Switching Xfce to use metacity

April 20, 2015 [Linux]

I am trying out Xfce and liking it. However, I've never found a window manager better than Metacity, so I'd like to use it.

Here's how I switched:

# Install it
sudo apt-get install metacity metacity-themes

# Tell it how many workspaces I want
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences num-workspaces 9

# Of course, put my maximise, close buttons etc. in the right place
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences button-layout ':minimize,maximize,close'

# See what themes are available
ls /usr/share/themes/

# Set the theme I want
gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme Dopple

# Try it out immediately
metacity --replace

# Make the change permanent, log out and edit
# ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-session.xml
# and change this line:
#  <property name="Client0_Command" type="empty"/>
# to this:
#  <property name="Client0_Command" type="array"><value type="string" value="metacity"/></property>