Re: [UUG/MLUG] is redhat backing gnome or kde

[Jonathan King <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

On Thu, 4 Mar 1999, Blake C. Lewis wrote:

> Gnome is not a window manager. It sits on top of a window
> manager..... It provides funcionality that some window managers provide
> and more. 

More exactly, gnome provides functionality that window managers arguably
shouldn't. :-)  For this reason, as I have found out in detail, the gnome
desktop, when run with a compliant window manager, is stupendously
configurable.  Moreover...

>Gnome is a set of applications that facilitate configuration
> of the machine.

...which means you don't have to edit a bazillion dot files to get the
desktop environment you want.  I don't have much sympathy for a "GUI or
die" mindset, but I was impressed by gnome.

> It extends the window managers functionality.... WindowMaker is a good
> choice to go with Gnome, because it allows you to remove funcionality
> that Gnome duplicates. 

I haven't used WindowMaker, but I have used Enlightenment aka "e", and
that's a good fit for gnome, too.

> WindowMaker looks like Next. The man that wrote
> AfterStep (Next like) gave up AfterStep (which was based on fvwm which
> was based on ???twm???) and started from scratch on WindowMaker(WM). 

The code base for fvwm and its descendents was indeed twm, but the virtual
desktop idea (that I now can't live without) came from other window
managers, particularly tvtwm (if memory serves).  

> WM has support for Gnome and KDE aware applications. 

So I've heard, which probably makes it a good choice for people who want
to go back and forth between environments or use both kinds of
applications.

But before people get too pumped about gnome, I have to say that the
current release has some problems that are likely to be fixed pretty
quickly now that hundreds of thousands of people have downloaded it. :-)

jking