LXDE Autostart

LXDE is a lightweight desktop environment for Linux that is known for its minimalistic design and efficiency in terms of system resource usage. One of the key features of LXDE is its ability to autostart applications on login.

What is LXDE Autostart?

LXDE Autostart is a feature that allows a user to configure which applications should automatically start when logging into a LXDE session. Autostart can be useful for tasks that a user wants to perform every time they log in, such as starting a web browser or launching a file manager.

How to Use LXDE Autostart

To use LXDE Autostart, you will need to create or edit a file called autostart in the ~/.config/lxsession/LXDE/ directory. This directory may not exist by default, so you may need to create it. The autostart file should be a plain text file with one command per line.

For example, if you want to start the Chromium browser when you log in, you would add the following line to your autostart file:

@chromium-browser

The @ symbol at the beginning of the line tells LXDE to treat the line as a command to be executed. You can add as many commands as you want to the autostart file, and they will be executed in the order they are listed.

Additionally, you can add comments to your autostart file by using the # symbol. Comments are ignored by LXDE, but can be useful for documenting what each command does. For example:

# Start Chromium browser
@chromium-browser

# Mount network drive
@sudo mount -t cifs //192.168.1.2/shared /mnt/shared -o username=johndoe,password=mypassword

Conclusion

LXDE Autostart is a powerful feature that allows users to configure their desktop environment exactly how they want it. By properly configuring the autostart file, users can ensure that their most frequently used applications are always available and ready to go.