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Prio to Linux Mint 17.0 I used to run my laptop with the lid shut and used just the HDMI monitor connected to it when I was in the office.  When I upgraded to Linux Mint 17.0 closing the lid caused both the laptop monitor and HDMI monitor to go off.

After finally getting annoyed with the laptop monitor changing in the peripheral of my vision I decided to fix it.

After a little googling I found http://forum.siduction.org/index.php?topic=4531.0

Which says

Add

HandleLidSwitch=ignore

to

/etc/systemd/logind.conf

I restarted and logged in and now I can shut the laptop lid without the HDMI monitor going off.

I love Xfce and have been using it for years..

Finally 4.12 has been released but the ubuntu/mint ppa still only has 4.10 and I wanted all the new shiny things.

To upgrade 4.10 to 4.12 on mint/ubuntu simply run the following :

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:xubuntu-dev/xfce-4.12
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

If you dont use Xfce yet, why not?! Simply run this :

sudo apt-get install xfce4

Warning: There is an issue with QT apps not using a the GTK+ theme.

Run :

sudo apt-get install qt4-qtconfig
sudo qtconfig-qt4 

And select the “Appearance” tab, set the “GUI Style” to “GTK+”, then select File > Save.

Warning : If I ran qtconfig-qt4 as my user (not sudo) the gtk+ theme would not stick.