware not enabled by default.

I am happy to say that non of these is an issue any more, although the suspend/lock screen issue will require a bit of manual intervention until the XFCE fix is implemented properly in Debian (see the post for details). 

One new option in Trixie XFCE worth mentioning is Docklike Taskbar, which is available after installing the package xfce4-docklike-plugin.

It provides a Windows 7/8 (or Linux KDE) method of Windows switching, shown above in an XFCE bottom panel, with option window preview enabled.

It also addresses one of my previous complaints about XFCE: application quick launchers can be added to the panel, but running appear separately. Docklike Taskbar combines quick launch icons with window switching icons.

The default XFCE layout has quick launch icons in a bottom "mock dock" panel, and running application buttons in the top panel. For those who like the layout, I think Docklike Taskbar would be a better option in the bottom panel, combining quick launch and windows switching.

For those who prefer a single bottom panel, here's an extreme example:

Quick launchers and iconified window buttons.

Combined launcher/switcher buttons in Docklike Taskbar (running applications are underlined).

As mentioned previously, Debian does not customise the appearance of XFCE at all. The icons used in the screenshots above are a mixture of Arc and Papirus, the theme is Arc-Lighter, and there is a single bottom panel.

Customising  XFCE by changing the theme, icon theme and panel layout is a simple process. Here is my current preference, to compare with the defaults above.

 With the Debian Trixie wallpaper.

 With the XFCE wallpaper.

With applications open, using the old-school window buttons.

As mentioned above, Debian XFCE does not come with an update manager. The update notification in the second screenshot is my own Genmon script. an update with the latest version is coming soon, so keep watching the blog!

A final thing to say about XFCE 4.20 is that Wayland is available as an experimental option. Keep watching for a post about that too. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New Firefox ESR is late in Debian (again)

Update: Firefox ESR 140 arrived as a security update in the afternoon of  the morning of this post. My apologies for misrepresenting the update process.

It's still important to note that Firefox ESR 128 is EOL, has security vulnerabilities, and will not get security updates.

Users of Debian Testing will have an unsecure browser until the new version of the browser passes through the update process from Unstable.

Users of Debian Trixie should ensure they have the security repository enabled and have updated Firefox. 

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Firefox ESR 128 has reached its EOL, which means no more security fixes, but the new version (140) has only just gone into Unstable, which means there will be a period of testing as 140 moves from Unstable to Testing to Trixie, the current version of Debian, and to previous still-supported versions.

There are currently seven security issues affecting Firefox ESR 128.

Just to be utterly sensationalist, I looked for anything scary about these vulnerabilities. Well, this is pretty scary:

A remote code execution vulnerability has been identified in Firefox versions below 143 and Firefox Extended Support Release (ESR) below 140.3. This vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations, which could lead to unauthorized access and manipulation of user systems. It is crucial for Firefox users to update to the latest version to mitigate potential exploitation risks.

securityvulnerability.io

The reason for the (again) in the title is that this is not the first time this has happened. See this post from 2021.

I have no idea why Debian does not begin the process of switching to the new ESR version before EOL. If anybody does, please let me know in the comments.

Debian users concerned about the security vulnerabilities present in Firefox ESR 128 can use an alternative browser like Chromium, or install Firefox directly from Mozilla.

wiki.debian.org

No updates possible (sources list empty) after installing Debian Trixie

There is an issue in Debian Trixie where some people who have installed it find that updates do not work. This is a serious problem for new users who naturally expect to be able to update their system, and who may not have the technical ability to solve the problem.

Debian User Forum

The problem arises in the Debian Trixie live image, which has two install options: an "expert" install from the boot menu, and a user-friendly install option from the desktop after the system has booted.

For somebody trying out Debian for the first time, the advice is simple: use the user-friendly installer after booting into the desktop. It's called Calamares. Why is it named after fried squid? I don't know, but it works.

The problem exists because the expert install has no option to set up network mirrors (ie internet sources of new and updated software, called repositories). After booting, the Debian file that contains this information (sources.list) will be empty. Previous versions of Debian the expert install prompted users to set up network mirrors, and the file was populated with a list of repositories.

This apparently is a deliberate decision. The rationale seems to be that any expert with an internet connection is going to use the net installer, to get the latest package versions during installation.

A similar logic has always applied to the DVD installation media (ie not a bootable live image): if you're using the DVD, you probably haven't got an internet connection. The default here was not to set up network mirrors by default, but there was a tick box to enable them. Not ticking the box when an internet connection was available would also result in the same issue of updates not being available.

The issue has been confounded by confusion with the entirely unconnected issue of Debian support for a new software source format. People seem to be thinking that the empty sources list is because they haven't "modernised" their sources list. No! The new format is not the default, and won't be for some time.

For anybody who has installed with the "expert" installer from the boot menu of a live image, (or from the DVD iso without enabling mirrors), a reinstall is not necessary: just populate the sources.list manually. 

For new users I would recommend the traditional format, since the modern format is not yet supported by all tools and apps in Debian. For instructions, see the following posts:

Edit apt sources safely

A working sources list in the old format

Failed to mount NTFS volume in Thunar

(Error mounting /dev/sdd1: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock, missing codepage or helper program, or other error.)

I have an external HD connected to the television which contains TV programmes and Films. Recently I connected it to my Debian Trixie computer to transfer an new film, and got the error dialogue above in the XFCE file manager.

Strangely, I could mount and access the HD drive using

mount /dev/sdd1 /mnt/my_drive

Unix & Linux at StackExchange

 I found the following at the Manjaro forum

The newer kernels now use the in-kernel ntfs3 driver, which often fails. When you are mounting them manually, you are using ntfs-3g as the driver, which is the one that works. By blacklisting ntfs3, you make sure that it’ll always use ntfs-3g diver.

To extend this:

ntfs3 fails if damage to an NTFS formatted drive is found; or, rather, if an indicator of damage (commonly called a dirty bit) is found.

ntfs-3g ignores this, and mounts the NTFS partition, regardless.

The important point here is that the NTFS filesystem may still be damaged, as you blissfully continue using the drive.

If an error exists, it must be corrected using chkdsk within a Windows environment. This can be achieved by launching an administrative command prompt.

That seems to explain why I could mount the HD from a command line but not in Thunar, but Uh-Oh, I don't have a Windows computer. (The HD came formatted that way, and the TV won't use any other format.)

I downloaded a Windows repair disk, but it wouldn't boot on this old computer.

Then I came across this post, also at the Manjaro Forum

Use “Disks” , find your drive and repair filesystem option. Worked for me.

Worked for me too!

Was the file system actually damaged, or was it this bug?

Whatever the reason, it seems Debian has more than one NTFS driver, and a different driver may be used by different applications. Something to bear in mind.

Authentication dialog for root privileges broken in Debian Trixie XFCE

Update: this issue was fixed in XFCE 4.20.1:

 xfce4 (4.20.1) unstable; urgency=medium

  * d/control: update standards version to 4.7.2
  * d/control: recommends mate-polkit (Closes: #1090384)

 -- Yves-Alexis Perez <corsac@debian.org>  Sat, 19 Jul 2025 18:32:45 +0200

 ------------------------------------

 

Above is a screenshot of the dialog in action so you know what I mean.

The dialog appears launching Synaptic package manager, unlocking printer settings or launching LightDM Greeter settings.

Or should. On new installs of XFCE in Debian Trixie it will fail silently, and nothing will happen when clicking on the relevant menu item or button.

The reason is that the agent required to bring up this dialog (policykit-1-gnome) has been removed from Debian Testing because it's an ancient Gnome package which is no longer maintained. See this bug report.

The removal of policykit-1-gnome has affected XFCE because it is a recommended install with at least one XFCE package that I can see (Thunar) but not a direct dependency of XFCE. XFCE relies on it being there, but does not actively ensure that it is there.

Other DEs that rely on the package like Mate and LXDE have noticed that the writing was on the wall for policykit-1-gnome and produced their own version of the package, namely mate-polkit and lxpolkit.

Other Linux distributions have noticed the same thing and released a package to fulfil the same function in XFCE, for example xfce-polkit in Arch.

There is now a Debian bug report for this rather crucial to the desktop missing agent. Somebody has come up with an agent for Debian (also called xfce-polkit), but it hasn't made it into Trixie, according to this bug report.

So, at the moment, for new installs of Trixie, there are going to be issues such as Synaptic filing to launch. See this topic on the Debian forum. (Anybody with a Trixie install predating the removal will still have policykit-1-gnome installed and not experience the issue.

The solution? For the moment, install lxpolkit or mate-polkit, or compile the proposed Debian xfce-polkit package yourself. (The screenshot at the top is Debian xfce-polkit.)

Power Manager in Debian Trixie XFCE and lock screen settings

Depending on the time of reading this, you may be wondering why lock screen settings are not working in XFCE Power Manager in Debian Trixie, or why lock screen settings have changed, or rejoicing that a long-standing bug in Power Manager has been fixed.

Let me explain. XFCE 4.20 in Debian Trixie has dropped light-locker: 

There is no dedicated "security" tab anymore. Lock screen management was massively simplified and "Light Locker" was dropped. "lock-on-sleep" is now synchronized with xfce4-session and xfce4-screensaver. Screen locking settings are now only handled by xfce4-screensaver to avoid conflicts. A button to open xfce4-screensaver-preferences was added.

 XFCE 4.20 tour

Unfortunately, xfce4-screensaver has not been made a dependency of Power Manager, meaning the user will not be able to change lock screen settings. See this topic on the Debian User Forum. There is a bug report for this issue. The good news is that removing light-locker and installing xfce4-screensaver gets everything working nicely.

More good news is that this change side-steps an eleven year old bug which meant that suspend would not work with the screen locked using light-locker. See my blog post on the issue, the Debian Wiki on the issue, and the bug report.

So, if you are using Debian Trixie XFCE at the time of writing, you may have come to this post seeking an answer as to why you can't change lock screen settings any more. If you are reading at some point in the future where xfce4-screensaver has been added as a dependency, you may have noticed a change in XFCE Power manager, the absence of the Security tab, or the presence of a new Screensaver Management button.

Whatever the case, Power Manager in XFCE 4.20 in Debian Trixie using xfce4-screensaver is now a joined-up and rational, rather than the dog's breakfast it was in the past (see my post from 2013), and finally bug-free after over a decade. Happy days!

System sounds in Debian XFCE

If you look under the Settings tab of the XFCE Appearance application, you will find two options under Event sounds, Enable event sounds and Enable input feedback sounds. (Quite why a sound setting would be in the Appearance menu is a bit of a mystery, but hey-ho.)

In Debian at least, ticking these options seems to have no effect. It hasn't really bothered me for years, but I thought I would investigate if it is possible to enable system sounds.

As is often the case with Linux issues, I came across various suggestions on the issue dating back over a decade. This is what worked for me. First install package libcanberra-pulse, and check that System sounds are enabled in the audio mixer.

This got me some system sounds. Changing audio volume in the audio mixer (but not from the panel icon) produced a sound.

Other system sounds required package libcanberra-gtk3-0, and exporting a GTK module, which as far as I can work out makes the kernel aware that GTK events should trigger a system sound. The instructions are at ubuntuforums.org. They date from 2012, but still seem to be necessary and work.

The default sound theme installed has sound for a limited number of events, so I installed the Smooth sound them which has more.

Here are my sources of information:

How to enable system sounds forum.xfce.org

[Solved] System Sounds forum.xfce.org

13 year old bug in Tango icons fixed in Debian!

The default icon theme in Debian XFCE has had an annoying bug for a very long time. I wrote about it in 2013, but the issue was reported as a bug in 2011. (See bugs.freedesktop.org for the original bug report and gitlab.freedesktop.org for more information.)

There were no icons for special folders in the home directory with the Tango icon theme, meaning that these folders defaulted to the Gnome icon theme, as shown in this screenshot from the Gitlab bug report:

The Tango icon project has been dead for 16 years, but Matteo Bini has forked the Tango icon theme to include XDG user directory icons (as well as other fixes).

The forked package has replaced the original Tango icon theme in Debian Testing, so the next release of Debian will have icons for special folders in XFCE at last, and the home directory will look like this:

Personally I prefer the look of the Papirus icon theme, but at least now the default icon theme will not have this annoying bug.

The Tango icon theme is still a bit dated in some ways. For example, the Synaptic icon is a box a CD and a floppy disk.

Hands up anybody who can remember installing software from a floppy disk, and if you do, doesn't getting old suck?