Using 'LXPanel' as a UI for Crostini

If you are used to a menu-driven user interface in Linux or find the Chrome OS application launcher not quite to your liking for accessing Crostini Linux applications then one option you could try is LXPanel.

The panel generates a menu for installed applications automatically from '*.desktop' files and can itself be incorporated in its own '.desktop' file which if pinned to the Chrome OS shelf can also be used as a means to start the 'penguin' container after booting.

Unfortunately it is not quite perfect as the panel is displayed in the middle of the screen and doesn't respond well to changing its position under geometry in its panel settings. However you can toggle its visibility by clicking the panel's icon on the shelf. Also closing the panel (by right clicking the icon) only closes the 'LXPanel' application in Chrome OS so to terminate it fully you need to use 'killall lxpanel' in a terminal session.

To set it up first ensure 'LXPanel' is installed in your container: assuming you are using the default Debian-based 'penguin' or a similar derivative (e.g. Ubuntu) container simply enter 'sudo apt install lxpanel'.

Once installed open up a terminal session and create a file '~/.local/share/applications/lxpanel.desktop' (or '/usr/share/applications/lxpanel.desktop') containing:

[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Name=LX Panel
Comment=Opens LX Panel and to terminate use killall lxpanel
Exec=lxpanel
Type=Application
Terminal=false
Icon=<icon path here>

For the icon you can use any icon '.png' you prefer. For example if you have already previously installed LXDE then you could use the icon '/usr/share/lxde/images/lxde-icon.png'. If you don't have a suitable LXDE icon then you can always download this one and edit the 'lxpanel.desktop' file accordingly (e.g. 'Icon=/home/linuxiumcomau/247px-LXDE-logo.svg.png').

After a minute or so your new 'LXPanel' application should appear in the Crostini applications:

You can now right-click on its icon and pin it to the shelf:

To start it click on the shelf icon and 'lxpanel' will appear in the centre of the screen:

Its visibility can be toggled by clicking its icon on the shelf. As previously mentioned closing the panel by right-clicking the shelf icon only closes the application in Chrome OS so to terminate it fully you need to enter 'killall lxpanel' in a terminal session.

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