[LUG] Xfce Distro - part 2

[Neil <barnaby@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Recently I asked for suggestions for a distro using Xfce as the DM. I 
had several helpful replies. Eventually I found MX Linux, which looked 
good. Reviews were very positive, and its DM was Xfce. So I tried it out 
on a small laptop I have, which is just for testing.

Well, the distro itself is very good, and runs very fast indeed. But 
there is one fundamental problem. It cannot handle keyboard layouts and 
regions which are not American.

When I started installing, as usual after the partition questions, it 
asked me for the keyboard layout and region. I said UK keyboard and 
London. These were both ignored. The next screen was for user name and 
passwords. Now I use some non alphanumeric characters in my passwords. 
When I tried to set them up it became obvious there was a problem. 
Eventually I realised that it was still assuming a US keyboard. (By the 
way, it asks for two passwords, logon and root.) I managed with this, 
however, and finished the install.

Since then I have tried it out, and to save time, this is how it is 
working now. When I logon, it wants the correct password, but using a US 
keyboard layout. Anyway, I got past that. When I tried a GUI program 
which required a password, eg synaptic, it correctly accepted the root 
password via a UK keyboard layout.

Then I tried out a terminal screen, using sudo. Eventually I worked out 
that it wanted the logon password, not root, but using a US keyboard 
layout. So I gave up.

Linux has been around for 26 years now, and something as fundamental as 
using the correct keyboard layout and the correct region should just 
work. Indeed, I have found this to be no problem with any previous 
distros I have used. So I am sending this email to the list, not as a 
rant, but as a warning.

As mentioned, all reviews I have seen have been positive. But, looking 
back I now realise that they were all American, so of course they had no 
problems with the keyboard and region. It is about time they realised 
that the majority of computer users in the world do not use a US keyboard.

So, sadly, I must look elsewhere. Sorry for the long post,

Neil



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