Modifying Borders in Lubuntu's Theme

One of the small things that annoys me about the default Lubuntu theme is the black border around windows (below, left). Instead, I prefer the lighter border (above, right). It looks more nuanced and sophisticated, especially on lighter backgrounds. Here's a screenshot of the new theme as part of the entire desktop. To get that look, one option is to download my altered openbox theme and replace the themerc file inside: /usr/share/themes/Lubuntu-default/openbox-3 Remember, to paste a file into a...

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Getting Bold with Lubuntu Fonts

The basic font selection is fairly spartan in a fresh Lubuntu install. But it certainly doesn't need to remain that way. The easiest way to install fonts is via the Synaptic Package Manager (Menu -> System Tools -> Synaptic). A quick search for font will reveal almost 600 font packages available for install. However, it is a bit difficult to know what any of these fonts look like. Are they decent? Worth the space? One package is certainly worth your while, however. The ttf-mscorefonts-installer...

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Get out the Vote

I was thinking yesterday about the place of Xubuntu inside the Canonical family. With popular traditional desktops like Mint and ElementaryOS and truly lightweight distros like Lubuntu, who uses Xubuntu anymore? ...but then there was this pole. Xubuntu still boasts a hefty following. Maybe it's tradition? Regardless, if you use Lubuntu on a regular basis, throw your hat in the ring. Vote N...

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Is Lubuntu THE Lightweight Ubuntu? [Editorial]

Lubuntu and "lightweight" have become synonymous, equivalent words inside the Ubuntu community. But is that all Lubuntu is? I'm arguing here for a reexamination of Lubuntu's user base and an adoption of an augmented self-definition: Lubuntu is a lightweight and TRADITIONAL desktop enviornment. Of course, one of Lubuntu's main tenets will always be lightweight-ness. There is story after story of the distro breathing new life into legacy hardware, netbooks, etc. An Ubuntu-alternative for my netbook was the...

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Lubuntu 12.10 Community Wallpaper: Vote Now!

It's time to vote for your favorite community wallpaper. A lot of the wallpapers follow the standard abstract blue themes we've come to know and love. But some break into brighter colors. Vote Now! There are more artwork updates coming soon for the 12.10 release. Stay tun...

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Lock Your Screen with Hotkeys in Lubuntu

You can bind the screensaver lock command to CTRL+ALT+L by editing your Lubuntu keyboard & mouse configuration file. In the terminal, paste: leafpad ~/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml Find a spot where you see a lot of "keybind" words. Directly after a </keybind >, paste the following block: <keybind key="C-A-L">     <action name="Execute">     <command>xscreensaver-command -lock</command>     </action> </keybind> It...

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