[linux-audio-user] Re: E17 - our choice of WM in the future?

[Rob]

On Wednesday 25 October 2006 10:58, Kjetil S. Matheussen wrote:
> I have always wondered why people bother to use other window
> managers than fvwm? I know about variety and choice, he he,
> but its like using beos, windows vista, macosx, hurd, or some
> other fancy new OS instead of linux, which is fast enough,
> extremely stable, and can be configured to be or do whatever.
> Just like fvwm.

I don't use fvwm for the same reason I don't use Gentoo or 
Slackware.  It's too minimal, too close to the metal for my 
general use.

Linux is the operating system I use every day on half a dozen 
different machines, between mine and my clients'.  It's not just 
some personal comp sci project where I have time to tweak config 
files endlessly.  I use GNOME or KDE and whatever window manager 
they have set up by default.  And any window manager I use will 
be one that has a start menu, quick launch bar and task list on 
screen by default.  Currently my choice between the two is GNOME 
because I'm running Ubuntu and some of the system menus seem to 
be absent from KDE, but since I'm typing this in kmail, all that 
KDE crap is running anyway, and I am offended by the fact that 
gnome-panel uses 147MB of VM, so I'll probably end up switching 
back.

These choices are not only for my own convenience, but because I 
see a day in the future where I can seriously tell a pretty 
normal user, "To do anything you want on this Linux machine you 
will never need to see a command line or edit a config file."  
It's already about 90% of the way there but then one of my 
customers or my partner will ask me how to do something and I'll 
have to grumble and open up Konsole.  

If I'm doing something which needs all the CPU and RAM I can give 
it (like music stuff on a non-Molnarized machine) or on really 
slow machines I fire up IceWM, which at least has third-party 
graphical config tools.  I also like that its system bar goes 
all the way across the bottom of the screen by default, like on 
the Macs and Amigas I cut my teeth on 20 years ago.  (The only 
reason the "icons sprayed across the bottom of the screen" thing 
works on OS X is because of their transparent background and 
that nice smooth scaling effect.)  Even then, it annoys me that 
I can't just drag the start menu/task bar up to the top of the 
screen (the way those Macs and Amigas had it) like I can with 
the other two desktops.  I also miss the temperature/heat 
index/wind chill applet I wrote for the KDE panel.

E16 was popular with the tweaker set and I know e17 will be as 
well.  I personally have no use for weird bitmap themes or 
partially transparent terminals or white-on-dark-brown color 
schemes or weird ornamental fonts that make me feel like I'm 
using a fake computer on the set of one of the CSI's or a 
desktop interface that consists of "right click on the desktop 
to do anything", and that's what I remember from e16.  I think 
you just have to be a little more, uh, elite than me to 
appreciate that stuff.

Rob