Install Enlightenment (E17) In Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic [How-to]

Enlightenment, also known simply as E, is a window manager for the X Window System which can be used alone or in conjunction with a desktop environment such as GNOME or KDE. Enlightenment is often used as a substitute for a full desktop environment.

Enlightenment version 0.17, or E17 is a complete rewrite on DR16 (0.16) and was designed to be a full-fledged desktop shell, based on the new Enlightenment Foundation Libraries. E17 is very fast and responsive, and should be good for older computers or netbooks.

I've been wanting to try our E17 in Karmic but I never had time to set it up. kappa962's post made me want to try it finally (credits go to him). I will also try it soon on my netbook (E17 comes with different setups you can choose when you first install it: for netbooks, desktops, minimal, etc.).

Install Enlightenment E17 in Ubuntu Karmic

1. Add the E17 repository and the PGP key:

sudo sh -c "echo 'deb http://packages.enlightenment.org/ubuntu karmic main extras' >> /etc/apt/sources.list"
wget http://packages.enlightenment.org/repo.key -O - | sudo apt-key add -

2. Install Enlightenment (E17):

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install e17 gnome-icon-theme

If you want to run Compiz, replace e17 with ecomorph-e17 in the above command, so you would have:

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install ecomorph-e17 gnome-icon-theme

gnome-icon-theme is necesary in order for the icons in the menus and in Thunar to look right and I've added it in case you installed Ubuntu using the alternate CD for instance and want to only use E17.

You may also want to install Thunar, a lightweight file manager to use in E17:

sudo apt-get install thunar

And for network, install wicd:

sudo apt-get install wicd

Now log out, and select Enlightenment when you log back in.


3. Make the audio work:

a) Add your username to the audio group in the following file:

sudo nano /etc/group

b) Then, install alsa-base and alsa-oss:

sudo apt-get install alsa-base alsa-oss

4. Customizations:

You can get Enlightenment 0.17 themes from e17-stuff, http://exchange.enlightenment.org/theme or http://www1.get-e.org/Themes/E17/

Note: 2 users reported that switching back to Gnome, there are some issues with Compiz. If that occurs, reinstall Compiz