[lug] Ultimate window manager

[Daniel Webb]

On Fri, Jun 16, 2006 at 10:36:29PM -0600, Collins Richey wrote:

> A fine ramble, but to each his own [rat or otherwise] poison!
> 
> I've come to a different conclusion after many years of alternatives:
> I don't much care which window manager I use (I've used KDE, GNOME,
> XFCE[n], ICEWM, [XXX]BOX), but it needs multiple workspaces since I
> like to keep a Browser (Firefox or Seamonkey) on WS1, some xterm
> equivalents (varies by WM) on WS2, and other stuff on WS3.... Oh, and
> preferably an easily accessible run function (really pxxxes me off
> that GNOME doesn't provide one).

I think for me the real beauty of it is that it is small and simple enough
that I can grok how to do just about anything I can imagine within the
confines of the ratpoison way of doing things.  I can look at the man page and
figure out how to do just about anything.  If that's not enough, the source
code is small enough that I can make changes if I want to (and I already
have).  It's a mere 18,000 lines of code (including whitespace) which is about
as small as I can imagine something as complex as a window manager could be.

I imagine one could do everything I'm doing using KDE, Gnome, fvwm, or many
other window managers, but they're so complicated I'd hesitate to try.  I was
already using KDE for years like I use ratpoison (opening windows to full
screen), and dragging the mouse around to change windows was starting to drag
(har har).  The one time I tried scripting KDE I gave up in frustration
because it was complicated, poorly documentated, and didn't work.  By
stripping out absolutely all mouse interaction and visual framing, ratpoison
is simple enough for mere mortals to understand.  It is fully documented and I
haven't found any bugs yet (knock knock).

I always thought window manager visual effects stuff was stupid anyhow, and I
also think the mouse should only be used for mouse-like things, such as
graphics editing.  For anyone who shares my views on those two philosophical
points, this is the window manager for you.