How to sync PDA with Evolution under XFCE, especially if running -noxfce option

[Peter N. Spotts]

Folks,

A while back, I asked if there was a way to trigger Gnome's pilot applet
under XFCE (actually, xfwm -noxfce) so I could have Evolution's full
functionality under a lean, mean desktop machine. At the time, Olivier
replied that applets needed the Gnome panel to function.

However, the gpilot daemon itself apparently doesn't need the panel in
order to run. Add     + "I" EXEC gpilotd      to the .xfwmrc file under
the heading #common init and restart functions. .Xfwm is located in the
/home/yourusername/.xfce subdirectory. Or perhaps you can add it as a
start-up app under .xinitrc, which resides in your username subdir. (I
haven't tried this tack). Xfwm activates the daemon on startup and you
can sync with ease.. 

Use the Gnome system monitor (I tucked it under a Utilities section I
have in the desktop's user menu) to make sure the daemon is up and
running.

You still must use the Gnome control center to set your syncing
preferences. And while you are syncing, you do not get the progress-bar
window you'd see under Gnome; to gauge progress, you have to rely on the
indications you get on your PDA's screen.

Truth in advertising: This solution suggested itself after reading an
item on Ximian's support list on a separate syncing topic.

Someone may have come up with a tidier way to do this. And others of you
may have figured this out long ago. But for any newbies in the peanut
gallery who have been puzzling over this, I pass this approach along for
whatever it may or may not be worth.

Thanks again, Olivier, for a fine -- and flexible --
window-manager-desktop package!

Best regards,

Pete
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Peter N. Spotts
Science and technology correspondent
The Christian Science Monitor
One Norway Street
Boston, MA 02115  USA
Office: 1-617-450-2449
Office in home: 1-508-520-3139
E-mail: pspotts at alum.mit.edu
www.csmonitor.com
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