Arch Linux

codelinuxity

Member

Registered: 2024-05-15

Posts: 2

twm gray thatch pattern configuration

I am happy to be a new user of Arch Linux and was pleased to find the old twm window manager.  This was my first window manager on Linux many years ago and I would like to use it for nostalgic reasons from time to time.  I notice that the default Arch Linux configuration has a solid black background.  I remember using a grey crisscross thatch pattern background.  Does anyone know how I can configure this?

I'm using LXQt as my main desktop environment for work and there's nothing wrong with it.  I just want to use twm from time to time to recapture fading memories of my youth.

seth

Member

Registered: 2012-09-03

Posts: 57,935

Re: twm gray thatch pattern configuration

xsetroot -gray
xsetroot -h

Edit:

xsetroot -grey

will btw also work

Edit #2:
If you're doing this on a 4k display, it'll look nothing like your childhood, btw.

iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAABAAAAAQCAYAAAAf8/9hAAAABmJLR0QA/wD/AP+gvaeTAAAACXBI
WXMAAAsTAAALEwEAmpwYAAAAB3RJTUUH3QsBFg4YOFyZPwAAAB1pVFh0Q29tbWVudAAAAAAAQ3Jl
YXRlZCB3aXRoIEdJTVBkLmUHAAAAfklEQVQ4y+WSIQ7DMAwAz6llqSUJGNhHBvyEwb52uHhfGTEK
zMCG5wX3mCX7gHUC3IA7Hx7Akwm01rqv63oF6L3vETElKK21TVUXVV1aaxuTFHc/zCzMLNz9mBXI
GKMCl+/8EpHgXMgfOz870ew666RkgqyTVJB1kv7gBJ28AYonJ/8eAyVGAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC

is a base64 encoded ARGB png w/ a pattern that you can overlay on colors or gradients etc. and that might match your memories better

Last edited by seth (2024-05-15 08:09:44)

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codelinuxity

Member

Registered: 2024-05-15

Posts: 2

Re: twm gray thatch pattern configuration

thank you.  you are great. this is exactly what I was looking for.  Very welcoming.  Yes, you're absolutely right that the xsetroot -gray how looks a lot finer.  :-)   Wow, those CRT monitors of my youth must have been 640x480??  I can't even remember.  I do remember that the world was moving from x286 and I scraped up money somehow to buy a used 386SX, which was a big deal for me at the time.   

I'm still writing this a desktop running twm and feeling very posh using a minipc with 16GB of ram.