I'm less productive in Linux than I was in Windows

[movEAX_444]

I've been using Linux exclusively for a few years now, and when I want to automate something, do batch processing or data crunching, or code small apps, I am very productive in Linux.

However, I've recently gotten back into web design, graphic design and working with images. On Windows, I used to drag and drop a lot, and the desktop was very functional and robust. Now I am using Xfce4 with Rox-filer and gFTP. gFTP is hedious and doesn't support drag and drop, and it constantly asks me if I want to overwrite or not.

Without going to Gnome or KDE, what can I do to become more productive in Linux? I'm content with Linux in every other area. I'm currently downloading CrossFTP, and I'm still on the lookout for a GUI editor with vim support, tabs and a file tree.

Any suggestions on apps would be appreciated. Thank you!

[xrx]

I used to drag and drop a lot, and the desktop was very functional and robust. Now I am using Xfce4 with Rox-filer and gFTP.
You could use rox-filer (or the fast and tabbed pcmanfm (http://pcmanfm.sourceforge.net/)) along with CurlFtpFS (http://curlftpfs.sourceforge.net/) (info in the gentoo wiki (http://gentoo-wiki.com/HOWTO_FTP_Mount)), or some other FTP-FUSE filesystem. This should allow you to drag and drop stuff in FTP servers like KDE/konqueror, but with any file manager.


I'm content with Linux in every other area. I'm currently downloading CrossFTP, and I'm still on the lookout for a GUI editor with vim support, tabs and a file tree.
Did you already know about GVIM and not like it? It does have tabs, and I suppose there should be a plugin that puts the :Explore file tree in a side pane in a more intuitive way (instead of having to split the window and stuff).

[cybertron]

Without going to Gnome or KDE, what can I do to become more productive in Linux?
Maybe you already know this and don't even want to install them, but you can use KDE and Gnome apps in XFCE. I use KMail and Konqueror under Fluxbox all the time. I also use KDevelop for dev work, so that might be worth a look for your editor.

[The Mas]

Maybe you already know this and don't even want to install them, but you can use KDE and Gnome apps in XFCE. I use KMail and Konqueror under Fluxbox all the time. I also use KDevelop for dev work, so that might be worth a look for your editor.

I actually use KDE more often than not, but for quite a while I used XFCE and liked it a lot. Even when using XFCE, like you, I frequently invoked KDE apps, particularly k3b and Konqueror. The overhead of starting them up without KDE, however, led me to incur the login overhead of KDE. Once logged in, I find KDE to be quite acceptable, even with its fairly large footprint. On a Dell Dimension 4100, which is a 996 MHz box that is at least six, almost seven years old, KDE is still acceptable. On faster boxes, its convenience definitely outweighs its overhead.

That said, using a drag and drop FTP client along with a lightweight file manager ought to do the job and spare you the overhead, if that is what you prefer.

[NecroLin]

I'm taking a web dev class now and I've been working on Linux.

Aptana is a great web IDE: www.aptana.com/
Filezilla (FTP) (it was in the Ubuntu repository, but I'm sure you can find it if you google it).

[The Mas]

I am using an XFCE session running with Sidux, a Debian Sid based distribution, and I am using it with a HP 2.7 GHz desktop system with 1 GB RAM instead of my Dell Dimension 4100, a 996 MHz system with 256 MB RAM. Either one of them functions fine, but what a difference! XFCE is downright snappy on the newer HP!