Help me pick a good window manager

Dregel · 2007-12-19 19:55:58

Hello there!

For the last few days i have been trying to find a new "My WM of choice" and its no going great i tell you...
So if you feel like giving me any tips pleas do, but to save both me and others from tipping about WMs i already have tried
i will make a list of them all with a short explanation to why i don't want to use that particular WM.

Fluxbox
My first true love!
I really don't know why i actually like it, so i thought i would try to move to something different, and the fact that the
amsn tray icon is severely bugged when used together with Fluxbox don't really award any extra points.(yes, i use amsn, i know i am pathetic )

openbox
Pretty much the same as Fluxbox, i like it allot but it just don't "Do it for me".

ion3
Was really exited about this one when i saw this screenshot:
http://thegraveyard.org/daelstorm/sshot … -01-02.png
but i was not able to get it set up like anything similar to that, so i guess more Linux and Coding/Scripting/Hacking experience is needed.
and i also reed on the Arch forums about the dev guy being an a-hole and using some strange license to distribute ion, don't know what he did
or what license he uses but the slim forum post i reed did discourage me from using ion a little to.

fvmw/fvmw2
Just cant stand its default looks but i have seen some realy nice screenshots out there but everything seamed menu driven and after seeing the ion screenshot
i had something of an epiphany that menus and GUIs are overrated and that "text-based/console" programs is the way to go but i still want some eye candy,
i want my screen to look "high-tech"

Will edit this post as i try more WMs and remember more that i have tried (i know theres many more of them) but please, any tips are wanted!

mucknert · 2007-12-19 20:02:14

http://craphouse.ath.cx/irrenhaus.png gives you a small hint on how OpenBox can be customized. Of course this sports certain other gadgets like conky, pypanel and trayer.

pressh · 2007-12-19 20:13:23

I've absolutely no idea what you're looking for after reading your post two times....
just wanted to say some things about fvwm, you really can do with it whatever you like, being it menu driver, keyboard driven, or driven by mouse gestures. The thing about fvwm is, it all really is up to you how you want it and how you want it to look (if you are able to configure it). There is even a tiling patch somewhere IIRC, if that's what you're looking for.

Good luck in your search for your perfect wm. I guess you'll have to find it by trying.

Dregel · 2007-12-19 20:22:16

Thanks for the fast replay.
I can see myself using Openbox but the problem i have with it is the configuration, coming from Fluxbox, Openbox is very different in its configs but at the same time its kind of the same thing as Fluxbox so its a little confusing
and as i want to make a move to more text-based applications instead of GUI applications i will be running a whole lot of aterm/xterm/rxvt windows, so having them start in the right place when i start openbox, with the right application running
is a problem, and tabbed windows is somewhat of a must to.
And while i love conky (just admit it, it has a high coolness factor) it runs in the root-window or whatever its called and not in a window of its own and having a bunch of other applications running in windows and then an open screen space where conky
is siting just bugs my eye but i will be sure to give Openbox another try (actually i am sitting in it right now)

Mantaar · 2007-12-19 20:22:47

Well, the quest for a perfect WM is something very individualistic ... but if you like ion3 you should definetly check out xmonad, too. Great WM, ion3-like and probably simpler to get into...

... and about Toumo Valkonen (the author of ion3) being a prick... well, I would really like people to finally shut up. He provides his software for free, you can see and edit the source, heck, you may even fork it - just not redistribute it under the exact same name if it ain't the exact same thing. Well, I'm sure at least some of the haters write their flames on Firefox... now guess what...

Bestiapeluda · 2007-12-19 21:11:47

nonetheless he was really rude.

mucknert · 2007-12-19 21:23:52

Dregel wrote:

Thanks for the fast replay.
I can see myself using Openbox but the problem i have with it is the configuration, coming from Fluxbox, Openbox is very different in its configs but at the same time its kind of the same thing as Fluxbox so its a little confusing

Nothing wrong with a nice and clean XML-file. I find OBs configurations files much better but I guess that just is a matter of what you are used to.

Dregel wrote:

and as i want to make a move to more text-based applications instead of GUI applications i will be running a whole lot of aterm/xterm/rxvt windows, so having them start in the right place when i start openbox, with the right application running
is a problem, and tabbed windows is somewhat of a must to.

OB has its autostart.sh file. Together with urxvt --geometry -e whatever you are able to do exactly that. Also, screen gives you all the tabbing you might want. No problem there.

Dregel wrote:

And while i love conky (just admit it, it has a high coolness factor) it runs in the root-window or whatever its called and not in a window of its own and having a bunch of other applications running in windows and then an open screen space where conky

You can put conky in its own window. Read up on the config-file!

Dregel wrote:

is siting just bugs my eye but i will be sure to give Openbox another try (actually i am sitting in it right now)

That's the spirit!

Dregel · 2007-12-19 21:47:16

some quick replies:

pressh: i tied and failed to configure fvwm in any way at all, then again my knowledge of computer code, scripts and the like pretty much ends at HTML and some VERY basic ruby so that might be the reason to that, and yeah i can see the beauty in fvwm when you know how to handle it as i sadly have proved i don't.

Mantaar: i gave xmonad a quick try and it looked like a very good and usable WM, but it allso made me come to the conclusion that i will stay in a somewhat more "standard" wm then any of the tilling WMs for now until i can conjure up the will to configure a tiling wm to my liking, and more important, how to configure one
I allso reed up on Toumo Valkonen and how he felt that the open software movement had let him down and i actually kind of agree that you don't redistribute a modified software in the same name, its not about not wanting the code to be modified i see it more as a gesture of respect that you rename your modifications and give the right person the right credit.

mucknert: You convinced me! so i guess i will be reeding up on xml a little now then
Have to admit that i never realy looked into what screen does, i just presumed that it splits you screen so that you can have more shells in one screen so i guess i have to look into that to.
and about the conky-in-a-window thing, my bad, i actually used to run it in a window some time ago.

[EDIT] Grammar correction

Last edited by Dregel (2007-12-19 21:48:07)

quarks · 2007-12-19 22:14:51

Mantaar wrote:

Well, the quest for a perfect WM is something very individualistic ... but if you like ion3 you should definetly check out xmonad, too. Great WM, ion3-like and probably simpler to get into...

Seconded.

If you like tiling window managers and (want to) use a lot of cli apps, XMonad is very god choice.

See this thread: xmonad: a brilliant window manager

theringmaster · 2007-12-20 03:43:44

e17 is another good choice. If I wasn't so lazy I most likely would be using it.

N30N · 2007-12-20 04:40:56

Since you seem to be picky about configuration format and if your are looking for a panel based window manager you might like wmii. It's not as minimal as xmonad but gives you a filesystem based control over it so your can use your own choice of programing/scripting language to configure and control it (bash, ruby and python seem to be the most popular). The only issue I have with it is that is currently doesn't have XRandR support (but I can live without it).

Mantaar · 2007-12-20 08:07:12

theringmaster wrote:

e17 is another good choice. If I wasn't so lazy I most likely would be using it.

I actually prefer e16. Looks better and is more stable...

arctica · 2007-12-20 15:01:19

hi

what about Icewm? lightweight, unobtrusive and flexible.

greetings

Dregel · 2007-12-20 20:47:48

Hello again!

Just to reply to your much appreciated tips i have to say that i have tied e17 for about 2 weeks and it was a really good looking and easy wm but i found it to be somewhat limiting and i only took me about 1 hour to set it up in a way i really liked, and you might say thats great, and it sure is, but i thought i might as well look for more of a challenge then fluxbox was so i went hunting again
and i also gave wmii a quick try but it was the same there as with ion3 and other tiling wms, i am just not able to handle them in a good way...
and about icewm, i never relay gave it a shoot because just before i moved from slackware to Arch i reed a massive flame post about it on a Swedish slackware forum, guess i am being not to open minded there but i will take a look into it in the future.

But for now i will keep configuring my new wm of choice, openbox, and for those interested here is a screenshoot of how my desktop looks when i start openbox.

its not much but i am kind of proud of myself still trying to configure conky to my liking thou, as you probably can see.
And i have to say that i am really starting to get a hang of the openbox .xml configs!

Laertes · 2008-05-30 21:19:07

Nice wallpaper Dregel, where can I get it?

Vintendo · 2008-05-30 22:30:57

I like openbox a lot too. But i also want a tiling feature, so i swapped it with awesome. It's in my opinion the only tiling window manager with a understandable config file. In DWM you edit a C-file, xmonad's config file is in haskell. I don't know that much about programming... I hope to learn that next year:P

Arch Linux

#1 2007-12-19 19:55:58

Help me pick a good window manager

#2 2007-12-19 20:02:14

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#3 2007-12-19 20:13:23

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#4 2007-12-19 20:22:16

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#5 2007-12-19 20:22:47

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#6 2007-12-19 21:11:47

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#7 2007-12-19 21:23:52

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#8 2007-12-19 21:47:16

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#9 2007-12-19 22:14:51

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#10 2007-12-20 03:43:44

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#11 2007-12-20 04:40:56

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#12 2007-12-20 08:07:12

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#13 2007-12-20 15:01:19

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#14 2007-12-20 20:47:48

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#15 2008-05-30 21:19:07

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

#16 2008-05-30 22:30:57

Re: Help me pick a good window manager

Board footer