[lug] detecting which window manager?

D. Stimits stimits at comcast.net
Mon Jun 27 16:12:55 MDT 2005


I'm using fedora, but that should be irrelevant to this question. I'm 
wondering is there any way to detect which window manager is being used?

This should be easy, but I'm stumped, ps aux shows nothing relevant. I'm 
set to use kdm for login...apparently the window manager is not set as 
an argument to kdm or X servers. Window managers themselves appear to 
not be a process, at least not when launched under kdm...this would make 
sense though, as kdm runs at all times, and the window manager to run is 
not known till the user starts a session. I was digging around in 
/etc/X11/, could not find anything that would definitively tell me. In 
/etc/sysconfig/desktop, the only relevant entries are for DESKTOP="KDE" 
and DISPLAYMANAGER="KDE"...but I'm under the impression that KDE is 
*not* a window manager, just a login manager. Am I wrong? Is KDE also a 
window manager? Or am I running something else like sawfish or icewm?

D. Stimits, stimits AT comcast DOT net



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