Getting Started with FVWM

drfindley · 2005-12-16 08:57:47

So I'm knew to this whole FVWM thing, and I really want to get into it, but I don't know how.

I tryed just dropping this in my .fvwm directory as told http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?p=114812#114812
But that didn't work. Do I need the CVS version of FVWM? I also ln-s'd the 'config' file to .fvwm2rc, but I don't know why I needed that. Any help would be appreciated! I'm ready to dump gnome for something faster and prettier.

pressh · 2005-12-16 09:46:40

There is a topic on fvwm where we went already through a question like this before, so please search the forum first next time
To answer your question:
As first, .fvwm2rc is depricated, config should be used instead for the newer versions of fvwm (however .fvwm2rc is still working)
Then, what you probably did is a 'pacman -S fvwm', which installs the very old stable fvwm 2.4 package. This is more or less not compatible with the config most people use. Instead you should do a 'pacman -S fvwm-devel'.
Grab someones config (check also fvwm.lair.be for more configs). Most likely the config you have from somebody else is somehow compressed. Uncompress it and move it to ~/.fvwm

Hope this answers your question so you can get started.

postlogic · 2005-12-16 12:34:23

Pssst... Someone should make a wiki-entry covering fvwm configuring and stuff.

*nudge nudge*

Not necessarily based on the arch-wm effort, though :-o Maybe both? weee...

ozar · 2005-12-16 19:18:01

Even if you use someone else's config, you'll need to edit some of the files before starting it so that it works with your system setup and applications.

Stick with it, though, and you'll be glad you did.

drfindley · 2005-12-16 20:37:01

pressh wrote:

There is a topic on fvwm where we went already through a question like this before, so please search the forum first next time

I was looking in that thread but I didn't see that, probably because I didn't read the whole thread. But that is what got me excited. Like someone said, a Wiki on it would be nice, I wish I was schooled enough with FVWM to create it.

pressh wrote:

To answer your question:
As first, .fvwm2rc is depricated, config should be used instead for the newer versions of fvwm (however .fvwm2rc is still working)
Then, what you probably did is a 'pacman -S fvwm', which installs the very old stable fvwm 2.4 package. This is more or less not compatible with the config most people use. Instead you should do a 'pacman -S fvwm-devel'.
Grab someones config (check also fvwm.lair.be for more configs). Most likely the config you have from somebody else is somehow compressed. Uncompress it and move it to ~/.fvwm
Hope this answers your question so you can get started.

I was using the fvwm not fvwm-devel, and when switching, everything went from hideous grey to green and translucent. Thanks for the help. Now to waste all my spare time making it look pretty!

ozar · 2005-12-16 21:09:52

You can find a number of good user-configs that are pretty much ready to go if you'll go here and look around through some of the threads:

http://fvwm.lair.be/viewforum.php?f=39

Some of them come with all the icons and other images, and goodies, while some come only with the basic "fvwm2rc" or "config" file. You'll still need to edit some of the files before they'll work properly, though.

Have fun with it.

stonecrest · 2005-12-17 05:35:49

A fvwm wiki exists at http://www.fvwmwiki.org/.
There's also an irc chat on freenode, #fvwm.
And last but not least, the man pages are absolutely invaluable. http://www.fvwm.org/documentation/manpages/unstable/

Have fun

drfindley · 2005-12-17 08:13:40

thanks for all the info! Much appreciated.

pressh · 2005-12-17 14:43:17

stonecrest wrote:

A fvwm wiki exists at http://www.fvwmwiki.org/.
There's also an irc chat on freenode, #fvwm.
And last but not least, the man pages are absolutely invaluable. http://www.fvwm.org/documentation/manpages/unstable/
Have fun

Personally, if I was a beginner, I would go for the fvwm beginners guide which is probably the best guide to get started on fvwm
You can find it on http://www.zensites.net/fvwm/guide/

ozar · 2005-12-17 16:29:31

pressh wrote:

Personally, if I was a beginner, I would go for the fvwm beginners guide which is probably the best guide to get started on fvwm
You can find it on http://www.zensites.net/fvwm/guide/

Yeah, I found the beginner guide especially good for helping with writing your own config.

Cerebral · 2005-12-18 05:17:48

Just to jump into the thread; I've been running E16 for a while, but the more I hear about FVWM the more I wanna give it a shot... so I'm pacmanning it right now.

Thanks for the resources for n00bs, everyone!

ozar · 2005-12-18 05:23:35

Be sure to get fvwm-devel in the testing repo. It's very stable and much better than the older version in current.

Have fun with it!

Arch Linux

#1 2005-12-16 08:57:47

Getting Started with FVWM

#2 2005-12-16 09:46:40

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#3 2005-12-16 12:34:23

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#4 2005-12-16 19:18:01

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#5 2005-12-16 20:37:01

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#6 2005-12-16 21:09:52

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#7 2005-12-17 05:35:49

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#8 2005-12-17 08:13:40

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#9 2005-12-17 14:43:17

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#10 2005-12-17 16:29:31

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#11 2005-12-18 05:17:48

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

#12 2005-12-18 05:23:35

Re: Getting Started with FVWM

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