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Started working with my older laptop again, so I decided to install Xubuntu. Xubuntu is the Xfce edition of Ubuntu Linux. A big part of my computing experience is the portibility of applications like Dropbox or Box.net – easily being able to synch files on my various computers is of upmost importance. However, Dropbox is designed to work along with Nautilus which is the default file manager in GNOME…and the default window manager in Ubuntu. But not Xubuntu which uses Thunar as it’s file manager.

But, it’s no problem – by simply following the instructions below you can get Dropbox to work side-by-side with Xfce and Thunar. We will basically just be starting a no-frills instance of Nauilus which causes Dropbox to start. The explanation will mostly be relevant to Ubuntu/Xubuntu users, but can simply be modified to other distros.

Requirements:

• Nautilus file manager
• Dropbox for Linux
• Xfce (4.4+ works best)

1. Install dropbox from source, or using the packages provided on the Dropbox site.
2. Type the following into the terminal:

   nautilus --no-desktop --browser
   

   This will start Dropbox, and the icon should appear in your system tray.

3. Log in, or sign up with a new account.
4. Now, in order to have Dropbox running every time you use Xfce, you need it to autostart. Just go to:
   Menu -> Settings -> Settings Manager -> Autostarted apps -> Add
   and add the following
   

   /home/your_username/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd

And that’s it! Dropbox should work normally now, synching your files perfectly. Now you can more stuff done.

This tutorial is more-or-less a translation and expansion of a tutorial from Polish website blok.kangoor.