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Thread: A new Window Manager

  1. #1
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    Lightbulb A new Window Manager

    Welcome to the original TWiMU Thread! The TWiMU Project has moved to the TWiMU Forums, hosted by Sourceforge. Please visit there to post questions or to help with the project. The original thread begins below.

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    Hi everybody! I'm new to Ubuntu, but I have some experience with Puppy Linux. Anyway, I want to try to write a new Window Manager, and I picked Ubuntu as my development platform because it comes pre-packed with so many tools.

    The basic concept is kind of like the OS X dock in leopard: the desktop is a huge table that you can place icons and windows on, and it can be as big or small as you want.

    There will also be a method of grouping items called Palettes, but I'm not exactly sure how they work yet.

    Anyway, I'm creating this thread for any ideas or suggestions, just a general wish list. I'll make everything I can happen. This was going to be in programming, but I figured it's more about making things look good than anything else.

    Post whatever comes to mind, I'm open to just about anything!
    SphereCat1
    Last edited by SphereCat1; December 20th, 2008 at 06:19 PM. Reason: We've moved to the TWiMU Forums!

  2. #2
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    So you want the OSX Dock, or for Linux, AWN?
    If the only reason you think your software is better is because it's FOSS, you need to write better software

  3. #3
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    I'm not looking for any particular extension, I'm creating my own. It's just the same general idea as the Dock.

    While I'm here, I'll post an idea: What if instead of having the desktop picture in the back, it goes underneath the "table" and shows through? Or maybe even having it as the table's surface?
    Last edited by SphereCat1; July 22nd, 2008 at 01:06 AM. Reason: thought of an idea!

  4. #4
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    I understand you were making your own, but if it already exists wouldn't it be better to work on the existing source?

    I don't quite understand your "table" concept though
    If the only reason you think your software is better is because it's FOSS, you need to write better software

  5. #5
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    Do you mean having icons of running applications appear on the desktop instead of a dock? Or rather a taskbar but on the desktop? There's backstep which does the above. It displays running programs as icons on your desktop, which you could use feh to manage.

    So far I've managed to get it to run. I think there's a live window preview (instead of icons) in the development/testing process, but the project seems dead. I've not even managed to get the live preview feature running as per instructed on the site.

    Hope I've helped.

  6. #6
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    well, I'd be interested, but I think that you should build on something, and not start anew. Maybe XFCE, with its stability, would be a good start? At any rate, I'd probably try it out once it really hit a stable point, but if you're making it, please try to make a graphical theme designer, I have a lot of ideas, but I'm horrible at code.

  7. #7
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    Hi again!

    Sorry I missed you're point Merk, I did look at Avant, and it might be a good place to start. I'm also looking at possibly using PYWM as a base, because it allows desktop zooming and you have an infinitly big desktop.

    Aimran: The running apps would appear in perspective laying on the front of the table, they would be represented by the open window. They also have the ability to group the same app like in XP, and they would then pop up into a column when clicked. If you have the link to the project, pass it along, it would be useful.

    xakh: Thanks for volunteering! We need lots of testers. As for a theme design tool, I'll work on it, but to start with you'll be able to change stuff just by changing image files and editing a few variables, I'll make sure to make the config file easy to edit.

    I've included a rough sketch done in Inkscape to give you all a basic idea of what it looks like, the weird shapes are icons, notice how they get smaller as they get farther back.

    Link to concept drawing here!

    More to come!
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  8. #8
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    And when a program is opened full screen, how do you see your apps?
    If the only reason you think your software is better is because it's FOSS, you need to write better software

  9. #9
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    Good point, Merk, but you can't in Windows either, you have to minimize. Maybe I can use the infinite desktop feature to zoom out a little when you hit a shortcut or move the mouse to the bottom, then a bar with open apps could show up, and also have a minimize and close button.

    SphereCat1
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  10. #10
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    Re: A new Window Manager

    Quote Originally Posted by SphereCat1 View Post
    Good point, Merk, but you can't in Windows either, you have to minimize.
    In Windows (or OSX, GNOME, KDE XFCE...) you can see what apps are running while a full screen application is running. You can also easily get to a menu to run another application in any of those other environments.
    If the only reason you think your software is better is because it's FOSS, you need to write better software

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