Arch Linux

pelle.k

Member

From: Åre, Sweden (EU)

Registered: 2006-04-30

Posts: 667

Dual Head - Window managers / Desktop enviroments Issues

Hi.
Grasping how Xorg, KDM/GDM, and the many DE:s / WM:s handle Dual head and the likes is not a walk in the park. This is really not really helpful towards newbies, setting up tv-out and such...

Xinerama - cons:
No DRI / openGL
Not all apps are xinerama aware, and not many have option to be started up on xinerama screen.
Xinerama - pros:
Drag apps between screens
Xinerama - usability:
KDE: good
Gnome: poor (apps end up on second screen, second monitor is not very configurable)
Xfce: good

TvinView - cons:
Missing features (A good example is crt is primary monitor, ALWAYS. Not fun when using laptops in tvinview configs)
TvinView - pros:
Accelerated output.
Good configurability in xorg.conf (makes your brain hurt though)
TvinView - usability:
Cant say, not been experimenting much. should be the same as dual screens.

Dual Screens - cons:
Cant move apps between screens.
You get a barebone "extra" desktop on second screen, for "free", yay!
Dual Screen - pros:
Accelerated output
Start apps with enviroment variable "DISPLAY=0.1" to second screen
Duals Screen - usability:
KDE: good
Gnome: poor (Apps end up on wrong screen all to often, Autostarted apps in the notification area / system tray crashes)
Xfce: good

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Needless to say i think all setups pretty much suck, but what to do, what to do...
Either way i run dual screens because i want glx accelerated graphics.
As i use xfce and kde, i have no problems with this setup, but what about all gnome people?

Also, i've been browsing the net for DAYS (really) trying to figure out how to stop xfce, gnome and kde from loading that second desktop. There is NO info whatsoever on how to do this.
I want plain X, on my second screen/head. I have heard of people having this, but because of gnome/whatever not supporting dual-head, back in the days. Also one guy i spoke with accidently got this behaviour with KDE 3.5.2 when changing from gdm to kdm.
I also WANT this bug (which for me would be a feature!).
This way i could fire up another WM on that head, or why not freevo as a dedicated media player together with my remote control?

help me out...

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"Your beliefs can be like fences that surround you.
You must first see them or you will not even realize that you are not free, simply because you will not see beyond the fences.
They will represent the boundaries of your experience."
SETH / Jane Roberts