[ale] Window Managers for X

[James P. Kinney III]

On Mon, 2006-09-18 at 15:39 -0400, Ken Cochran wrote:
> Hehe, I caught the article in /. too.  :)  That, along with
> this thread finally poked me into asking, after long delay...
> Wrt documentation I'd just about be happy knowing what the terms
> at xwinman.org, etc. mean, e.g. "pinning."  I think I know what
> "focus" is but there are modes there I'm not grokking yet,
> for example "sloppy."  Some kind of glossary would be nice...
> 
> -kc

pinning: when a window is "pinned" to a particular location on the
desktop. It will then reopen at that location from then on.

sloppy focus: the opposite of "click to focus". Usually moving the mouse
over the exposed portion of the window will bring it into focus after a
definable time delay.

When sloppy focus (delay=0ms) is combined with raise on focus, moving
the mouse across a very busy, filled desktop can cause nausea and the
onscreen windows popup into focus and resink for the next one. twm was
notorious for that one.

An old desktop environment that looked good, and had some nice design
ideas was tkdesktop. It still used a window manager like twm. There was
an actual desk picture with file folders, etc. Can't find it on the web
now. I should have it still in an old walnut creek CD set _somewhere_.
> 
> >Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 11:55:01 -0500
> >From: KingBahamut <gwosbahamut at gmail.com>
> >To: "Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts" <ale at ale.org>
> >Subject: Re: [ale] Window Managers for X
> >
> >Ken, Ive heard that fvwm-crystal is pretty nice looking.
> >
> >http://fvwm-crystal.org/
> >
> >Dont know how this will work into your equation though.
> >
> >On 9/18/06, Ken Cochran <kwc at theworld.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi, this thread on window managers has me wondering too...
> >> Right now I'm running fvwm95 but I'd like to change to something
> >> else more up-to-date.  I've looked at the likes of window-maker,
> >> fvwm2 and icewm.
> >>
> >> What I like about what I have (fvwm95 v2.0.43a):
> >>
> >> - There's a taskbar, analogous to that in MSwin.
> >>
> >> - It shows me the pixel positions & sizes of windows if I
> >>   left-click (button 1?) on a title bar (window position) or
> >>   border/corner (window size).
> >>
> >> - There is an xload window in what appears to be analogous to
> >>   OSX's Dock, among other things there.
> >>
> >> What I don't like about it:
> >>
> >> - It seems rather "long in the tooth" & I'm *sure* there has to
> >>   be Something Better nowadays.
> >>
> >> - The taskbar is shared among all desktops.  I'd like for each
> >>   desktop to have its own taskbar.
> >>
> >> - I can't find any documentation about how to configure it.  For
> >>   that matter, neither can I find documentation on how to configure
> >>   any other window manager.  :(  How about even a glossary of terms?
> >>
> >> What I'm looking for:
> >>
> >> - Widely available, maintaned & supported/supportable and
> >>   *documented*.  (So far *everything* I've looked at falls flat on
> >>   its face wrt documentation.  Am I asking too much for some docs?)
> >>
> >> - Not so "big" - e.g. light on resource utilization; a "desktop
> >>   environment" such as GNOME, KDE, or even XFCE is probably
> >>   overkill.  (But KDE looks pretty good, hmmm...  Khtml browser
> >>   support would be nice.)
> >>
> >> - Ability to display the sizes & positions of windows, etc.  (See
> >>   2nd point, above.)
> >>
> >> - Multiple desktops, with a taskbar that goes with each desktop
> >>
> >> - Familiarity, e.g. can be made to look & work reasonably similar
> >>   to MSWin or OSX/Aqua (especially Aqua :).
> >>
> >> - and of course the "usual" niceties like lack of clutter &
> >>   "usability" (whatever passes for these things nowadays I guess...)
> >>
> >> The site http://www.xwinman.org/ is some (but not enough) help,
> >> nice resource though.  Maybe I'm just asking for too much {sigh}.
> _______________________________________________
> Ale mailing list
> Ale at ale.org
> http://www.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC        
770-493-8244                    
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 189 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part