On Fri, May 19, 2000 at 09:50:21AM +0100, Dominic Blythe wrote: > can somebody please explain the relationship between desktop, > window-manager, filemanager, X etc? i jus' don' get it.
Since no one's tackled this... Reversing orders: - The X Window System (the full and proper name), aka X or X11, is a network-based, platform independent, client-server graphics windowing system developed at MIT. There's a lot of verbage in there, but it means something. Networked -- X can view (or be viewed) across networks, with applications and displays on entirely seperate machines. Platform independent -- there are X servers for Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac, OpenVMS, etc. Client-server -- though the nomenclature is backwards from the usual meaning, your display is a "server", and applications are "clients", running on it. You'll hear people refer to "X clients" from time to time. For all of that, X11 is just the bare bones of the windowing system. Launch it bare and you'll get a herringbone backdrop and a large 'X' pointer (mouse cursor). Windows have no decorations (borders, title bars, buttons), and cannot be moved or modified. To do that you need a... - wm -- window manager. Something that manages windows. Provides ability to select, deselect, resize, move, raise, lower, and/or close windows on a display. Usually also provides "bindings" or associations to keystrokes and mouse button presses to give things like menus and the like. Examples: twm, mwm, fvwm[2], WindowMaker, AfterStep, kwm, enlightenment, blackbox, sawfish (was sawmill), blackbox, icewm, etc., etc., etc.) WindowManagers range from very basic (twm, wm2) to very extravagent (enlightenment, kwm). They're a very personal choice (I prefer WindowMaker). You can try several, can usually switch among them during an X session, or can launch multiple X sessions (hint: use DISPLAY values) and see how they look and feel. More advanced WMs tend to work better with faster (300+ MHz and more memory rich 64/96+ MB) systems. For that old P-I or 486 system with 32 MB, try blackbox, twm, fvwm, or another lighter-weight wm. - Desktop. A combination of tools, usually including a window manager, widget sets, drag'n'drop support, and some integrated applications, to create a total "environment". The three classic Linux/Unix desktops are CDE (a horribly bletcherous commercial product based on Motif, HPUX VUE, and Sun OpenLook), KDE, and GNOME. Basically providing an environment similar to what you'd find on a legacy MS Windows or Mac system. I find the whole desktop/taskbar motif to be broken, personally, and prefer a cleaner look. - File manager. An X client for managing files. If you remember FILEMAN.EXE from Win3.x, or MS Windows Explorer, these are examples of file managers. Basically, a GUI application which represents files and directories as graphical icons and lets you interact with them via a pointer -- move, copy, delete, view, edit, run, etc. Other typical clients include an editor, a calculator, a mailer, a scheduler. These are frequently bundled together as part of a "Descktop" suite such as CDE, KDE, or Gnome. The difference between Linux and legacy MS Windows is that you can choose which components you want under Linux. Microsoft bundles the graphics, window management, desktop, and application suite in a way that's hard to pull apart. > i want to cut down the amount of resource my given to gui, people keep > saying sawmill is small, enlightenment is this, kde is that, Depending on your constraints: lower resolution, fewer colors, less overhead. See above. > but i don't know what all the bits are. This has been fixed <g> > cheers > > Dominic > ---------------------------------------------- > I used to be an advocate of > Anything But Microsoft > until I discovered > Debian GNU/Linux. > > > -- > Unsubscribe? mail -s unsubscribe [EMAIL PROTECTED] < /dev/null > -- Karsten M. Self <kmself@ix.netcom.com> http://www.netcom.com/~kmself Evangelist, Opensales, Inc. http://www.opensales.org What part of "Gestalt" don't you understand? Debian GNU/Linux rocks! http://gestalt-system.sourceforge.net/ K5: http://www.kuro5hin.org GPG fingerprint: F932 8B25 5FDD 2528 D595 DC61 3847 889F 55F2 B9B0
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