On 2009-05-26_09:40:05, Foss User wrote: > On Tue, May 26, 2009 at 2:33 AM, Claudius Hubig <nfs_2...@chubig.net> wrote: > > Foss User <foss...@gmail.com> wrote: > >>Please see the following output I generated from Squeeze. > >> > >>$ aptitude why twm > >>i ? gnome ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Depends ?gnome-desktop-environment (= > >>1:2.24.3~2) > >>i A gnome-desktop-environment Depends ?gdm (>= 2.20.9) > >>i A gdm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Depends ?gnome-session | > >>x-session-manager | x-window-manager | x-terminal-emulator > >>i ? twm ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? Provides x-window-manager > >> > >>1. It shows that twm was installed because gdm needs a window manager > >>and twm is one such window manager. Does it mean that gnome is > >>dependent on twm? > >> > >>2. Is it possible to run gnome with some other window manager? > >> > >>3. I am unable to see any twm process in the ps listing. Why? > >> > >>4. Can someone share the equivalent 'aptitude why' output from a > >>system running KDE? > >
I think that the posted evidence does not show that Gnome is built on twm. Rather it shows that gdm uses twm because it was already installed at the time that gdm was being installed. But why was it already there? twm is maintained as part of the xorg project by a special Debian task force. twm occupies a special place in the X11 system. It is the default, lease featureful, window manager for situations where some other, more featureful window manager is not yet installed and initialized. This is precisely the situation for gdm. It needs a window manager before the user has even logged in. twm is part of what you get when you select a desktop system during initial install of Debian. You did not specifically ask for it, just as you did not ask for ls. cp, mv, etc. It just came with the basic stuff that the Debian gurus decided to put on your system because you said you wanted a desktop. By picking and choosing carefully, you can, if you really want, install an X11/Gnome system in which gdm doesn't work and you have to sign in at a console and then use startx to get X11 going and then do something else to actually start Gnome under X. Most people would find that wierd and bothersome. So, Debian, like other major distributions, have figured out a way that is easier for the user. To do it, they have bent the Debian Rules a little bit, or maybe not. Maybe it is only a simple minded, nieve interpretation of Debian rules that is bent. Anyway, twm is there -- as the Romans might say, "ab initio". In aptitude it looks as if you asked for it specifically, but that is not true. Look at other packages, like coreutils. There are lots of packages that are just there from before you ever did your first bootup of your newly installed Debian. I think you might find useful clues inside tasksel. That is the place where you probably first indicated that you wanted an window/gui environment. What does tasksel, acting as your agent, tell apt-get/dpkg to actually install? Maybe twm is in the list. Just my guess. I love Debian. The Debian magicians (deliberately?) leave the curtain imperfectly closed, so users can see them at work, doing their magic. -- Paul E Condon pecon...@mesanetworks.net -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to debian-user-requ...@lists.debian.org with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact listmas...@lists.debian.org