Introduction To The Enlightenment 17 Window Manager For X (Ubuntu 11.10)

Version 1.0
Author: Christian Schmalfeld <c [dot] schmalfeld [at] projektfarm [dot] de>

This tutorial is supposed to show some features of the Enlightenment window manager as an alternative to the often used Gnome and KDE  managers.

This document comes without warranty of any kind! I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!

1 Preliminary Note

I will install Enlightenment on a desktop computer with Ubuntu 11.10 installed. Apart from the login screen however, all of the controls shown on the screenshots should be the same for every installation of enlightenment, whatever distribution you install it on. Enlightenment is already included in the Ubuntu repositories, therefore Ubuntu users and those of any Ubuntu derivatives won't have any problems installing it. It is also available for download for most other distributions though.

2 Install Enlightenment

To install enlightenment from the Ubuntu repositories, open a terminal and enter following:

sudo apt-get install e17

After the installation, Enlightenment will be available from the list of window managers on the log in screen:

3 Start and Configure Enlightenment

To start Enlightenment, select it on the list of window managers and log into your account:

On first start, you will be asked to make a few configurations. First select a language from the ones installed on your machine:

Then select a profile for your desktop environment. Standart usually is a good choice for desktops and laptops, but don't hesitate to read the others' descriptions:

Now select a menu style. Since we are going to try out Enlightenment, pick Enlightenment (Applications) (you can still change this option later under Settings > Settings Panel > Menus > Menu Settings > System).

I have no idea what exactly the next screen does. Check it and click Next:

You can then add items to your first quick launch bar that will appear in the bottom center of the page. You can still add items later if you forget to do so now:

Upon the next click, you will be logged in. A message will appear, informing you about some file formats for themes and backgrounds:

This is what your new desktop looks like! You will notice that some (most) of the applications you have in your quick launcher do not have icons:

This is also the case in the application menu: