Window managers and desktop enviroments

[BWF89]

What is the difference between the two?

Like if I was running Gnome and I decided to install the WM WindowMaker and I had another computer running KDE and I decided to install WindowMaker what would be the difference?

Xequence told me to install Ubuntu Breezy or Dapper with WindowMaker on my iMac G3 I'm going to be getting on the 9th. But since WindowMaker is just a WM wouldn't that mean that underneith that I'm still going to be stuck with the bloated (compared to lighter enviroments) Gnome and just a lighter WM?

What are the different combinations of DE's and WM's and which ones work best?

[Virak]

Why not just run the WM without a DE? It may take a little bit to get used to, but it works just fine.

[BWF89]

Why not just run the WM without a DE? It may take a little bit to get used to, but it works just fine.
I dont think that's possible and even if it was you'd probably loose alot of functionality.

[Virak]

I dont think that's possible and even if it was you'd probably loose alot of functionality.Yes, you'd lose a lot of functionality, but it *is* possible; I used to use just Fluxbox when I used to use slackware (my PC sucked at the time). And that functionality isn't worth it if it's too slow to use.

[fuscia]

i only use openbox. with obmenu, i can set up my menu any way i want, or i can just use the terminal. on a slower machine, having a big blob like gnome or kde is kind of annoying.

[PatrickMay16]

Woud!!!

Myself, I use IceWM, with iDesk for putting icons on the desktop. I use Nautilus for file management and pmount/pumount for mounting and unmounting my USB storage devices. It all works great.

The difference between a WM and a DE is, I believe (I may be wrong here) is that a WM may only manage windows and give you a taskbar with an application launcher menu, while a DE is a whole set of tools to give you a full environment (ie, a file manager, task bars, icons on the desktop, and other stuff).
That's my grasp of it, anyway.

[Stormy Eyes]

I dont think that's possible and even if it was you'd probably loose alot of functionality.

You can run many window managers without having to bother with GNOME. I wrote a howto (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=75471&highlight=gnome+openbox+howto). You might want my Custom X Session (https://wiki.ubuntu.com/CustomXSession) howto as well.

[fuscia]

i just realized, the other day, that i don't even need a file manager (a comment from my good friend, stormy eyes, led me to that astonishing revelation).

[Bandit]

What is the difference between the two?

Like if I was running Gnome and I decided to install the WM WindowMaker and I had another computer running KDE and I decided to install WindowMaker what would be the difference?

Xequence told me to install Ubuntu Breezy or Dapper with WindowMaker on my iMac G3 I'm going to be getting on the 9th. But since WindowMaker is just a WM wouldn't that mean that underneith that I'm still going to be stuck with the bloated (compared to lighter enviroments) Gnome and just a lighter WM?

What are the different combinations of DE's and WM's and which ones work best?
If you run Windowmaker with like the Gnome libs and stuff installed. It will not bloat it. The Windowmaker GUI is very simple have limited features, but still remaining a nice look. Haveing the KDE or Gnome libs installed will still let you run those apts and still keep them looking good without haveing to load the entired DE into memory.
I used to do this on a K6-2 400mhz box I had with 192MB RAM. I had both Gnome and Windowmaker installed. Gnome lagged bad.. Over all it was just to much for it, but with Windowmaker I could still run a GUI and benifit from my Gnome apts. Trust me its much lighter that way and runs well...
Cheers,
Joey

[BWF89]

Thanks for all the info.

I have a few questions:
What would run faster on an iMac G3: Xubuntu or Ubuntu with WindowMaker installed? If one runs faster, which one and by how much?

Does WindowMaker have a button that lets you view your apps like Gnome's Applications button or KDE's big K? If not, is it easy to add one?

[xequence]

What would run faster on an iMac G3: Xubuntu or Ubuntu with WindowMaker installed? If one runs faster, which one and by how much?

Id say windowmaker. And by a considerable ammount.


Does WindowMaker have a button that lets you view your apps like Gnome's Applications button or KDE's big K? If not, is it easy to add one?

If I remember right you can just right click and it has the apps. Like fluxbox/other boxes.


Xequence told me to install Ubuntu Breezy or Dapper with WindowMaker on my iMac G3 I'm going to be getting on the 9th. But since WindowMaker is just a WM wouldn't that mean that underneith that I'm still going to be stuck with the bloated (compared to lighter enviroments) Gnome and just a lighter WM?

As far as I know when you run windowmaker it is only windowmaker and no gnome stuff. It is basically complete and stuff, not like trying to run metacity on its own.

Just it doesent come with a file manager, but you can easily install many good ones. I made a tutorial on customizing windowmaker I think...

[Bandit]

Here is the link to the Windowmaker website www.windowmaker.org