OK, I’ll let the cat out of the bag–I’m addicted to window managers. At any given time I’ll have six or seven fully configured on my system. Yes I know it’s a sinkhole for time, but…
Anyway, my favorite, the one I keep coming back to, the one I use by default, is Blackbox. I find it clean and uncluttered, easy to configure, and (with bbconfig) easy to create style for.
Anyone else have a WM preference they’d like to mention/tout?
[begin] (Fluxbox 0.1.8)
[submenu] (Internet)
[exec] (E-Mail) {evolution}
[exec] (Web Browser) {galeon}
[exec] (gftp) {gftp}
[exec] (Mozilla) {mozilla}
[exec] (Opera) {opera}
[exec] (Netscape) {netscape}
[exec] (licq) {licq}
[exec] (xchat) {xchat}
[end]
[submenu] (Text Editors)
[exec] (gedit) {gedit lno}
[exec] (HTML editor) {gnp}
[exec] (xedit) {xedit}
[end]
[submenu] (Terminals)
[exec] (multi-gnome-terminal) {multi-gnome-terminal}
[exec] (gnome-terminal) {gnome-terminal}
[exec] (Eterm) {Eterm}
[exec] (xterm) {xterm}
[end]
[submenu] (Entertainment)
[exec] (TV Tuner) {xawtv}
[exec] (WFDD) {realplay http://www.wfdd.org/wfdd.ram}
[exec] (WRVO) {realplay http://www.wrvo.com/wrvo.ram}
[exec] (WLS) {realplay http://rope.wlsam.com/realplayer/wlsam.ram}
[exec] (WGST) {realplay http://shoutcast.streamtoyou.com:9191/listen.pls}
[exec] (WABC) {realplay http://play.rbn.com/?url=abcradiog2/wabcam/live/live2.rm&proto=rtsp}
[end]
[submenu] (Graphics)
[exec] (gqview) {gqview}
[exec] (gimp) {gimp}
[end]
[submenu] (Music)
[exec] (realplay) {realplay}
[exec] (xmms) {xmms}
[exec] (gmix) {gmix}
[exec] (grecord) {grecord}
[exec] (Audacity) {audacity}
[end]
[submenu] (File and Disk Managers)
[exec] (Disk control) {usermount}
[exec] (Gentoo) {gentoo}
[exec] (Nautilus) {nautilus}
[exec] (Gnome Midnight Commander) {gmc}
[end]
[submenu] (Administration)
[exec] (Edit menu) {gedit ./.fluxbox/menu}
[exec] (Red Carpet) {red-carpet}
[exec] (Synaptic) {synaptic}
[end]
[submenu] (Misc)
[exec] (GTop) {gtop}
[exec] (xkill) {xkill}
[exec] (xcalc) {xcalc}
[exec] (Computer Aided Design) {qcad}
[exec] (CD Burner) {xcdroast}
[exec] (gcalc) {gcalc}
[exec] (ddd) {ddd}
[exec] (tail access_log) {xterm -fg white -bg black -title access_log -e tail -f /var/log/access_log}
[end]
[submenu] (X utils)
[exec] (xfontsel) {xfontsel}
[exec] (xman) {xman}
[exec] (xload) {xload}
[exec] (xbiff) {xbiff}
[exec] (editres) {editres}
[exec] (viewres) {viewres}
[exec] (xclock) {xclock}
[end]
[workspaces] (Workspace List)
[submenu] (Styles) {Choose a style...}
[stylesdir] (/usr/local/share/fluxbox/styles)
[end]
[config] (Configuration)
[reconfig] (Reconfigure)
[restart] (Restart)
[exit] (Exit)
[end]
Me too. 
[/code]
I always liked WindowMaker as it has that Solaris feeling. But usually I stick with kwm thats included in the KDE desktop. But hey, I’m lazy!
Pst, Elendil! This is not even OT, change to GT or we might get banned
/MarcusR
OK, I’ll come clean, too. Check out a few things, tho. Anyone who likes Mozilla should really be using Firebird. I’ve also become an Aterm convert, partly because of styles (my default for a long, long time has been “Aragorn and Arwen.” I keep Window Maker configured, but it feels somehow clunky next to Blackbox. Clunky, but very solid, no two ways about that. Fluxbox–don’t like the tabs. And TkDesk I absolutely would never do without. I’m not a programmer and the Tk/Tcl is a little more complicated to deal with for configuring, but I find it so convenient to use compared to the browser type file managers, or even the Midnight Commander clones. Links -g ( = graphical) is a great little browser for quick work, although I’m becoming committed to Firebird. By the way, I do have Gnome installed, but as you can see, I never use it, except that I like Abiword sometimes. You’ll also see I’m real heavy on text stuff (LyX!!), not much on games.
[begin] (Blackbox)
[exec] (Eterm) {Eterm}
[exec] (TkDesk) {tkdesk}
[submenu] (Browsers)
[exec] (Firebird) {/opt/MozillaFirebird/MozillaFirebird}
[exec] (Konqueror) {konqueror --profile webbrowsing}
[exec] (LinksG) {links -g www.drudgereport.com}
[exec] (Mozilla) {mozilla}
[exec] (Netscape) {netscape}
[end]
[submenu] (Mail Clients)
[exec] (Kmail) {kmail}
[exec] (Kshowmail) {kshowmail}
[exec] (Sylpheed) {sylpheed}
[end]
[submenu] (Internet)
[exec] (Connect) {ppp-up}
[exec] (Disconnect) {ppp-off}
[exec] (Gkrellm) {gkrellm}
[exec] (QInternet) {qinternet}
[exec] (Tail) {Eterm -e tail -f /var/log/messages}
[exec] (Vppp) {vppp}
[exec] (WvDial) {Eterm -e wvdial}
[end]
[submenu] (Office Tools)
[exec] (Abiword) {abiword}
[exec] (Calculator) {kcalc}
[exec] (JPilot) {jpilot}
[exec] (Konqueror) {konqueror}
[exec] (Konsole) {konsole}
[exec] (Korganizer) {korganizer}
[exec] (Kword) {kword}
[exec] (LyX) {lyx}
[exec] (OpenOffice) {/opt/OpenOffice.org/program/soffice}
[exec] (Quicklist) {quicklist}
[exec] (Scribus) {scribus}
[exec] (TextMaker) {/opt/textmaker/tml}
[end]
[submenu] (Text Tools)
[exec] (Acrobat) {acroread}
[exec] (Composer) {netscape -edit}
[exec] (Eddi) {eddi}
[exec] (Joe) {Eterm -e joe}
[exec] (Kdvi) {kdvi}
[exec] (Kghostview) {kghostview}
[exec] (Kwrite) {kwrite}
[end]
[submenu] (Games)
[exec] (Chess) {knights}
[exec] (Mahjongg) {xmahjongg --t gnome --bg green --any-board}
[exec] (Solitaire) {kpat}
[end]
[submenu] (Media)
[exec] (K3b) {k3b}
[exec] (Kuickshow) {kuickshow}
[exec] (RealPlayer) {realplay}
[exec] (Vector Draw) {karbon}
[exec] (XMMS) {xmms}
[exec] (XV) {xv}
[end]
[submenu] (System)
[exec] (YaST2) {yast2}
[exec] (YaST2 SW) {kdesu --nonewdcop – /sbin/yast2 sw_single}
[exec] (Kill) {xkill}
[exec] (Kpackage) {kpackage}
[submenu] (Misc)
[exec] (Aterm) {aterm -tr -rv}
[exec] (LinksA) {aterm -tr -rv -e links /root/.links/startpage.html}
[exec] (LinksE) {Eterm -e links /root/.links/startpage.html}
[exec] (Links -b) {xterm -bg black -fg grey -fa Monotype.com -fs 11 -e links /root/.links/startpage.html}
[exec] (Messages) {/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/susewm/startcmd/xmessages}
[exec] (Terminal) {xterm -bg black -fg grey -fa Monotype.com -fs 11}
[exec] (XFine) {/usr/X11R6/lib/xfine/xfine}
[end]
[end]
[submenu] (Utilities)
[submenu] (File Tools)
[exec] (Archive) {ark}
[exec] (FileRunner) {fr}
[exec] (Find) {kfind}
[exec] (Floppy) {kfloppy}
[exec] (Kleandisk) {kleandisk}
[exec] (Pilot) {mypilot}
[end]
[submenu] (Info)
[exec] (Clock) {kdclock}
[exec] (Disk Space) {kdirstat}
[exec] (Khrono) {khrono}
[exec] (Process Manager) {qps}
[exec] (Sys Info) {konsole -e siga}
[end]
[submenu] (Printing)
[exec] (Print Mgr) {kups}
[exec] (Print Panel) {xpp}
[exec] (Print Queue) {tixlpq}
[end]
[end]
[submenu] (Themes)
[exec] (bbconf) {bbconf}
[submenu] (Blackbox)
[style] (A-10) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/A-10}
[style] (AlmostX) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/AlmostX}
[style] (Black) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Black}
[style] (Cats) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Cats}
[style] (Ladybug) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Ladybug}
[style] (Lichen) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Lichen}
[style] (OtherWorlds) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/OtherWorlds}
[style] (Pennsylvania) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Pennsylvania}
[style] (Pipeline) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Pipeline}
[style] (WM-X) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/WM-X}
[end]
[submenu] (Jane Austen)
[style] (Darcy and Lizzie) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/DarcyandLizzie}
[style] (Lizzie Looks Back) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/LizzieLooksBack}
[end]
[submenu] (Tolkien)
[style] (Aragorn and Arwen) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/AragornandArwen}
[style] (Earendil) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Earendil}
[style] (Huts of the Raft Elves) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Huts of the Raft Elves}
[style] (Lothlorien) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Lothlorien}
[style] (Rivendell) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Rivendell}
[style] (Rivendell1) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Rivendell1}
[style] (Shores of Valinor) {/usr/share/blackbox/Styles/Shores of Valinor}
[end]
[end]
[exec] (Run) {xfrun4}
[reconfig] (Reconfigure)
[config] (Configuration)
[workspaces] (Workspace List)
[restart] (Restart)
[submenu] (Other WM’s) {Other Window Managers}
[restart] (Start IceWM) {icewm}
[restart] (Start Kahakai) {kahakai}
[restart] (Start KDE) {kde}
[restart] (Start WindowMaker) {windowmaker}
[restart] (Start XFce4) {startxfce4}
[end]
[exit] (Quit!)
[end]
There are at least two people in here that are getting very intimate!
BTW, I think it is posts like this that really scare people from using Linux.
CU!
/Marcusr
I never thought of text files as being scary.
All the words posted on this board is text. Does it scare you to read stuff, maybe?
I don’t use Linux anymore, but when I did (actually, it was FreeBSD), I usually used WindowMaker. It felt really polished and substantial, striking the right balance between simplicity and complexity. Sometimes I used Sawmill (now Sawfish) because it’s Lisp configurable, and I like Lisp.
Aaron
The one I kept going back to was Sawfish – a simple window manager that was easy to script in Yet Another Lisp Dialect. It had a nice configuration manager written in lisp for binding the functions I wrote to buttons and combinations of buttons, and it also was able to handle the Emacs-like keybindings (i.e. you could make C-x C-s and C-c C-s do different things)
My current desktop at work is just running a blech default RH 8.0 install, with Gnome + metacity.
Once I rebuild Ayu (my Linux box at home, who is currently down) I’m probably going to go with either Enlightenment or Sawfish again.
I never really liked the *box window managers (Blackbox, Fluxbox, etc). They never really felt very nice to use, and were always a pain in the rear to configure. If I wanted to edit text files to configure menus, I’d go back to using fvwm1.4 like I was 8 years ago… 
de gustibus non est disputandum.
I’ve never really gone for the wm’s that have been associated with Gnome, appearance wise, and I can’t script except in a derivative way, so Lisp isn’t for me. Well, I take that back. I used to use IceWM alot, and I am interested to see how v. 17 of Enlightenment turns out.
Kuranes wrote:
I never really liked the *box window managers (Blackbox, Fluxbox, etc). They never really felt very nice to use, and were always a pain in the rear to configure.I never really liked the *box window managers (Blackbox, Fluxbox, etc). They never really felt very nice to use, and were always a pain in the rear to configure.
I think they’ve changed alot since you last saw them. bbconf takes a lot of the tedium out configuring menus and keybindings in blackbox, and other config options are built into the menus by default. and the other *boxes have similar tools.
One very unixish desktop (a knockoff of CDE in appearance) is XFce. The new version 4 I find very slick. However, it could use a tool to do styles more easily. But it is very fast and stable, and most of the options are very accessible. The file manager that comes with it does nothing for me.
