On Fri, May 19, 2000 at 09:50:21AM +0100, Dominic Blythe wrote:
> can somebody please explain the relationship between desktop,
> window-manager, filemanager, X etc? i jus' don' get it.
Since no one's tackled this...
Reversing orders:
- The X Window System (the full and proper name), aka X or X11, is a
network-based, platform independent, client-server graphics windowing
system developed at MIT. There's a lot of verbage in there, but it
means something. Networked -- X can view (or be viewed) across
networks, with applications and displays on entirely seperate
machines. Platform independent -- there are X servers for Linux,
Unix, Windows, Mac, OpenVMS, etc. Client-server -- though the
nomenclature is backwards from the usual meaning, your display is a
"server", and applications are "clients", running on it. You'll
hear people refer to "X clients" from time to time.
For all of that, X11 is just the bare bones of the windowing system.
Launch it bare and you'll get a herringbone backdrop and a large 'X'
pointer (mouse cursor). Windows have no decorations (borders, title
bars, buttons), and cannot be moved or modified. To do that you need
a...
- wm -- window manager. Something that manages windows. Provides
ability to select, deselect, resize, move, raise, lower, and/or close
windows on a display. Usually also provides "bindings" or
associations to keystrokes and mouse button presses to give things
like menus and the like. Examples: twm, mwm, fvwm[2], WindowMaker,
AfterStep, kwm, enlightenment, blackbox, sawfish (was sawmill),
blackbox, icewm, etc., etc., etc.)
WindowManagers range from very basic (twm, wm2) to very extravagent
(enlightenment, kwm). They're a very personal choice (I prefer
WindowMaker). You can try several, can usually switch among them
during an X session, or can launch multiple X sessions (hint: use
DISPLAY values) and see how they look and feel. More advanced WMs
tend to work better with faster (300+ MHz and more memory rich 64/96+
MB) systems. For that old P-I or 486 system with 32 MB, try
blackbox, twm, fvwm, or another lighter-weight wm.
- Desktop. A combination of tools, usually including a window manager,
widget sets, drag'n'drop support, and some integrated applications,
to create a total "environment". The three classic Linux/Unix
desktops are CDE (a horribly bletcherous commercial product based on
Motif, HPUX VUE, and Sun OpenLook), KDE, and GNOME. Basically
providing an environment similar to what you'd find on a legacy MS
Windows or Mac system. I find the whole desktop/taskbar motif to be
broken, personally, and prefer a cleaner look.
- File manager. An X client for managing files. If you remember
FILEMAN.EXE from Win3.x, or MS Windows Explorer, these are examples
of file managers. Basically, a GUI application which represents
files and directories as graphical icons and lets you interact with
them via a pointer -- move, copy, delete, view, edit, run, etc.
Other typical clients include an editor, a calculator, a mailer, a
scheduler. These are frequently bundled together as part of a
"Descktop" suite such as CDE, KDE, or Gnome.
The difference between Linux and legacy MS Windows is that you can
choose which components you want under Linux. Microsoft bundles the
graphics, window management, desktop, and application suite in a way
that's hard to pull apart.
> i want to cut down the amount of resource my given to gui, people keep
> saying sawmill is small, enlightenment is this, kde is that,
Depending on your constraints: lower resolution, fewer colors, less
overhead. See above.
> but i don't know what all the bits are.
This has been fixed <g>
> cheers
>
> Dominic
> ----------------------------------------------
> I used to be an advocate of
> Anything But Microsoft
> until I discovered
> Debian GNU/Linux.
>
>
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--
Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://www.netcom.com/~kmself
Evangelist, Opensales, Inc. http://www.opensales.org
What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? Debian GNU/Linux rocks!
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