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Ye olde windowe manager threade

Started by Strife Apr 6, 2005 at 10:37 AM 10 replies 4.2k views

Original Post

Apr 6, 2005 at 10:37 AM

So I've been around Linux for a while (about 5 years now), but I remain disappointed with the window managers available. The problem is, a number of them have features I like, but each one seems to have annoyances that others don't have. For example, take Window Maker. I like it quite a bit overall, but the single most annoying thing is, as far as I can tell, clicking a window will not raise it (if there's actually a setting for this that I somehow missed, please correct me). Basically, it seems that I always end up having to compromise with my window managers. This is why I always end up using one for a few months, then go to another one. That said, does anyone else feel the same way? If so (or if not, for that matter), what window managers do you settle with and why? (This thread is intended to be for discussion purposes, so please don't just answer "Fluxbox" without giving any explanation.)

eedok

Apr 6, 2005 at 10:55 AM

I dunno if this works in windowmaker, but in enlightenment you can either right click or alt+click a window to raise it..

Strife

Apr 6, 2005 at 1:04 PM

Quote:
Original post by eedok
I dunno if this works in windowmaker, but in enlightenment you can either right click or alt+click a window to raise it..

You can, but that annoys me that you have to do that. I'd rather just click if I'm using the mouse already. I'm all about the keyboard, but I don't want to have to use both if I don't have to (I do, however, like the feature where ALT+cick'n'hold allows you to move windows... It allows you to bypass having to click and hold on a relatively small area).

nagromo

Apr 11, 2005 at 9:39 PM

I used to switch a lot, but I pretty much just stick to Gnome now. The only annoyance I can think of is that I don't know how to add an interior menu to a panel. What I mean is that the main Gnome menu has a submenu 'Debian menu', and I would like to instead add 'Debian Menu / Applications' and 'Debian Menu / games' as separate menus on the panel.

markr

Apr 12, 2005 at 7:28 AM

I use sawfish because it's Gnome's default one. It has a lot of annoying features (some of which may be configurable to change of course), but it just about works.

It's not a very responsive WM and is generally sluggish. Its default skin looks pretty good and is functional.

Unfortunately, it is not designed to work with KDE apps, and some of its default hotkeys conflict with KDE apps' ones.

Also some apps (OpenOffice) create windows which have no close box, expecting you to be able to close them through the WM - I believe this is just a case of a lack of correct communication - OO actually wants those windows to be closeable, but with sawfish closing them is only possible through an obscure keyboard/mouse combo.

But I'm used to it. I might change when I next reinstall my box, something I haven't done for years.

Mark

Strife

Apr 12, 2005 at 1:55 PM

Quote:
Original post by markr
I use sawfish because it's Gnome's default one.

LIES! Metacity has been the default WM for Gnome for quite some time now. I personally hate Metacity because its window-placement algorithm sucks.

Aly

Apr 17, 2005 at 7:49 PM

Yeah, I've looked at quite a few window managers too.

If you're willing to spend the time you can probably configure fvwm to do exactly what you want. I used it for a while, but there's a lot to configure and what I really need is just a good set of keyboard shortcuts. Perhaps that's the same complaint you had if you tried it.

I'm currently using fluxbox but if there's a blackbox variant that get support for python scripting and stays current (unlike openbox and kahakai) then I'll probably pick it up.

lethalhamster

Apr 24, 2005 at 10:41 PM

I use KDE. Its a bit bloated, but I think its still great.

Mawww

Apr 25, 2005 at 5:22 AM

i use blackbox, because i like its philosophy : it is an WM and only a WM. it has a clean design and useful features like the whell to switch desktop. i tried quite a lot WMs and it is the one i liked the most.

dmreichard

May 2, 2005 at 7:12 PM

I personally use Gnome the most, and I honestly don't care what WM I'm using as long as it accomplishes the task. I have a rather fast computer that can handle the bloat of big WMs as well. [smile]

igni ferroque

May 3, 2005 at 1:34 AM

Quote:
For example, take Window Maker. I like it quite a bit overall, but the single most annoying thing is, as far as I can tell, clicking a window will not raise it (if there's actually a setting for this that I somehow missed, please correct me).

That sounds like it would be easy to fix. Might consider hacking it yourself and submitting a patch. I haven't used WM in a while so I'm not sure if there's a setting.

DavW

May 11, 2005 at 4:37 PM

I use 2 window managers regularly:

xfce - a basic window manager which looks nice and is fairly free of bloat.

ion - a minimalist tiling window manager which relies on heavy keyboard use.

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