170 lines
7.5 KiB
HTML
170 lines
7.5 KiB
HTML
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">
|
|
<html> <head>
|
|
<title>A Profusion of Window-Managers</title>
|
|
</head>
|
|
|
|
<body BGCOLOR="#ffefd5" TEXT="#181871">
|
|
<H4>
|
|
"Linux Gazette...<I>making Linux just a little more lovable!</I>"
|
|
<IMG ALIGN=MIDDLE SRC="../gx/heart.gif"> </H4>
|
|
|
|
<P> <HR> <P>
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
|
|
<center><h3>Window-Manager News</h3></center>
|
|
|
|
<center><h4><a href="mailto: layers@vax2.rainis.net">by Larry
|
|
Ayers</a></h4></center>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<p>Window-managers seem to be unique to unix-derived operating systems.
|
|
Rather than assuming all windowing/GUI tasks, the X-server confines itself
|
|
to the basic grunt-work of facilitating communications between the graphics
|
|
hardware and the kernel. This is typical unix behavior, in which complex
|
|
tasks are broken up into sub-tasks performed by separate programs. This is
|
|
beneficial to the end-user. If something goes wrong in such a system it is
|
|
easier to place blame and isolate the problem; flexibility and
|
|
configurability are also much greater than in systems in which the graphic
|
|
interface duties are intertwined inextricably with basic kernel
|
|
functions.
|
|
|
|
<p>The end result of this is that if you start the X-server ``bare'' (without a
|
|
window manager) you will see borderless windows on a gray and black stippled
|
|
background. Few people want this appearance, so over the years a wide variety
|
|
of window-managing software has been developed. Some are proprietary, but in
|
|
the free software world there are several active projects, a few of which I'll
|
|
discuss in this article.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<center><h4>FVWM</h4></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>The F(?) Virtual Window Manager is, for several good reasons, the most
|
|
commonly used Linux window manager. It was originally an offshoot of an early
|
|
manager called Twm, but has evolved considerably in recent years.
|
|
|
|
<p>Rob Nation, who was also partially responsible for top and rxvt, was the
|
|
maintainer of the 1.xx versions of Fvwm. This series reached a developmental
|
|
plateau a few years ago and a new group of developers adopted the program and
|
|
initiated the 2.xx series. The 1.xx versions are stable and reliable and are
|
|
still being used by many people, though they aren't actively maintained.
|
|
|
|
<p>I won't go into the basic features of Fvwm, as this topic has been
|
|
well-covered (by John Fisk and others) in past issues of the Gazette. Since
|
|
those articles appeared there have been many new features and modules added to
|
|
Fvwm, a few of which I'll describe.
|
|
|
|
<p>By the way, don't be put off by the beta status of the 2.xx versions;
|
|
since about version 2.0.37 the program has been relatively easy to compile and
|
|
free of any but very minor bugs. Version 2 is asymptotically approaching a
|
|
major release which will be version 2.1.
|
|
|
|
<p><center><b>New Features</b></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>I can't help but think that the developers working on Fvwm2 are keeping an
|
|
eye on the upstart Afterstep window-manager, which is based on Fvwm2 code.
|
|
The newest Fvwm2 release (as of Jan 24,1997) is 2.0.45; patches have been
|
|
incorporated which give Fvwm2 some of the nicer decorative features of
|
|
Afterstep. These include tiled pixmaps for window-borders and title bars, as
|
|
well as gradient-shading of the title bar from one color to another. Another
|
|
addition is the ability to use mini-icons for title bar buttons. If you're not
|
|
interested in such decorative elaborations they can be easily disabled by
|
|
editing the <i>fvwm.tmpl</i> file before compilation. The new release is
|
|
worth obtaining even if you don't care about the new visible features, as many
|
|
bugs have been fixed. The man-page has also been expanded and updated to
|
|
cover these changes.
|
|
|
|
<p>It's now possible to write Fvwm modules in either Perl or Python. Several
|
|
examples of each are included in the distribution, which is available from
|
|
<a href="ftp://ftp.hpc.uh.edu/pub/fvwm/version-2">this Hawaiian site.</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<center><h4>Afterstep</h4></center>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you are fond of the appearance of the NExtstep operating system, you'll
|
|
probably like Afterstep. This is an offshoot of Fvwm2 development which has
|
|
attracted much attention recently in the Linux community, to the point where
|
|
it is being included (despite its beta status) in some newer distributions.
|
|
|
|
<p>Afterstep pioneered the use of pixmaps and mini-icons in borders and
|
|
title-bars, as mentioned in the Fvwm2 section above. But the major difference
|
|
is the Wharf module, a very configurable tool bar which uses larger-than-normal
|
|
icons (64x64). The supplied icons are very stylish, and can be configured to
|
|
have gradient-shaded backgrounds. As with the Fvwm2 Buttons module, the Wharf
|
|
(NExt calls it a ``dock'') can ``swallow'' applications and other modules. Lately
|
|
modules designed to be swallowed by the Wharf have become available from the
|
|
Afterstep web-sites. Among these are a PPP dialer, a CD-player, and a mixer.
|
|
Check out <a href="http://mango.sfasu.edu/~frank/afterstep/">the Afterstep
|
|
Home Page</a> for the latest news and releases.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<center><h4>Wm2</h4></center>
|
|
|
|
Possibly as a reaction to the growing number of unnecessary features in the
|
|
other window-managers, <a href="mailto:cannam@zands.demon.co.uk">Chris
|
|
Cannam</a> has written a minimalist window-manager called Wm2. This small and
|
|
fast window-manager was inspired by the Plan 9 manager, which is part of the
|
|
experimental Plan 9 operating system. There are no icons, virtual desktops,
|
|
or configuration files, in stark contrast to the other managers discussed
|
|
here, just nicely framed windows and a simple menu which starts an xterm and
|
|
lists active and hidden windows. The windows are framed in a distinctive
|
|
manner, with no top title bar. Instead a shaped tab protrudes from the top of
|
|
the left side of the window with the title displayed vertically.
|
|
|
|
<p>Rather than include a screen shot of Wm2 in action, here are links to the
|
|
Wm2 web page which has links to both a screen shot and the source itself:<br>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="wm2.html">The Wm2 Page (local)</a><br>
|
|
|
|
<p><a href="http://www.netcomuk.co.uk/~cannam/wm2.html">
|
|
The Wm2 Page (WWW)</a>
|
|
|
|
<p>Wm2 is still relatively new; I have noticed that it stresses the X-server
|
|
more than would be expected of such a small application, possibly because of
|
|
its use of the shaped-window X-extension. Screen refreshes seem to be slow.
|
|
Nonetheless in this third version it seems to be stable, and it provides a
|
|
refreshing contrast to the complexity of the other window-managers. The only
|
|
configuration involved comes before compilation of the source. The various
|
|
colors and preferred terminal emulator can be set in the <i>Config.h</i> file;
|
|
after installation the only way to change these settings is to re-edit and
|
|
recompile.
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<p>If you'd like more information on these as well as several other
|
|
window-managers, visit<br> <a href="http://www.PLiG.org/xwinman">this excellent
|
|
site</a>, which has many links and screen shots.<br>
|
|
|
|
<hr>
|
|
|
|
<a href="mailto: layers@vax2.rainis.net">Larry Ayers</a>
|
|
|
|
<!-- hhmts start -->
|
|
Last modified: Fri Jan 24 19:11:42 CST 1997
|
|
<!-- hhmts end -->
|
|
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<center><H5>Copyright © 1997, Larry Ayers <BR>
|
|
Published in Issue 14 of the Linux Gazette</H5></center>
|
|
|
|
<!--===================================================================-->
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
<A HREF="./index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/indexnew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ TABLE OF CONTENTS ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="../index.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM SRC="../gx/homenew.gif"
|
|
ALT="[ FRONT PAGE ]"></A>
|
|
<A HREF="./mutt.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/back2.gif"
|
|
ALT=" Back "></A>
|
|
<A HREF="./shells.html"><IMG SRC="../gx/fwd.gif" ALT=" Next "></A>
|
|
<P> <hr> <P>
|
|
</body>
|
|
|
|
</html>
|
|
|