Why only KDE, XFCe and Fluxbox

[siamhie]

Fluxbox is more light weight than XFCE? I was under the impression that only LXDE was more light weight.

fluxbox is a window manager. XFCE is a desktop environment.

Code: Select all

sudo ps_mem.py | grep fluxbox
Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used
4.6 MiB + 530.5 KiB =   5.1 MiB	fluxbox

[Freja]

Oops, I didn't know well about Fluxbox, sorry...

[LinuxSpring1]

Fluxbox is more light weight than XFCE? I was under the impression that only LXDE was more light weight.

fluxbox is a window manager. XFCE is a desktop environment.

Code: Select all

sudo ps_mem.py | grep fluxbox
Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used
4.6 MiB + 530.5 KiB =   5.1 MiB	fluxbox

So basically FluxBox is like IceWM?

[dolphin_oracle]

Fluxbox is more light weight than XFCE? I was under the impression that only LXDE was more light weight.

fluxbox is a window manager. XFCE is a desktop environment.

Code: Select all

sudo ps_mem.py | grep fluxbox
Private  +   Shared  =  RAM used
4.6 MiB + 530.5 KiB =   5.1 MiB	fluxbox

So basically FluxBox is like IceWM?

in that they are both window managers, yes. they work differently.

[AVLinux]

Hi,

I would say the biggest User noticeable thing about using a Window Manager vs. a Desktop Environment is that Window Managers don't 'manage' the Desktop so you will miss the traditional ability to set wallpaper, have a Panel or Dock and place launchers/icons on the Desktop.. Distros based on Window Managers (as a great example MX-Fluxbox) rely on a series of separate dedicated programs (ie Nitrogen, Tint2) to fill in and perform these tasks and it can be done very well but requires a lot more pre-configuration and customization to accomplish. WM-based Distros by and large are generally better suited to folks with at least some Linux experience where Desktop Environments have a more familiar monolithic behaviour like Windows or MacOS..

[asqwerth]

I believe the MX version of fluxbox has a fair number of graphical tools/menus to make certain tasks/configuration easier.

Probably less need for editing text files for configs than maybe other vanilla WMs.

[AVLinux]

I believe the MX version of fluxbox has a fair number of graphical tools/menus to make certain tasks/configuration easier.

Probably less need for editing text files for configs than maybe other vanilla WMs.

Indeed, I intended to get that across by saying it was pre-configured, but yes I should have clarified it also has significant custom tools to aid in configuration.

[siamhie]

Window Managers don't 'manage' the Desktop so you will miss the traditional ability to set wallpaper, have a Panel or Dock and place launchers/icons on the Desktop

I had played around with various WM's (afterstep, windowmaker, fvwm, sawfish, etc.) before I came across fluxbox back in the early 2000's and this is what attracted me to that desktop.

Features

Right-clicking on the desktop gives a root menu
Customizable root menu
Wallpapers
Running applications appear in a taskbar
Support for desktop themes[2]
Customizable keyboard shortcuts
Window tabbing
Slit for applications such as system monitors

Customization

Customization is done by editing configuration files in the .fluxbox subdirectory in the user's home directory:

Keyboard shortcuts are stored in the ~/.fluxbox/keys file.
Menu layout is in the ~/.fluxbox/menu file.
Everything that is run at startup is kept in the ~/.fluxbox/startup file.
The fluxbox configuration file is held at ~/.fluxbox/init.

Sorry to have strayed off topic.

[LinuxSpring1]

Window Managers don't 'manage' the Desktop so you will miss the traditional ability to set wallpaper, have a Panel or Dock and place launchers/icons on the Desktop

I had played around with various WM's (afterstep, windowmaker, fvwm, sawfish, etc.) before I came across fluxbox back in the early 2000's and this is what attracted me to that desktop.

@siamhie , @AVLinux are there any screenshots of the WM only Linux systems? If you are using WM only Linux would you please attach 1-2 screenshots on how they appear. And thanks for the clearest explanation that I have seen till date on what is the difference between Desktop and Window Managers. It helps a lot.

[asqwerth]

You could check out Bunsenlabs distro, which is based on openbox and Debian Stable.

And for a huge number of other WMs contained within 1 distro, check out our sister distro, antiX.

They use various other independent (ie, non-DE) programs to sort out wallpaper, panel, etc.

And lots of tasks can be done by simply right clicking on the desktop.