Date: Sun, 16 Aug 2020 08:48:24 +0200 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: Victor Sudakov <vas@sibptus.ru> Cc: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Subject: Re: A nice looking WM to replace a DE Message-ID: <20200816084824.7560107a.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <20200816054351.GA26926@admin.sibptus.ru> References: <CAHieY7TSESodQXBLoZkkBGWZaCbEZessqiMvzp9dR8Y1CoAZtw@mail.gmail.com> <57EC9527.7020202@rcn.com> <alpine.BSF.2.20.1609282305130.7457@wonkity.com> <CAHieY7QV3xYPsNxXdZrYCGO7SA37Mxn_yy2njByR2EBd9DzX9A@mail.gmail.com> <CAN2YBg6qUBXd8qy25zT5FNe9LkyY=x3po1H3UoD1Y2fDxrBvQw@mail.gmail.com> <20200816054351.GA26926@admin.sibptus.ru>
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On Sun, 16 Aug 2020 12:43:51 +0700, Victor Sudakov wrote: > There is a box where I'd like to ditch Xfce for a more simple setup with > just a window manager (WM) and a couple of xterms. This would set the > resources free from the gnome-shit which Xfce runs in the background. > Is it still possible? Definitely. Depending on your magic level, a tiling window manager could be interesting. If you're not that magic (like me), maybe fvwm-2 (Motif style) or IceWM will do? Personally, and even though I have tried many WMs, my personal favorite is WindowMaker (with non-default configuration, of course). Because I'm too stupid, the magic of tiling window managers didn't pour onto me yet. I've heared only good things about them, though. ;-) > 1. What good-looking WM would you recommend from the ports? I had a > quick look at fvwm and was appalled how dated and ugly it looks to the > modern eye. Even twm is better aesthetically but not rich enough > for me. A minimal number of dependencies is an advantage. In this case, IceWM isn't a bad choice. It supports several themes, as well as a Beastie-style "start button". It does not automatically "discover apps", i. e., you'll have to create your own menu file, but that's not a disadvantage in my opinion. The nice thing about IceWM is that you can configure all aspects easily with simple text-based configuration files. If you want to look very professional, add a Mac OS X wallpaper and the Warlock Bar (wbar). I've tried that, it actually works. ;-) > 2. Without a full-featured DE, how do you setup Xserver parameters? I've > long forgotten how to configure multiple keyboard layouts, nice fonts, > various hotkeys (layout switching etc). Is it still done via the global > xorg.conf or is it possible on a per-user basis? Today, most of this stuff is done automatically by X itself. If you want to force a specific configuration (especially a non-standard one, like a non-US keyboard), there's still the way of partial configuration files in the xorg.conf.d/ subdirectory. Keyboard layouts can be managed easily with xinput, the successor of xmodmap. And switching layouts can be done with IceWM keyboard bindings. For everything that you don't want to be a global setting, there's always ~/.xinitrc and/or ~/.xsession; you can use programs like xinput and xrandr to configure things after user login. -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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