New persistent live install of Lubuntu, unable to work out desktop switching

I have ensured the keyboard type is set to mine (UK).
24.04.02 Lubuntu LTS.
6.11 kernel
The taskbar shows only one desktop, I have tried adding 3 more but they default to desktop one.
With my Kubuntu systems I just use cntl-alt-right and left
Looking through the Lubuntu manual they should work

Do you mean:

 - the virtual desktop(s) on the taskbar?
 - .desktop launch files?
 - a completely different desktop manager or what?

I’m not quite certain what you are referring to, my guess is you are referring to virtual desktops? You should be able to add desktops via Preferences → Openbox settings tool → Desktops and you further tweak them from the Desktop panel - Widgets → desktopswitcher → configure → uncheck “show only active desktop”…

Anyway, more details if this isn’t it.

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Hi @eeyore Yes I do mean switching virtual desktops on the taskbar. Adding extra desktops in the add widget thingy just gives more desktop 1’s ??? It’s really weird. I just can’t seem to get more than one desktop. Perhaps it’s a restriction on the persistence mode… although the same thing works on Kubuntu persistence USB stick.

Did you try the panel widget configuration? Is the checkbox unchecked? or checked?

image

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@eeyore Yes that’s what I get, I add these extra desktops, but no switching and still only one desktop.

'Photo of the same windows you show without giving the extra desktops.

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This is to be expected in the live environment. Not the installation, though.

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@wxl I checked out the bug report, thanks.
OK so it doesn’t work in Lubuntu persistent live session. That’s a real bummer for the way I work. Funny how it works well in Kubuntu persistent live though… OK I’ll mark this as solved.
EDIT: I’m going to d/load the 24.04.2 version before the “bug” was fixed and see if that works. I’ll report back here. The downloads for Noble all point to the .02 version, seems I can’t revert. Oh well stick with Kubuntu then.

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Not funny at all given that Kubuntu ≠ Lubuntu. Just because we change something in Lubuntu doesn’t mean it gets changed in any other flavor. Also, no other flavor uses Openbox or LXQt Panel, so the changes that we made to those configurations would have no impact on any other flavor.

If it’s persistent, you can just undo the change by copying over the stock config:

sudo cp /etc/xdg/xdg-Lubuntu/lxqt/panel.conf /etc/xdg/xdg-lubuntu-live-environment/lxqt/
sudo cp /etc/xdg/xdg-Lubuntu/openbox/rc.xml /etc/xdg/xdg-lubuntu-live-environment/openbox/

The reason why both configurations exist but the one in xdg-lubuntu-live-environment is the one that’s being used is because in our XDG directories, xdg-lubuntu-live-environment takes precedence over xdg-Lubuntu.

I’m pretty sure the change was always in Noble so it wouldn’t make a difference.

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There’s the openbox dialog as well:

image

@wxl “I’m pretty sure the change was always in Noble so it wouldn’t make a difference.”
Yes, it’s weird, in the Lubuntu repository every single instance of development .00, .01, 02 all point to the latest version to download, not their respective versions, so I can’t get an earlier instance.

I’ll try the replacement files in my setup and see if that works, thank-you for the tip.
@eeyore I had no idea there was another dialogue to check, thanks.

@wxl I tried the hack you suggested and it really works well, thankyou for that I’m now going to give Lubuntu a good workout to see if it is good enough for me to switch over. So far I’ve been impressed. There isn’t as much fine control over the desktop as Kubuntu, for instance I like to have the exit, full-screen and minimise at both the right and left sides of the main top taskbar, but it does seem to do all I need so far.
Thanks again, Tony.

The panel (taskbar) in Lubuntu 24.04 is highly configurable.
Right click the panel > Configure Panel > Widgets > Click + Sign > Add Plugin (e.g. Quick Launch)

“Taskbar” is usually associated with a portion of the panel that shows your currently running applications. It also wouldn’t typically make sense for window management controls to exist in this area, unless you mean that every application would have its own controls in the taskbar, but I’ve never seen that before, either.

That said, I imagine you mean the “window title” and that you want this section on the right side of each window title to also be on the left:
image

Since this is a window management thing, this is all dependent on the window manager. In our case, it is Openbox. Openbox is pretty simple and while it does have options to change this, it doesn’t support multiple versions of the same feature. You can see an attempt at duplication just eliminates the latter options:

image

This is actually documented upstream:

titleLayout tells in which order and what buttons should be in a window’s titlebar. The following letters can be used, each only once.

In the end, Lubuntu is kind of “just right.” Kubuntu has tons of configurable features. It’s really nice if you want to tweak each and every single little thing but it’s a little much for a lot of people. In some cases, it leads to some extra resource usage, too. With Lubuntu’s tendency towards lightweight (that is what the “L” is in both Lubuntu and LXQt), we don’t worry ourselves about exposing every possible configurable feature and instead focus on the important ones most people want.

There is a solution: use a different window manager that supports this. LXQt is very supportive of this idea. Just install your window manager, change the window manager in LXQt Session Settings, logout and back in again, and then configure it the way you like using whatever tools are in place for that, and there you go.

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@tea-for-one - Just getting to grips with a different way of doing things I guess.
@wxl Thank you yes of course I mean the title bar, gee I should express myself more clearly. I understand and agree with the Lubuntu philosophy of minimal resource use but it will take a bit of adjustment. As you say each flavour has its own niche to fill. I am really liking Lubuntu I have to say.

This is it! Largely, the different desktop environments (and sometimes even different alternative applications) really offer the same basic features, but in different ways.

Glad to hear you’re liking Lubuntu! I originally found Lubuntu because I was looking for something that used limited resources to keep a PowerBook out of the scrap heap. I found I really just loved it. Even on fast machines, it’s great. Stays out of your way. I also love how you can make it your own. I typically put the tiling window manager i3 on mine. The defaults are good, though, as my latest Lubuntu install (an old iMac) is running classic Openbox and I’ve been loving it.

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