What Desktop Environment is going to be used on this?

[jdog320]

Hi, i'm just gonna ask if the XFCE desktop is going to still be used or is it going to be replaced with something like LXDE or Mate.

 

[TrashyMG]

Don't think it's been decided yet, Personally I'd like to see a lightweight one still be the default. like XFCE or LXDE. Mate is a bit heavier, but then again something as bloated as KDE runs okay on the devboard.. Still a lightweight one would be better IMHO.

 

[Willhelm]

lxqt could also be a possible desktop environment, for those who favor qt.

 

[levi]

Apropos nothing in particular, but I just tried out LXDE on an old P3 server of mine, and it ran okay but dragging windows was extremely laggy (it didn't seem to notice it took more than one frame to redraw the window, and kept sending out redraw requests which quickly built up a backlog).  I switched to Enlightenment17, and that works a lot better.

Of course, the Pandora alone is faster than my old server especially for graphic stuff, so we have even more leeway with the Pyra and could use almost whatever we want.

 

[Granitehead]

I still suggest using something very light. Someone who is willing to pay the maybe small but certainly still noticeable hit on performance can install an alternative themselves.

 

[sebt3]

I bet the Kool Desktop Environement will be used. Hey german hardware maker have to use german software, no ?

 

[destraht]

I think that proper Wayland support is essential for Pyra for making a smooth desktop experience.  One year from now Wayland will graduate to being solid and ready for all desktop use cases with XWayland support for a fallback.  It would be a real shame to be stuck with a GPU driver that would never support Wayland.

 

[kaprikawn]

I hope XFCE isn't used, current active development is lower than alternatives.

I'd want something that has active plans to move to more advanced technologies like the Enlightenment which is making progress towards Wayland support.

 

[EvilDragon]

LXQT sounds like a good one to me.

I've switched from KDE to LXQT on all my machines recently.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

^ Can it work in Debian Wheezy?

 

[rygD]

LXQT sounds like a good one to me.

I've switched from KDE to LXQT on all my machines recently.

How long did you use KDE?  Do you find LXQT lacking in any way?

 

[bzar]

On desktop I prefer KDE, but I think LXQt would be a nice fit for pyra.

 

[Glyph Reader]

On desktop I prefer KDE, but I think LXQt would be a nice fit for pyra.

How well is LXQt supported these days?  When it first came out, I remember it not working too well. 

-Glyph Reader

 

[bzar]

From what I've heard recently no complaints.

I tested it way back compiling most parts as there were no packages available so I couldn't tell if I was missing something

 

[GizmoTheGreen]

Why not try using Wayland? performance would be greater than sticking with X. old apps that use X can use Xwayland to run.

With version 3.14, Gnome supports running the desktop using Wayland. The Gnome compositor can be run without using X, and will act as a Wayland system compositor. It is considered stable for production use, but there are still some features that are not yet supported (refer Gnome documentation). Under this desktop, applications using X will run using XWayland.

To start up a Gnome Wayland session, gdm login manager needs to be used, and the user must select the "Gnome on Wayland" session before logging in.

With any open source driver you can now start "Gnome on Wayland" from GDM as a special session.

Well the main problem would be if the gpu drivers support wayland and we'd need a DE that supports it, which Gnome seems to do.

Another popular one seems to be Hawaii but it's not finished yet. GUI libraries (GTK, qt5, etc are quickly adapting Wayland as well.)

https://www.youtube.com/embed/RIctzAQOe44?feature=oembed why we need wayland, and why it's here to replace X
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egzb542qomY Xwayland (emulates x, but is more efficient?) cool demo video.

 

[bzar]

There were some issues using wayland, framebuffer access or somesuch. It will probably be an option at some point, but we can't really jump in with both feet at this time without knowing whether it will be up to the task when we need it to be. Let's get a working system using known components first and then see if we can make all the same stuff work on Wayland.

Side note: XWayland doesn't emulate X. It creates an X server and runs the application inside it. The window contents of that X server are rendered by wayland.

 

[EvilDragon]

TI is supporting Wayland with the current 3D drivers, but not X anymore, so that shouldn't be the issue.


However, wayland constantly uses the 3D driver, which means it's an additional power drain.


And yes, the current LXQT version runs very well. Haven't found anything I'm missing. But then again, I don't use Widgets, so if you use KDE because of widgets, you'll miss somdething.

 

[GizmoTheGreen]

There were some issues using wayland, framebuffer access or somesuch. It will probably be an option at some point, but we can't really jump in with both feet at this time without knowing whether it will be up to the task when we need it to be. Let's get a working system using known components first and then see if we can make all the same stuff work on Wayland.

Side note: XWayland doesn't emulate X. It creates an X server and runs the application inside it. The window contents of that X server are rendered by wayland.

Thanks for the correction!

TI is supporting Wayland with the current 3D drivers, but not X anymore, so that shouldn't be the issue.


However, wayland constantly uses the 3D driver, which means it's an additional power drain.


And yes, the current LXQT version runs very well. Haven't found anything I'm missing. But then again, I don't use Widgets, so if you use KDE because of widgets, you'll miss somdething.

But it should also mean the graphical work the cpu is not doing is done by the gpu more efficiently, so gpu can have much lower clock while only displaying 2D stuff, and the CPU can be lower frequency/cores as well. won't that save in the power?


I'm just thinking portable devices such as android phones and tablets are drawing in 3D surfaces the whole time and still get decent if not excellent battery life.

 

[EvilDragon]

There were some issues using wayland, framebuffer access or somesuch. It will probably be an option at some point, but we can't really jump in with both feet at this time without knowing whether it will be up to the task when we need it to be. Let's get a working system using known components first and then see if we can make all the same stuff work on Wayland.

Side note: XWayland doesn't emulate X. It creates an X server and runs the application inside it. The window contents of that X server are rendered by wayland.

Thanks for the correction!

TI is supporting Wayland with the current 3D drivers, but not X anymore, so that shouldn't be the issue.


However, wayland constantly uses the 3D driver, which means it's an additional power drain.


And yes, the current LXQT version runs very well. Haven't found anything I'm missing. But then again, I don't use Widgets, so if you use KDE because of widgets, you'll miss somdething.

But it should also mean the graphical work the cpu is not doing is done by the gpu more efficiently, so gpu can have much lower clock while only displaying 2D stuff, and the CPU can be lower frequency/cores as well. won't that save in the power?


I'm just thinking portable devices such as android phones and tablets are drawing in 3D surfaces the whole time and still get decent if not excellent battery life.

Android phones get a decent battery life?

I haven't seen one. When using the phone, it drains the battery like hell (never been able to "use" an Android phone for more than 3 - 4 hours).

Only in standby (which means no graphics are shown) the battery time is decent.

The CPU still has to create the graphical output (the contents to show), so I doubt it'll remove a lot of stress from the CPU.

AFAIK, X only updates the areas that change graphically, so the on normal usage, the CPU doesn't have much to do.

 

[Null]

I'm just thinking portable devices such as android phones and tablets are drawing in 3D surfaces the whole time and still get decent if not excellent battery life.

Tell that to the battery pack that I have to keep permanently attached to my phone.