de-converter

Desktop Environment Configuration Converter

Convert desktop environment configurations to lightweight window manager configurations. This project provides tools to extract settings from various desktop environments (LXDE, XFCE, KDE, etc.) and generate equivalent configurations for window managers like fvwm, jwm, i3, and others.

Your desktop environment, on any window manager.

Overview

Desktop environments like LXDE, XFCE, and KDE provide complete user experiences but can be resource-intensive. This project helps you migrate your carefully configured desktop environment setup to lightweight standalone window managers while preserving your settings, keybindings, and workflows.

Currently Supported

• LXDE → fvwm, jwm (full support)
• More converters coming soon (XFCE, KDE, MATE)

Features

• Extract LXDE configuration from multiple config files to a unified JSON format
• Generate fvwm configuration with modular config files (keybindings, menus, styles, functions)
• Generate jwm configuration as a single XML file
• Preserve settings:
  • Desktop names and layout
  • Keybindings and mouse bindings
  • Application launchers
  • Panel/tray configuration
  • Window manager behavior (focus model, placement)
  • Autostart applications
  • GTK theme and font settings

Project Structure

de-converter/
├── README.md                    # This file
├── docs/
│   ├── config-mapping.md       # LXDE mapping documentation
│   └── freebsd-compatibility.md
├── converters/
│   ├── lxde/                   # LXDE converters
│   │   ├── lxde-extract.py    # Extract LXDE configs to JSON
│   │   ├── lxde-to-fvwm.py    # Convert JSON to fvwm config
│   │   └── lxde-to-jwm.py     # Convert JSON to jwm config
│   ├── xfce/                   # XFCE converters (future)
│   └── kde/                    # KDE converters (future)
├── examples/
│   ├── lxde/                   # Extracted LXDE configs (JSON)
│   ├── fvwm/                   # Generated fvwm configs
│   │   ├── .fvwm2rc           # Main fvwm config
│   │   ├── functions          # Function definitions
│   │   ├── keybindings        # Key bindings
│   │   ├── menus              # Menu definitions
│   │   └── styles             # Window styles
│   └── jwm/
│       └── .jwmrc             # Generated jwm config
└── tests/
    └── validate-configs.sh     # Config validation script

Requirements

Python Dependencies

• Python 3.6 or higher
• Standard library modules only (no external packages required):
  • xml.etree.ElementTree - XML parsing
  • configparser - INI file parsing
  • json - JSON processing
  • argparse - Command-line argument parsing

Optional Tools

• fvwm - For running and validating fvwm configs
• jwm - For running and validating jwm configs
• xmllint - For XML validation (jwm config)

Installation

Debian/Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install fvwm jwm libxml2-utils

FreeBSD:

sudo pkg install fvwm jwm libxml2

Note: See docs/freebsd-compatibility.md for FreeBSD-specific instructions and path adjustments.

Quick Start

# Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/FlossWare/de-converter.git
cd de-converter

# Extract your LXDE config
python3 converters/lxde/lxde-extract.py ~/.config -o config.json -p

# Convert to your preferred window manager
python3 converters/lxde/lxde-to-fvwm.py config.json -o ~/fvwm-config
# or
python3 converters/lxde/lxde-to-jwm.py config.json -o ~/.jwmrc

Usage

Step 1: Extract Desktop Environment Configuration

For LXDE

Extract your LXDE configuration to JSON format:

python3 converters/lxde/lxde-extract.py ~/.config -o config.json -p

Or extract from a backup:

python3 converters/lxde/lxde-extract.py /path/to/backup/.config -o config.json -p

Options:

• -o, --output: Output JSON file (default: stdout)
• -p, --pretty: Pretty-print JSON output

The extracted JSON contains:

• Desktop configuration (names, count)
• Window manager settings (focus model, theme, placement)
• Keybindings and mouse bindings
• Panel configuration (position, launchers, widgets)
• Default applications
• Autostart programs

Step 2a: Convert to fvwm

Generate fvwm configuration files:

python3 converters/lxde/lxde-to-fvwm.py config.json -o ~/fvwm-config

This creates:

• .fvwm2rc - Main configuration file
• styles - Window styles and decorations
• keybindings - Keyboard shortcuts
• menus - Application menus
• functions - Custom functions

Copy to your home directory:

mkdir -p ~/.fvwm
cp ~/fvwm-config/* ~/.fvwm/

Step 2b: Convert to jwm

Generate jwm configuration:

python3 converters/lxde/lxde-to-jwm.py config.json -o ~/.jwmrc

This creates a single .jwmrc XML configuration file.

Step 3: Validate Configurations

Run the validation script to check for syntax errors:

bash tests/validate-configs.sh

This validates:

• fvwm configuration syntax
• jwm configuration syntax and XML structure
• JSON extraction completeness

Step 4: Test Your New Configuration

Testing fvwm

Start a new X session with fvwm:

# From console
startx -- :1

# Or add to ~/.xsession:
exec fvwm

Or test without logging out:

Xephyr :1 -screen 1024x768 &
DISPLAY=:1 fvwm

Testing jwm

Start a new X session with jwm:

# From console
startx /usr/bin/jwm -- :1

# Or add to ~/.xsession:
exec jwm

Or test with Xephyr:

Xephyr :1 -screen 1024x768 &
DISPLAY=:1 jwm

Examples

This repository includes pre-generated examples from an actual LXDE configuration:

• 2 Desktops: "Amanda" and "Scot"
• Follow-mouse focus
• Bottom panel with autohide
• Application launchers organized by category:
  • System tools
  • Terminals
  • Web browsers
  • IDEs (NetBeans, IntelliJ IDEA)
  • Databases (DBeaver, DbSchema, Beekeeper Studio)
  • Office (LibreOffice suite)
  • Graphics (GIMP, GPicView)
• Common keybindings:
  • Ctrl+Alt+Arrows - Switch desktops
  • Alt+F4 - Close window
  • Alt+Tab - Switch windows
  • Win+e - File manager
  • Print - Screenshot

View the generated configs:

• fvwm: examples/fvwm/
• jwm: examples/jwm/.jwmrc

Configuration Mapping

See docs/config-mapping.md for comprehensive documentation on how LXDE/OpenBox settings map to fvwm and jwm.

Key mappings include:

Feature	LXDE/OpenBox	fvwm	jwm
Desktop switching	C-A-Left	Key Left A CM GotoDesk -1 0	<Key mask="CA" key="Left">ldesktop</Key>
Close window	A-F4	Key F4 A M Close	<Key mask="A" key="F4">close</Key>
Focus model	followMouse=yes	SloppyFocus	<FocusModel>sloppy</FocusModel>

Customization

The generated configurations are starting points. You can customize them further:

fvwm Customization

Edit the modular config files in ~/.fvwm/:

• styles - Change colors, fonts, borders
• keybindings - Add/modify keyboard shortcuts
• menus - Customize application menus
• functions - Create custom functions

Reload configuration: FvwmCommand Restart or Ctrl+Alt+Backspace (if configured)

jwm Customization

Edit ~/.jwmrc:

• Modify <WindowStyle> for appearance
• Add/change <Key> bindings
• Update <Program> entries in menus
• Adjust <Tray> configuration

Reload configuration: jwm -restart or right-click → Restart

Troubleshooting

Extraction Issues

Problem: "Config files not found"

• Solution: Ensure the path points to a directory containing .config/lxsession, .config/openbox, etc.

Problem: Empty JSON output

• Solution: Check that LXDE config files exist and are readable

fvwm Issues

Problem: "Read: command not found"

• Solution: Ensure the path in .fvwm2rc points to correct config directory

Problem: Modules don't start

• Solution: Check that FvwmButtons and FvwmPager are installed with fvwm

jwm Issues

Problem: "Parse error in config"

• Solution: Run jwm -p -f ~/.jwmrc to see specific error, validate XML with xmllint

Problem: Icons not showing

• Solution: Update <IconPath> entries in .jwmrc to match your system

Roadmap

Desktop Environments

• LXDE
• XFCE
• KDE Plasma
• MATE
• Cinnamon

Window Managers

• fvwm
• jwm
• i3/sway
• awesome
• dwm
• bspwm

Contributing

Contributions welcome! Areas for improvement:

• New converters - XFCE, KDE, MATE support
• Additional WMs - i3, awesome, bspwm output formats
• Better theme mapping - Improved color/font conversion
• Testing - More test cases and validation
• Documentation - Usage examples, video tutorials
• GUI - Visual configuration tool

See the LXDE converters in converters/lxde/ as reference implementations.

License

This project is provided as-is for educational and practical use.

Resources

Desktop Environments

• LXDE Documentation
• XFCE Documentation
• KDE Documentation

Window Managers

• fvwm Official Site
• JWM Official Site
• i3 User's Guide
• awesome WM

OpenBox

• OpenBox Documentation (LXDE's WM)

Credits

Created to facilitate migration from full desktop environments to lightweight window managers while preserving familiar configurations and workflows.

Author

Scot P. Floess

• GitHub: @sfloess

Version

Current version: 1.0.0

Changelog

1.0.0 (2026-05-21)

• Initial release
• LXDE configuration extraction
• fvwm configuration generation
• jwm configuration generation
• Configuration mapping documentation
• Validation script
• FreeBSD compatibility