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Date:      Tue, 20 Nov 2001 20:28:15 -0600
From:      Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>
To:        "Andrew C. Hornback" <achornback@worldnet.att.net>
Cc:        questions@freebsd.org
Subject:   RE: home pc use
Message-ID:  <15355.4415.862506.772290@guru.mired.org>
In-Reply-To: <006d01c17232$40b01f60$6600000a@ach.domain>
References:  <15354.60877.44081.17515@guru.mired.org> <006d01c17232$40b01f60$6600000a@ach.domain>

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Andrew C. Hornback <achornback@worldnet.att.net> types:
> > > Long ago, I saw a very simple windowed desktop on DEC UNIX systems, if I
> > > remember correctly.  Can anyone tell me what sort of
> > environment that was?  I
> > > don't need something fancy, just something that will let me run
> > programs that
> > > require an X environment.  I don't care if I hear lovely chimes when I
> > > double-click on icons, and I don't need to have a menu of 3,245
> > desktop themes
> > > to choose from.
> >
> > DEC workstations shipped with the mwm window manager as the default
> > window manager. At the time, it was a pretty fancy window
> > manager. It's still a lot heavier than anything I'd call "simple".
> 
> 	That would have been either CDE or Motif, if I remember my history
> correctly.  Both are still widely respected in the GUI world, but if they
> don't float your boat, you've got alternatives.  Personally, I love the look
> of OpenLook, which is why I run OLVWM on my laptop.  I don't know what I'm
> going to run on my workstation yet, as I'm still configuring it.

mwm is the Motif Window Manager. I left DEC before CDE became popular.
I vaguely recall something about KDE being an open-source clone of
CDE, but I don't pay much attention to desktop managers.

> > As indicated above, the simplest window manager of them all is not
> > bothering to run one. The closest thing to that is ratpoison, which is
> > in the ports tree. No icons, now frames, no sounds; it's all driven
> > from the keyboard. Beyond that there are a number of window managers
> > that don't do any icons and only provide simple frames. I prefer lwm
> > from that set, but it's certainly not the only choice.
> 	Not sure I could deal with ratpoison, but it doesn't sound like it would be
> THAT bad... *grins*

If you've ever used screen, you'll have an idea of what using
ratpoison is like. The default keybindings for most commands are even
lifted from screen.

	<mike
--
Mike Meyer <mwm@mired.org>			http://www.mired.org/home/mwm/
Q: How do you make the gods laugh?		A: Tell them your plans.

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