WM's of mass destruction

[37fleetwood]

there was a post not long ago on different windows managers which got me thinking, what is available how do they look and how do I get them installed and working. well, I couldn't find one good post or page, the information is out there but it's scattered all over the web.
first I may not be the best choice to make this post so feel free to add to it if you're more capable than I am.
second, this post may get graphic intensive as I plan on posting screencaps of the different windows managers and they're no good if they're too small. the plan is to keep them at 600x800 but there will likely be many of them trying to load at once. you should be able to shut off the image loading in your browser temporarily and just look at the ones you want to see.
third, I'll try to add to this post as I get more going and caps.
finally, I hope no one gets upset if I plagiarise some of the instructions etc. as I go.
hope you enjoy.;)
Scott

[37fleetwood]

first up After Step:
http://www.afterstep.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install afterstep
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/AfterStep.png
I haven't played much yet with After Step but it is pretty quick and looks cool.:D

[37fleetwood]

next up, Fluxbox:
http://www.fluxbox.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install fluxbox
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Fluxbox.png
obviously very plain looking but no muss no fuss. most of the box types are this plain but can be surprisingly dressed up alot!

[37fleetwood]

next, Fvwm:
http://www.fvwm.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install fvwm
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Fvwm.png

Fvwm Crystal:
you can install this in Apt, it's simply in the list.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Fvwm_Crystal.jpg

Fvwm95 a varient of Fvwm made to look as much like Windows95 as possible. (this is still available in Puppy Linux)
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Puppy30_fvwm95.jpg
haven't played much with this one. small, plain, fast.

[37fleetwood]

next, Icewm:
http://www.icewm.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo apt-get install icewm icemc iceconf

sudo apt-get install rox-filer

rox --pinboard=MyPinboard
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Icewm.png
I have used Icewm lots on Puppy Linux and there is Icebuntu. the screen shot is what you will get if you simply install as shown you will have to customize from there.
here is Icewm running on puppy to show that it can look a bit better.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/ezpup41.jpg

[37fleetwood]

next Jwm (Joe's Window Manager)
http://joewing.net/programs/jwm/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo apt-get install jwm

sudo cp /usr/share/jwm/xsessions/Jwm.desktop /usr/share/xsessions/Jwm.desktop

sudo apt-get install rox-filer

rox --pinboard=MyPinboard
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Jwm.png

Jwm is the default Wm in Puppy, here is Puppy 4.1 with Jwm as it boots up. not bad looking huh?
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Puppy41_Jwm.jpg
I've used Jwm alot in Puppy Linux. while not as pretty as Icewm it is very good.

[37fleetwood]

next KDE:
http://www.kde.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo apt-get install kubuntu-desktop
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/KDE.png
I have used KDE a fair amount. KDE is a very extensive suite that not only covers the window manager but has it's own aplications etc. you can install as shown here or start with the Kubuntu cd.

[37fleetwood]

next, LXDE:
http://www.lxde.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install lxde
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/LXDE.png
I have used and been pretty impressed with LXDE. small and fast like Icewm but more full featured like Xfce. will allow you to run Compiz and Emerald. if you look at any, look into LXDE. I believe it's built on Openbox but I could be mistaken.

[37fleetwood]

next up, Window Maker:
http://www.windowmaker.info/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install wmaker
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Windowmaker.png
another of the small fast wm's I haven't played with much.

[37fleetwood]

next Xfce:
http://www.xfce.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install xubuntu-desktop
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Xfce.png
I love Xfce and have used it often. a full suite like KDE or Gnome but not as large or slow. the little mouse that roared! Xfce is very customizable and easily so. check this one out. install as shown or start with the Xubuntu cd.

[37fleetwood]

next, Openbox:
http://icculus.org/openbox/index.php/Main_Page
http://icculus.org/openbox/2/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install openbox
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/openbox.png
Openbox will surprise you. I have used it and it is surprisingly flexible and modern done right. the cap is as it comes the way I installed it. here is a fairly customized Openbox in Puppy Linux:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/newBoxpup-1.jpg
!!!New screen Cap!!!
Ubuntu running Openbox. Pcmanfm running the desktop icons and wallpaper, and fb panel! I think it looks pretty good, you could try a different panel or dock but I chose fbpanel since you never see it and the others make it look real familiar, like say running LX panel makes it look like LXDE etc. this way it has it's own look.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/openboxcap2.jpg

[37fleetwood]

next is Gnome:
http://www.gnome.org/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo apt-get install ubuntu-desktop
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/ubuntu.png
Gnome, like KDE is a full desktop suite with it's own programs etc. Gnome actually uses Metacity as a window manager. this cap is from the Ubuntu cd I'm not sure how it looks if you install as shown above.

[37fleetwood]

that's all I have for today. I plan on adding a few more soon.

on the list are:
Enlightenment - sudo aptitude install enlightenment
Blackbox - sudo aptitude install blackbox
Étoilé
Equinox desktop environment (EDE)

[37fleetwood]

as promised, a few more!
next is Blackbox:
http://blackboxwm.sourceforge.net/
to install, open a terminal and paste in:

sudo aptitude install blackbox
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Blackbox.jpg

[37fleetwood]

next Enlightenment:
http://www.enlightenment.org/
1. Add the repository:

sh -c 'echo "## Enlightenment e17
deb http://packages.enlightenment.org/ubuntu jaunty main extras" >> /etc/apt/sources.list'

2. Download & import the key

wget -q http://packages.enlightenment.org/repo.key -O- | sudo apt-key add -
and:

sudo apt-get update

3. Install Enlightenment:

sudo apt-get install e17
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Enlightenment.jpg
Enlightenment is absolutely the most stunning of the bunch. from the animated wallpapers to the amazing effects nothing looks like Enlightenment! I added the wallpaper as it just comes very plain looking out of the box. add a few themes and you'll be amazed.
new Screen Cap!
I added a few of the super easy to install themes that you can get by googling "enlightenment themes" here's one of them.
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Escreencap.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/EScreencap2.jpg

[37fleetwood]

next up, Equinox:
http://equinox-project.org/
this one requires a bunch more work.
if you find something that wont go because you don't have permission use sudo and it should go.
first some dependencies make sure you have these:
xorg-dev
xserver-xorg-dev
libglu1-xorg-dev
libXext-dev
g++
svn
gettext

these can all be installed in the terminal:

sudo apt-get install xorg-dev

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-dev

sudo apt-get install libglu1-xorg-dev

sudo apt-get install libXext-dev

sudo apt-get install g++

sudo apt-get install svn

sudo apt-get install gettext

next download compile and install EFLTK and EDE:
replace currentuser with your user folders name (mine is scott)

sudo mkdir /home/currentuser/sourcecode

cd /home/currentuser/sourcecode

svn co https://ede.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/ede/trunk/efltk

svn co https://ede.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/ede/trunk/ede
EFLTK:

cd efltk

autoconf

./configure --disable-mysql --disable-unixODBC --enable-xft --prefix=/usr

./emake

sudo ./emake install
EDE:

cd ../ede

autoconf

./configure

make

sudo make install
adding EDE to the sessions manager:

sudo chmod 777 /usr/share/xsessions

gedit /usr/share/xsessions/EQUINOX.desktop
this will open the text editor, you need to enter these lines:


[Desktop Entry]

Encoding=UTF-8

Name=Equinox

Exec=startede

Icon=

Type=Application

X-Ubuntu-Gettext-Domain=Equinox Desktop Environment 1.1
Save the file and exit.

Now you need to go back and reset the file permissions for the xsessions folder.

sudo chmod 755 /usr/share/xsessions

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Equinox.jpg
a lot of work for a desktop that will look like Windows 95:D
there are themes and here is the text I found somewhere about themes:
=== Themes ===

The easiest way to get themes for EDE is by "checking out" the themes from the subversion. Use a terminal to issue these commands:

{{{


cd /home/currentuser


svn co https://ede.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/ede/trunk/themes
}}}
^ '''What's Happening:''' The first command takes you to currentuser's home directory, and the second command downloads the themes.
You now have all the "themes" folder in currentuser's home directory.
You can now apply them while using EDE.

it took a bit but I got it working, good luck!

[celticbhoy]

Have a look here :-

http://xwinman.org/

There is quite a few!

[celticbhoy]

Its not in that list, but metisse is quite nice.

[Barquero]

Very informative, thanks.

[37fleetwood]

well, I'm having trouble. there are a few more I wanted to do but either I can't find the packages, or they don't work with my Jaunty install. most of the ones left have been abandoned anyway. I tried to get Metisse but I can't find all the files, I tried to get Fvwm95 and Fvwm98 but there are dependancies that are missing that I can't seem to find, I tried to get Looking Glass and got it halfway installed when it failed, I'm guessing because it is for a much earlier release of Ubuntu, now every time I try to install or upgrade it jams up with the half installed Looking Glass! (lucky I did this with a fresh install on an extra drive huh?).

anyway I think I got all the ones that are real possibilities for most people. I may yet try to get Étoilé installed.

the big surprises were Afterstep, EDE and LXDE. all three lesser known and all three pretty decent. of the three I would say LXDE is years ahead though. LXDE also accepts Compiz though maybe not as easily as Xfce, KDE, or Gnome which are as easy as checking a check box to enable. there is a Puppy with LXDE and Compiz that I have used. pretty, quick, and user friendly. I believe EDE should also allow you to use Compiz but I'm not certain. I played with the themes tonight they work well and make EDE look a bit more modern, but they don't seem to theme the task bar. I think I've seen themes with the task bar themed as well.
anyway I've had fun. anyone who has any others going please feel free to post. if you use one of the ones I already posted but have it looking a bit better feel free to post a cap. make sure you let us know what it is and maybe how you did it.
thanks
Scott

[celticbhoy]

For metisse look through this :-

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=58604&highlight=configure+Metisse

It is a little complicated, but does work.

For LG3D :-

https://lg3d.dev.java.net/lg3d-getting-started.html#Installation

Look at section 2.2 for debian install.

Cant remember your earlier posts, but have you tried Enlightenment both E16 & E17? Both are fully working E16 is fast & E17 is beautiful.

[37fleetwood]

I added a few caps in the list. nothing really new, just more well adjusted installs mostly from Puppy Linux. if you want the small fast Wm's most of them are still alive and well in Puppy. well worth downloading and burning the live cd. be sure to burn it multi session so you can take advantage of Puppy's ability to save your changes right on the live cd.
I added better caps of Jwm and I added Fvwm Crystal and Fvwm95.
it seems I recall Metisse is available in Puppy as well, don't be surprised if it shows up soon as well.
are you guys getting bored yet?
enjoy!
Scott

[Asham]

This gives a good look at the alternatives out there and there are a few... Also appreciate that you added the commands for how to install. The screenshots are big enough I guess but I wish they were bigger.

Thanks for doing this!
I'm sure it was fun for you as well. :)

[cariboo]

@37fleetwood

You can add larger screenshots as attachments, instead of just pasting an edited image in your posts.

You have to use the advanced editor, then scroll down to the manage attachments button
for example:

[jenkinbr]

Great, thanks for the temptation to install all these. I'll be up for a while playing with them.

Seriously, great thread :)

[Mark76]

ROX filer can also be used as a desktop manager.

There are a whole bunch of applications and panel plugins available at the official ROX site (www.roscidus.com) :D

[37fleetwood]

Ok, a bit of an update. I haven't been working too hard on this, but have played a bit more and here is what I've come up with.

I have been fighting with Metisse for a while now and finally got it installed on Ubuntu 6.1, it won't install on anything newer for me. it doesn't work however I'm guessing because I didn't go in and install the proprietary video driver for my NVidia card. I may go back and try some more but for this post lets just say Metisse is kind of a dead end. the required packages are difficult to find and then difficult to get installed and it's still not running (Mandriva still has it available so maybe I'll try that just to get it working, now I want to see it go!). same with Looking glass, most of the dependencies are hard to find, and it did bad things to my install.

I've played with the "box" wm's which was fun. I got Fvwm95 to run in Ubuntu, looks like Windows 95 if you like that. I already posted a cap of it running in Puppy so I didn't make a cap in Ubuntu. same with the other "box" types. like Jwm you need to make Rox your pinboard or you won't have desktop icons etc. also much potential with a nice dock like Awn or something.

I would like to say that one thing I found out is that I actually log into and sometimes use several of the wm's (window managers) and de's (desktop environments)
here are the ones I found useful and very capable (in no particular order):
Gnome
KDE
Xfce
LXDE
Enlightenment e-17
Jwm
Icewm
EDE (may not be worth all the trouble of getting it going though)

probably the most impressive were Enlightenment and Lxde. both beautiful and fast, there's just nothing like Enlightenment and Lxde easily lets you use Compiz and Emerald. I should make another cap of what my Lxde looks like now.

Afterstep was fun to play with and works well but is a little awkward to really use. it is cool just because it reminds me of way back when I first started playing with Linux (why I went away and stayed with Windows so long before I came back I still don't know!)

someone mentioned running just Rox, I do have a Puppy cd that uses Rox and has Compiz as the window manager, maybe I'll dig it out and post a cap.
if anyone has played with some of these please post some caps so people can see better what can be done with some of these, I just kinda got them going. I'm waiting to see what Icebuntu is going to look like!
tril later,
Scott:)

[ceti331]

Just encountered "amiwm". very nostalgic. :)
i gather dr16 sort of tried to emulate the workbench-esque screens with it's dragbar.
strange mix of pseudo tiled windowing & virtual desktops.
would be interesting to add a few updates to make a unique minimalist WM ..

[lightningfox]

Great thread

I've tried KDE (the new KDE 4.3 is very good), GNOME, and Xfce on Ubuntu, and fvm95 on Puppy Linux.

I want to try out the other window managers you posted.

[37fleetwood]

well I got Metisse running in Puppy! I didn't get the menu figured out, and I couldn;t remember the exact name of the screen cap app so I couldn't get it open in a terminal and therefore I didn't get a cap. Metisse is really easy in Puppy but I couldn't get it going in Ubuntu. in Puppy, you start with something like Puppy 3.01 or earlier and simply install the Metisse .pup that is easily findable in the Puppy Forum. one other thing, since it requires 3d accelleration, you have to get your video card driver set up. again just search in the forum for the one for your card.

I also got Sun Looking glass going! again no cap. Looking glass doesn't seem to have a working menu, all it seemed to allow were running demo's. I couldn't even get Firefox to go and it is in the task bar!!
Looking Glass is pretty easy to get going once you figure the release it tells you it needs doesn't work! you have to use the newer release.
here is the Sun web page for Looking Glass which has a gallery if you want to see it.
http://www.sun.com/software/looking_glass/index.jsp

here are the instructions from the sun website:

https://lg3d.dev.java.net/lg3d-getting-started.html



The debian packages have been built and tested on Ubuntu Dapper systems, however they should work on other Debian based distros.
You can download and install the debian packages in one of two ways :

1. Download the three .deb files from the the binary build page and then install using the following command:
(Remember to download lg3d-core_1.0.1_dev_i686.deb! don't use lg3d-core_1.0.0_dev_i686.deb)


% sudo dpkg -i lg3d_jdk*.deb lg3d_java3d*.deb lg3d-core*.deb

Note: the installation of the lg3d-core*.deb package automatically adds LG3D as a session type in the gdm desktop session chooser. There is no need to manually run a postinstall script.

OR
2. Install using apt or the Synaptic Package Manager (on Ubuntu) by doing the following (you will need root permissions to do this, so sudo bash first) :
* There are 3 LG3D repositories. The stable repository has the latest stable releases (0.8.1, 1.0 etc.). The testing repository has the pre-release builds (alpha, beta etc.) for the latest version and the unstable repsoitory has the nightly builds. To access these repositories, add the following lines to /etc/apt/sources.list and then comment/uncomment the appropriate line(s).

## LG3D repsoitories
deb http://javadesktop.org/lg3d/debian stable contrib
# deb http://javadesktop.org/lg3d/debian testing contrib
# deb http://javadesktop.org/lg3d/debian unstable contrib


* Then you can



% apt-get update
% apt-get install lg3d-core


OR, on Ubuntu systems,
o run the Synaptic Package Manager from the System/Administration menu,
o click on the Reload button and then
o Search for lg3d and mark the lg3d-core package for installation.
o click on the Apply button to download and install

Choosing lg3d-core for installation should automatically choose/mark lg3d-jdk and lg3d-java3d for installation. You will need to accept the 3 licenses for lg3d, jdk and java3d to complete the installation.

thanks,
Scott

[stanca]

Indeed a great thread.You can say you have tried some DE's and WM's in Linux.;)So did I,and in the end I stuck with Gnome,E17+Ecomorph(EliveE17 Compiz) and Fluxbox.:P:)

[37fleetwood]

Ok, finally got back to playing around, here are a couple new screencaps:
first I played with Openbox, using Pcmanfm to run the desktop, and I installed fbpanel. I think it came out pretty well for someone who doesn't know that much about the nuts and bolts of Linux (if I can do it anyone can)here are a couple caps:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/openboxcap.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/openboxcap2.jpg

next I played around with Enlightenmnet, wow enlightenment is easy to configure and stunning to look at! here are a couple caps:
http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/Escreencap.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/hotshot66/puppy/window%20managers/EScreencap2.jpg

[ayampanggang]

hey definitely great thread! and should be stickied. And when it is, it needs to be cleaned from all user comments such as this one, to make it clean, more readable and neat.

oh and as a suggestion, it would be great if you can post the picture of each WM at their best look (e.g. customized), since default appearance can be misleading i.e. some WM can look quite good but if the default theme is sucky it can mislead users into thinking that particular WM can't look good.

i really should give you rep but i can't find the button.

[falconindy]

Since no one's posted a tiling window manager, here's DWM (http://dwm.suckless.org/):

Clean:
http://omploader.org/tMng3ag (http://omploader.org/vMng3ag)

Dirty:
http://omploader.org/tMng3bA (http://omploader.org/vMng3bA)

[akashiraffee]

http://www.intergate.com/%7Ehalfcountplus/misc/virtdesk-sshot.jpgJust out of curiosity, have you tried to see which ones will run a virtual viewport desktop? You have to configure it in xorg.conf, eg:



Section "Screen"
SubSection "Display"
Viewport 0 0
Virtual 2560 1600
Depth 24
Modes "1680x1050"
EndSubSection
So each workspace is 2560x1600, even tho the monitor's screen area is only 1680x1050. The gray shaded area in the screenshot here would be that actual screen area; this pans around when you push the mouse at the edge of the screen. It's a pretty incredible feature*, I think it has died out because MS never implemented it, so new high end graphics cards end up not supporting it for some reason. However, my onboard via chrome chip and most PCI cards will do it with FVWM.

Most new window managers (eg, metacity, = KDE, gnome) will not this either.

Anyway, while your doing all this, give it a try. Like I said, definately okay with fvwm2. Would be interesting to know where else...

http://www.intergate.com/%7Ehalfcountplus/misc/virtdesk-shot.jpg

*eg, you can leave stuff off to the side, such as GIMP toolbars, and throw sticky icons down the bottom out the way.

[37fleetwood]

thanks for Dwm! I was hoping people would add ones they had found to be cool and that I hadn't tried.

I'll try to go back and get new caps of the ones I haven't themed up a bit so they look a bit better.

as to the viewporting I have accidentally ended up with it in XP in the past and didn't care for it, but you have a point about the Gimp tool box and icons etc it may be useful. I have an older Geforce that allows it so maybe I'll look into it.

thanks for the encouragement guys, I'm not the most experienced with Linux but I am having alot of fun playing, and the flexibility of Linux and Ubuntu is pretty amazing for an XP refugee!

[37fleetwood]

It's been a while since I thought about this post. I thought an update may be in order.
issue one is that I had to un install the Kubuntu desktop to update to 9.10 and even then I had some residual problems. the rest of them didn't seem to interfere in upgrading. I started with Ubuntu, perhaps if I had started with Kubuntu and upgraded Kubuntu it would have worked better.
another exciting update is Gnome Shell. so far it's kinda new and isn't where it will eventually end up but still it's an interesting new take on desktop environments. at this time there aren't many things you can configure and it's a bit plain but what is there is pretty impressive.
There are a few things I can't figure out, and a few things I don't like but eventually I'm confident they'll be addressed. first thing is I'm used to being able to move from desktop to desktop easier. maybe by the time it is released as stable they'll have added a workspace switcher. another thing I've noticed is that if you move the pointer to the bottom right a task bar looking thing pops up but doesn't seem to have anything in it and doesn't let you do anything with it. also though a compositing window manager it doesn't seem to have much in the way of eye candy. all in all it does seem to work well and is pretty easy to figure out, though I'd wait until it's a bit more along the way before I switched to it full time.
here are some screen caps:

[37fleetwood]

when I started this thread, I was, if not new, at least still looking around in the Linux world hoping for the perfect desktop. a lot has changed since then. Gnome 3 and Unity are a way of life for many people. I also have changed in what I'm looking for. now I look for stability and functionality more than bling. bling is nice if it can be done without compromising functionality. so, I guess to sum up this thread, a desktop should do what it needs to do without getting in the way and it should do it intuitively and smoothly. so far, though a bit less pretty to look at, Gnome 2 seems to offer the most bang for the buck. add Compositing, and something like the Mint menu, or Gnomenu and it can look pretty good too. if you need something smaller for a smaller system, I would have to say Xfce or LXDE are the ones that work best for their size. Xfce is more user friendly.