[ale] Window Managers for X

[Ken Cochran]

Oh, oh, thank you!

Narrowing things down somewhat, here are a couple of other
things I like about my (old) fvwm95 2.0.43a:

- Middle mouse button (#3) on a taskbar item minimizes it.  Left
  click (button 1) selects the item, bringing it up if it was
  minimized.  I like being able to quick-select/minimize windows
  from the taskbar - I seldom if ever use the 3 little boxes at
  the upper right of the menu-bar.

- Analog xclock in the "dock" along with xload; bottom-right
  of taskbar has digital clock.

Mostly I just run a bunch of xterms, ya I'm old-fashioned like that.  :)
Additionally there are a few browser windows & that's about it.

Looks to me like the "environments" (GNOME, KDE, XFCE) are all
overkill for my needs.

I'm just fine editing config files with vi.  :)  But alas I have
yet to see instructions explaining any examples, e.g. with fvwm2,
fvwm95, icewm, E, windowmaker, *box, whatever...

q:  If I "pin" a window, what if I launch a whole bunch of the
same window?  (For example, a bunch of xterms and/or several
browser windows)

-kc

>From: "James P. Kinney III" <jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
>To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 16:20:02 -0400
>Subject: Re: [ale] Window Managers for X
>
>
>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=3D0ms) 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_.
>>=20
>> >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}.