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#1 2008-11-07 02:19:15

psilo357
Member
Registered: 2008-10-31
Posts: 116

[SOLVED] WM only

So, since i have used linux, I tried out gnome, and i liked it alright, mainly tried it because it came with default gentoo install.  However, after trying pclinuxos, i fell in love with kde3.5, so useful and easy for me to get around in.

However, I think I may want to try a wm only option for a while, as long as it is not too much trouble.  While I like tinkering, I spend all day at work coding/configuring j2ee servers/tinkering, so I like my home computer to just do what I need it to do, and not have to constantly mess with it.  Like, if i was to want a new program, I want to be able to install and use it easily.

Right now, I have kde4 installed, and while it is nice, it still feels bloated with the crapload of apps it has that I will never use...these are the apps that I use, and practically cannot live without in my home computer usage.

openoffice
cups/gutenprint (for printing support)
firefox (needs video and java runtime support)
thunderbird
amarok
k3b
sabnzbd
ktorrent (could switch to rtorrent if needed im sure)
mplayer
file manager (don't have a favourite, use dolphin since it came with kde4, but konquerer was fine, as was nautilus from gnome, and open to others)

thats all I can think of for now.  I am looking at openbox (actually have it running on top of kde right now) and Xmonad, I would like one that is easily configurable (I am technically inclined, so doesn't have to be simple, but I also don't want to take a week to set it up, as the reason i left gentoo for arch was I was just tired of constantly messing with it), usable with mouse support.  I would like a small tray (i used fluxbox for a while, and liked its tray just fine) for point and click app launching as my wife uses this comptuer sometimes.

so, what would you all reccommend?

thanks

Last edited by psilo357 (2008-11-12 02:34:32)

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#2 2008-11-07 03:01:48

koch
Member
From: Germany
Registered: 2008-01-26
Posts: 369

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

do you like openbox? if yes then try it without gnome or kde.

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#3 2008-11-07 18:56:13

Sjoden
Member
From: WA
Registered: 2007-08-16
Posts: 380
Website

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

For a tray in openbox, i use stalonetray available in the repos. You could look into trayer, but I haven't used it. Also, get obmenu and obconf from the repos as well.

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#4 2008-11-07 19:49:48

ninjaprawn
Member
From: Manchester, UK
Registered: 2008-01-26
Posts: 485

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

i love fluxbox, for a tray launcher i have used adesklet in the past, very good, but i just use my menu and key shortcuts!

i have heard great reviews about openbox as well, but never tried it as fluxbox is, i belive fairly similiar, and does everything perfectly!

for the apps, i use the following;

gnumeric & abiword & mousepad instead of openoffice (to much bloat that i never use)
cups/gutenprint (for printing support)
swiftfox instead of firefox (needs video and java runtime support)
claws instead of thunderbird as its lighter with very similiar features
xmms instead of amarok. i have used amarok and liked it, but i just listen to music, so dont need all the features!
cli tools with a script instead of k3b just cos its quicker and lighhter
sabnzbd (dont use)
transmission instead of ktorrent or rtorrent cos its faster and lighter
vlc instead of mplayer, but have mplayer installed as well
pcmanfm is the file manager i use, as it is brilliant, nice, light, gives you desktop icons, but i dont use them

all these apps have minimal dependencies, so leads to a nice, clean, fast & efficient machine!

Last edited by ninjaprawn (2008-11-07 19:50:28)


2007 - Started using Arch Linux as my only/main OS
- Samsung Series 3, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz - 8Gb DDR3 ram - 700Gb HDD
On board intel Graphics & Sound

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#5 2008-11-07 23:45:25

elmer_42
Member
From: /na/usa/ca
Registered: 2008-10-11
Posts: 427

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

I really enjoyed Openbox over the ~5 months I used it. Now I use wmii, but while I used Openbox I enjoyed how lightweight it was. I used tint2 as a panel and I ran without a tray, as none of my apps required one.


[ lamy + pilot ] [ arch64 | wmii ] [ ati + amd ]

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#6 2008-11-08 00:39:33

chilebiker
Member
From: Zurich, Switzerland
Registered: 2006-07-18
Posts: 161

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

I'd go for Openbox as well, check out the Openbox thread in the Arts Subforum.
Filemanger: EmelFM2 is my absolute favourite! It took me a while to configure/customize, but it was well worth the effort.


Don't panic!

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#7 2008-11-08 00:48:18

psilo357
Member
Registered: 2008-10-31
Posts: 116

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

well, its already looking like this is going to be a lot more trouble than I had thought.  I just intalled stalonetray, and as soon as it was finished and I try to run it by typing 'stalonetray' into the terminal, it has a seg fault and fails... sad

Anyways, im not really up for hours of configuration and figuring stuff out, so I will just leave kde on for now, and boot into my openbox wm whenever i feel like tinkering, maybe one of these days it will get to the point where I want it.

thanks for the help.

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#8 2008-11-08 00:49:37

psilo357
Member
Registered: 2008-10-31
Posts: 116

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

elmer_42 wrote:

I really enjoyed Openbox over the ~5 months I used it. Now I use wmii, but while I used Openbox I enjoyed how lightweight it was. I used tint2 as a panel and I ran without a tray, as none of my apps required one.

ok, so a panel is what you launch apps from, like little icons I can click to launch firefox or whatever, and a tray is like where your clock and other 'tray' icons end up?  am i right?

thanks

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#9 2008-11-08 01:23:03

emu
Member
From: Denmark
Registered: 2008-11-08
Posts: 8

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

What about lxde, it has most of openbox's speed, but i comes whit a panel and stuff smile

I like openbox as well, but i just fell in love whit lxde the moment i tried it.

Have a nice day
Anders...

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#10 2008-11-08 01:27:19

fuscia
Member
Registered: 2008-04-21
Posts: 398

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

why not try the right-click menu in openbox? or, better yet, dmenu in dwm?

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#11 2008-11-08 09:16:43

ninjaprawn
Member
From: Manchester, UK
Registered: 2008-01-26
Posts: 485

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

psilo357 wrote:

well, its already looking like this is going to be a lot more trouble than I had thought.  I just intalled stalonetray, and as soon as it was finished and I try to run it by typing 'stalonetray' into the terminal, it has a seg fault and fails... sad

Anyways, im not really up for hours of configuration and figuring stuff out, so I will just leave kde on for now, and boot into my openbox wm whenever i feel like tinkering, maybe one of these days it will get to the point where I want it.

thanks for the help.

if you want an easy to use WM or DE that requires little to no configuration, kdemod wins everytime, i used it for years in a number of linux & bsd distros, i cant stand gnome or xfce, as, even though they require little effort to config, they just dont seem flexible enough for me.

after everyone recommended OB, i installed it yesterday, then 5 hours later, i uninstalled it!

Fluxbox is as light, fast and clean as OB, but i found it much much easier to configure a basic, workable setup than in OB! another big advantage is that FB comes with everything you need to work efficiently, like fbpanel which has a clock, task manager, & tray as well as a desktop switcher!


2007 - Started using Arch Linux as my only/main OS
- Samsung Series 3, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz - 8Gb DDR3 ram - 700Gb HDD
On board intel Graphics & Sound

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#12 2008-11-08 17:42:49

Gauvenator
Member
Registered: 2008-04-03
Posts: 172

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

You should check out pypanel for a panel, and lxappearance to make gtk applications look nice in openbox.

Last edited by Gauvenator (2008-11-08 17:43:15)

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#13 2008-11-08 20:35:42

elmer_42
Member
From: /na/usa/ca
Registered: 2008-10-11
Posts: 427

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

psilo357 wrote:

ok, so a panel is what you launch apps from, like little icons I can click to launch firefox or whatever, and a tray is like where your clock and other 'tray' icons end up?  am i right?

A panel can contain application launchers, clocks, and other widgets. The tray is strictly for tray icons, e.g. the icons Pidgin and Deluge have.


[ lamy + pilot ] [ arch64 | wmii ] [ ati + amd ]

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#14 2008-11-08 20:45:59

doorknob60
Member
Registered: 2008-09-29
Posts: 403

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

Try openbox with lxpanel for a panel and pcmanfm for a file manager, I use that combo and it's fast, works well, and light.

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#15 2008-11-09 21:08:04

Laniac67
Member
Registered: 2008-11-09
Posts: 3

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

Fluxbox is much better than Openbox, as far as I'm concerned.  The menu and startup files, and the style database are wonderfully easy to configure perfectly, and it comes with a panel.

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#16 2008-11-10 02:29:06

Intrepid
Member
Registered: 2008-06-11
Posts: 254

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

If you really want a tiling window manager that's configurable, Xmonad and Awesome are both very similar and very good solutions.  Xmonad can be configured to work well with panels, while Awesome packs a punch in its own bar.  The lightweight system tray and tasklist is what I like about awesome; lightweight and minimalist (no title bars) yet not scarce on features (a readable tasklist makes up for no title bars).

Openbox, Compiz, and E17 are my favorite stacking/compositing window managers respectively.  They all have features to get the job done better and faster than in other stacking window managers (i.e. avoiding window obscuration via keybindings).  Once Openbox or E17 is well-configured, you'll realize it has more useful features when used with a lightweight panel than Fluxbox will have.  Features that actually help you manage windows.

Last edited by Intrepid (2008-11-10 02:31:20)


Intrepid (adj.): Resolutely courageous; fearless.

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#17 2008-11-10 11:18:44

Ranguvar
Member
Registered: 2008-08-12
Posts: 2,545

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

Compiz Fusion for stacking (PekWM if you don't have a fast GPU) and Awesome for tiling IMO. Why CF? Because I keep having problems with xcompmgr, it's slower, and CF is incredibly configurable. I don't use much eye-candy - I just love to tweak.

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#18 2008-11-10 19:14:17

ninjaprawn
Member
From: Manchester, UK
Registered: 2008-01-26
Posts: 485

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

Laniac67 wrote:

Fluxbox is much better than Openbox, as far as I'm concerned.  The menu and startup files, and the style database are wonderfully easy to configure perfectly, and it comes with a panel.

+1

i 100% agree!! im thinking icewm looks nearlly as good as well though, after spending a few hours with it! comes with a panel, similiar config files, but obviously different syntax!


2007 - Started using Arch Linux as my only/main OS
- Samsung Series 3, Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz - 8Gb DDR3 ram - 700Gb HDD
On board intel Graphics & Sound

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#19 2008-11-11 02:33:44

Chrysalis
Member
Registered: 2008-07-07
Posts: 155

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

I have KDEMod on home computers and PekWM on my laptop. Cleaner configs then openbox, expand to fit (sorta like tiling), active screen edges etc. Its pretty neat, sort of a mix between openbox and a tiling wm. Openbox is too much like xfce and gtkish, i would much rather have the real thing if thats what i wanted.

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#20 2008-11-12 02:34:15

psilo357
Member
Registered: 2008-10-31
Posts: 116

Re: [SOLVED] WM only

so, i found out about lxde and installed it, and for a minimal DE, it is great...uses a bunch of apps recommended here.  its light, fast, and ultra configurable.  I installed compiz-fusion on top of it, just for fun, and its pretty sweet, lxde + compiz-fusion as window manager instead of openbox.  However, after doing some more thinking, i don't think a minimal setup is really for me, I do a ton of stuff with my computer, gaming, music, downloading, video encoding/watching, surfing, posting, software developing, etc.  Plus, having a quad core xeon and 4gb of ram, with a somewhat powerful graphics card, it seems like a waste not using it, and having my whole OS + software only use 2% of my power, but fun to do still, just cause you can...lol

anyways, anyone looking for a wm only like setup, try out lxde, its a DE, but extremely minimal, using lxpanel, openbox, and just a few other things.

peace

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