Yes, it’s about the gtk+ version LXDE, not LXQt.
Previously, razor-qt and lxde project merged and formed LXQt project, which just had a 0.8 release. Though the original plan was to migrate to Qt, this does not mean that LXDE is dropped. As many of the users have noted, many LXDE gtk+ components got updates recently. LXDE is still actively developed and maintained by the developers lead by Andrej N. Gritsenko (LStranger) and as long as gtk+ 2 is in use, I believe that they’ll keep working on it. We even got some patches for gtk+ 3 recently. Yes, gtk+ 3. This does not mean that LXDE is going to use gkt+ 3, but it’s a clear indicator that LXDE is not dead. If you’re not a fan of LXQt, don’t worry, you can still use LXDE. Also I want to say “thank you” again to LStranger who work really hard to keep LXDE so others can have some time to focus on LXQt while keeping our promise to the users.
About LXQt, the 0.8 version is quite stable and we have the required features, but of course it’s not good enough and have room for improvement. We’ll keep working on that, too. For the part I’m responsible for, the file manager, I’ll try to add the features that exist in the gtk+ versions but abscent in the Qt port. Also, I’m going to do more bechmarks for LXQt recently. Other developers are working on code cleanup and removing dependency on X11 so we can move to Wayland later.Both LXQt and LXDE are actively developed. Stay tunned! 🙂