Introduction
It’s true that the easiest to way to get the full desktop feel on your EEE is to install the full KDE desktop, but if you’re not afraid to get a little down and dirty with some simple config files, give this a try. You’ll end up with a sleek, elegant desktop without the overhead of KDE. We’ll customize the built-in window manager IceWM and we’ll install Rox-filer to handle our desktop icons and provide a nice file manager.

Disclaimer: I can’t take responsibility for any undesirable results you may get from tweaking your config files and installing software that’s not officially supported. Please make sure you know what you’re doing and that you’re prepared accept the risks of editing the default system configuration for the Eee. Make sure you’ve backed up and you have a plan in case you get stuck…Remember F9 during boot to restore system config! As with any guide on the internet, don’t do anything if you don’t understand what you’re doing.

Installation and Configuration
First off, we’re gonna need a package that comes from the Debian repositories. Now not every package in the repo is compatible with the Eee, so be very careful…if you get any kind of message wanting to remove anything or upgrade lots of packages, abort!

Let’s add the repository to our sources.list so that the Eee knows where to get what we need.

Open up a terminal with the Ctrl+Alt+t key combo, then enter this line:

sudo kate /etc/apt/sources.list

the add the following lines:

deb http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ stable main non-free contrib
deb http://non-us.debian.org/debian-non-US/ stable/non-US main contrib non-free

Save, exit, and enter this in your terminal:

sudo apt-get update

That will update the list of available packages.

Now lets install Rox-filer (the desktop manager) and some extra themes for IceWM to get a sleeker look:

sudo apt-get install rox-filer icewm-themes

So, all of our tools are in place. Now, we need to create custom versions of the IceWM configuration files so we can make changes. Copy the defaults from /etc/X11/icewm/ to a hidden directory in your home folder with this command:

cp /etc/X11/icewm/* /home/user/.icewm

If for some reason it tells you that the .icewm directory doesn’t exist, create it with this command:

mkdir /home/user/.icewm

And then copy the files as explained above.

We need to enable a Start button, since after these mods we won’t be using the default AsusLauncher interface. Open up your IceWM preferences file (view mine, if you like):

kate /home/user/.icewm/preferences

Now find the section that looks like this:

# Show ‘Start’ menu on task bar
# TaskBarShowStartMenu=1 # 0/1

and make it look like this:

# Show ‘Start’ menu on task bar
# TaskBarShowStartMenu=1 # 0/1
TaskBarShowStartMenu=1

The lines with the pound sign are just comments to show you what the third line without the pound sign means. Make sure the number after the equals sign is “1″.

We’re about to edit the Eee’s startup script so it knows to use Rox-filer and not the Asus Launcher. Make a backup first:

sudo cp /usr/bin/startsimple.sh /usr/bin/startsimple.sh-BAK

Open the original for editing:

sudo kate /usr/bin/startsimple.sh

Find the line that looks like this:

/opt/xandros/bin/AsusLauncher &

Add a pound sign in front of it. This tells the Eee to ignore the line, and not start the AsusLauncher. It should look like this:

# /opt/xandros/bin/AsusLauncher &

Now scroll down and find this line:

wapmonitor &

Put this line directly below it:

rox -S &

Save and exit.

Hit Ctrl+Alt+Backspace to restart your window manager. Welcome to your new desktop.

Customization
We’ll need to do some more tweaking to get this to behave and look the way we want. First off, we’ve got fantastic panel included with IceWM, so you don’t really need the additional one provided by default in Rox. Lets get rid of it. Right click on the home icon on the desktop ->ROX-Filer->Options… Now find the the “Desktop” option in the left pane. Click on it, and then select “Pinboard only” in the right pane. IceWM also gives the ability to minimize our windows and have an icon represent them on the panel, so we don’t need Rox to do this for us either. Find the “Iconified Windows” option in the left pane and deselect “Show Iconified Windows” in the right pane. Hit “OK” to save your options.

Now, why don’t we put a nice wallpaper on the desktop? Save an image of your choice to your home directory. Go ahead and click on the home icon to open it, if you haven’t already. Now, right click anywhere on the desktop and click “Backdrop.” Drag your image to the dialog box, and viola, you’ve got a nice background! (Heads up: find great wallpapers specifically for your Eee at this EeeUser forum thread.)

You’ll want to experiment with a few themes to find one you llke. They’re easily switched by clicking on the start menu->Settings->Themes. Just choose one to see what it looks like!

To achieve my look, I use a modified Elberg Blue. The icon set I use the Nuvola theme from here. To use the icons, simply unzip them into your /home/user/.icons directory (create it if it doesn’t exist) and select it in the Rox options dialog under “Types.”

Using Rox-filer
You’ll find that Rox-filer runs much faster than the default file manager included with the Eee. At first it may seem strange, but it won’t take long to get used to. You may find that when you click on individual files, nothing happens. You need to set the the run action for that file type by right-clicking on the file->Next Click->Set Run Action. A dialog box will pop up prompting you to drag the app you’d like to use, or you can just enter the command in the text entry box before the “$@”. More information on Rox-filer can be found here.

Customizing IceWM
Take a look at your /home/user/.icewm/menu file (take a look at mine) to see how the start menu is structured. It’s rather self explanatory, and you’ll find that it’s pretty easy to add applications. Open up synaptic with the synaptic command to find a list of installed applications you can add to your menu. Additional documentation on IceWM is available here.

More Applications
Some more applications that you may want to install from the Debian repositories:

Bbrun - a small run dialog.
File-roller - a file archiver useful for unzipping archives with Rox-filer
Yeahconsole - a quake-style drop-down console
Gqview - a lightweight image viewer

Restoring The Original System Configuration

Simply delete your customized IceWM files:

rm /home/user/.icewm/*

Restore your original Eee startup script (you did make a backup like we explained, right?)


sudo cp /usr/bin/startsimple.sh-BAK /usr/bin/startsimple.sh

Punch Ctrl+Alt+Backspace and you’re back to the original Asus config.

You’re Done!
So, now you should have a light, aesthetically pleasing, productive, & elegant desktop on your Eee PC using IceWM and Rox-Filer! I’m always looking to improve this guide, so please leave a comment if you have suggestions. I’d also love to know if this helped you out in any way!