Window Managers

Window managers take over where the X Window System leaves off. X was made to be limited, and it can only go so far. When you want to get more advanced, you need something that will allow you to do just that, and that something is a window manager.

As a new learner of Unix, you may get confused when using a window manager. Unix is so customizable (again, a positive feature, not a negative one) that even if you are sitting next to a peer or friend who is using the same version or distribution of Unix as you are, you may see things completely differently on your screen based on how you have your window manager configured. Don't let this stress youthe best way to overcome this issue is by simply working within the environment and learning how to customize it yourself. As you do, your fear of the unknown will diminish rapidly.

There are many different window managers. In this section of the lesson, we will cover the ones you will encounter most frequently, including the most commonly used window manager: twm.

Using twm

twm is by far the most common and easiest-touse window manager. It's not the most feature-rich window manager, but because it's commonly used by default, it has become the unofficial standard. When used properly, twm can provide you with an extensive experience beyond what you are accustomed to. There are many things you can do with this window manager, such as creating buttons to be used in windows, adding pop-up menus, and so on. To start twm, you only need to type the following at the shell prompt:

 >twm 

The window manager will then open if one is not already opened and conflicting with it. If you already have a window manager open, you may be denied from opening two of them at the same time.

Where Are the Changes Stored? The file used to save all of the configuration changes we have discussed (as well as a plethora of others) is named .twmrc and is most likely located in your home directory.

Once you launch twm, you will be able to work within it to customize whatever it is you want to adjust. Make sure you read your local documentation, though, because there are many other window managers available, including the ones we will discuss in the next section.

More Window Managers

Unfortunately, choice often leads to complexity. Not only is this the case with technology in general, but it is especially true in the world of Unix and window managers. Because so many different window managers are available, we can't cover them all in granular detail. We can, however, take a quick look at some of the more popular window managers so that you will understand any major issues that may pop up when using them.

It is up to you to choose which window manager suits your tastes and needs. Once you have an idea of which manager you need and some experience using it, it will become increasingly easy for you to work in that manager in the future. Besides twm, other common window managers include the following:

• AfterStep This window manager will add extra features such as graphical enhancement and fading abilities. To use this manager, you will need to have a good video card to prevent taxing your colormap.

  

  Colormaps A colormap is really nothing more than a set of color cells assigned with manageable index values. In other words, a colormap consists of a set of entries defining color values.

  
  

• ctwm This window manager is a tab-style manager with a 3-D animated look.

• fvwm This is a popular 3-D virtual window manager. It is also the lowest in memory consumption and fastest in speed.

• fvwm2 This is the 2nd version of fvwm. It's different from its predecessor with more features for an even faster and easier experience.

• tvtwm This is a version of twm that offers additional benefits such as virtual desktop capability.

• Blackbox This window manager is common among users who don't like running the other larger window managers.

Remember, this is not by any means a complete list, and twm is the window manager most commonly used.

Now that you know what a window manager is and you are familiar with some of the different kinds of window managers you can deploy, you can grow into whichever environment suits your needs the best. Let's wrap up this lesson about the GUI with a discussion about using KDE, which stands for the K Desktop Environment.