Re: lightweight window manager - any sugegstions?
-- Sandip P Deshmukh <deshmukh@escortsmumbai.com> wrote
(on Thursday, 09 January 2003, 11:12 AM +0530):
> i am doing most of my work in console and was looking for a small and
> fast window manager for some occasional work there.
>
> aesthetics, bells and whistles do not matter much. speed and overheads
> matter a lot.
>
> i have heard about ratpoison and [black | flux]box. any feedback from
> actual users is welcome. i am currently using windowmaker.
I browsed through the thread a bit, and it looks like you may have
already chosen a window manager -- but I didn't see anybody actually
give you feedback on the wms you listed.
I'm a blackbox user, and I've been *very* satisfied with it. It's small,
configurable via text files, and offers nothing but a window manager.
Yet, at the same time, it can be configured to be very pretty, and with
the addition of a few tools, a complete desktop environment (I use
ROX-Filer, gkrellm, bbkeys, and bbpager -- which give me all the tools I
ever used in a more full-blown DE).
It utilizes only X libraries, which means minimal dependencies, and can
be compiled easily (or you can simply grab it via apt). I've often had
an X session with blackbox running for days on end, and never suffered
in the performance arena.
I typically have several workspaces open, one of which has an almost
full-screen terminal running 'screen'; I then switch to other workspaces
when I want a browser, word processor, pdf viewer, the GIMP, etc.
Switching between workspaces can be done via the keyboard if you use
bbkeys.
Just my evangelical note for the day! I hope you find a window manager
that suits you!
--
Matthew Weier O'Phinney
matthew@weierophinney.net
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