I recommend a 'fake' or roll your own lxde, using openbox, openbox-themes, obconf, fbpanel, pcmanfm, lxappearance, gpicview, xarchiver, leafpad, midori and galculator. If you copy the openbox autostart.sh to your home like this:
cp /usr/local/etc/xdg/openbox/autostart.sh /home/username/.config/openbox/autostart.sh
you can autostart fbpanel in openbox by adding the following to the end of the copied
autostart.sh file:
(sleep 2 && fbpanel) &
You will also need to copy the fbpanel configuration file to your home folder:
cp /usr/local/share/fbpanel/default /home/username/.config/fbpanel/default
and make sure to remove the entries for the volume plugin in that file by use of # signs:
Code:
#plugin {
# type = volume
#}
Next, change the entries in the same file to reflect the apps you wish to appear on the fbpanel toolbar:
Plugin {
type = launchbar
config {
button {
icon = file-manager
tooltip = File Manager
action = /usr/local/bin/pcmanfm <---change to this or your preferred file manager
}
button {
icon = terminal
tooltip = Terminal
action = /usr/local/bin/xterm <---change to this, or your preferred terminal
}
button {
icon = web-browser
tooltip = Web Browser
action = /usr/local/bin/midori <---change to this or your preferred browser
}
}
}
This will leave you without icons on the desktop, but you can put as many icons for apps as you wish on the fbpanel toolbar, using the above entries as examples.
If you bookmark your
/home/username/.config in pcmanfm, you can easily get to the fbpanel default file or the openbox
autostart.sh file to make changes from within pcmanfm, by easily editing them with leafpad.
If you are feeling really adventurous, you can ditch the system menu entry in the fbpanel default file, and customize your fbpanel menu, even with customized icons.
These ideas will give you a 'fake' desktop that looks like a real desktop, without having a DE make decisions for you. This also saves you from the hiccups that occur when DEs release new versions.