From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Mon Jul 26 16:45:22 2004 Return-Path: Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 34D8716A4CE for ; Mon, 26 Jul 2004 16:45:22 +0000 (GMT) Received: from out2.smtp.messagingengine.com (out2.smtp.messagingengine.com [66.111.4.26]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 9A2E443D6D for ; Mon, 26 Jul 2004 16:45:20 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from judmarc@fastmail.fm) Received: from server2.messagingengine.com (server2.internal [10.202.2.133]) by mail.messagingengine.com (Postfix) with ESMTP id B5792C12ED6; Mon, 26 Jul 2004 12:44:58 -0400 (EDT) Received: by server2.messagingengine.com (Postfix, from userid 99) id 1C6E385A65; Mon, 26 Jul 2004 12:44:59 -0400 (EDT) Content-Disposition: inline Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: MIME::Lite 1.4 (F2.72; T1.001; A1.62; B3.01; Q3.01) References: <20040726154502.88509.qmail@web41006.mail.yahoo.com> In-Reply-To: <20040726154502.88509.qmail@web41006.mail.yahoo.com> To: "DK" , "freebsd-questions" Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 12:44:59 -0400 From: "Jud" X-Sasl-Enc: b5Ni+ATBdNEBliuXhVMuyA 1090860299 Message-Id: <1090860299.32172.201095699@webmail.messagingengine.com> Subject: Re: Whats the fastest Windows 2000 like Window Manager ?? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.1 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2004 16:45:22 -0000 On Mon, 26 Jul 2004 08:45:02 -0700 (PDT), "DK" said: > Hi all, > > I just installed FreeBSD v4.10 > > I would like to install a basic FAST Windows 2000 like Window Manager > that "ONLY" has: > - Basic FAST GUI > - MS Notepad like Editor > - MS Windows Explorer like File Manager > > I am setting this up as a test web server with Apache etc... > > I want very BASIC Windows like GUI with a GUI Text Editor(NOT VI, more > like Notepad) to edit > configuration files etc AND a Windows Explorer like File Manager to move > files easily around & > from the CD(ie. NOT command line stuff!) > > ----------------- > My System: > Pentium 200Mhz > 128MB SDRAM > 16MB PCI Creative Graphics Blaster Riva TNT > 10 GIG HD > ----------------- > > I have Windows 2000 installed on the Primary Boot partition & that runs > VERY fast > (compared to FreeBSD + KDE or GNOME) > > > Any suggestions/help is greatly appreciated :)) What you want is attainable, but not in the form you're asking for. Linux distros aimed at the former Win user like Mandrake, RedHat/Fedora, etc., have obscured what was once a clear divide between the Win (all-in-one) and *nix (an application for each task) way of doing things. Packages that include window managers, file managers and editors are pretty well restricted to the two big "desktop environments," GNOME and KDE. However, there is a different and fairly easy way to attack the problem, using individual pieces that together will do what you want. The "leanest" desktop environment for Linux/Unix/FreeBSD is XFCE4. It includes a window manager and a file manager, is fairly easy to use, and is much lighter on resources than GNOME or KDE. That leaves editors. Preferences among editors can be the stuff of flamewars, but I'll don my asbestos suit and say that nedit seems to me to be fairly lightweight and easy to use. If you want to assemble your "package" from 3 pieces rather than 2, then some choices you might consider are: Window Managers - - Blackbox/Fluxbox/Openbox: Blackbox and variants, minimalist but adequate, lightning-fast and easy enough to use if you can right-click. - Icewm: A bit less minimalistic than the -boxes, still fast. I found configuring icewm to my liking a bit more difficult than it was with the -boxes. File Managers - - Rox-filer: Nice, fairly intuitive, simple lightweight GUI file manager. Re: editors, I've already mentioned nedit. Also - I know you didn't ask, but if you want to use a browser, Opera is small, fast and works very nicely. I'm sure others will have various suggestions in all these categories. Jud