Re: [K12OSN] Window manager/Desktop question

[anthony baldwin <anthonybaldwin snet net>]

Tom Kovalcik wrote:
> I have always been confused by the concept of window managers and 
> desktops and how they relate. Could someone please give a quick tutorial 
> (or a link to one) that explains how they relate? I know KDE and Gnome 
> are desktops, and I have heard of icewm and sawfish as window managers. 
> Can I install multiple wm's and desttops and switch between them? Is 
> this difficult to do? Can I use any window manager with any desktop? 
> What are the benefits/drawbacks for some of the more popular choices? 
> Sorry for what seems like a rudimentary question. I just have never got 
> a good handle on these terms and have been afraid to experiment for fear 
> of screwing something up.
>
> Thanks
>
> Tom Kovalcik

IceWM, KDE and Gnome are all graphical user interfaces to linux.  They 
all run on top of the X server. They are window manager/desktops and 
allow you to accopmlish your work via graphical tools, instead of all at 
the command line/terminal.
Using K12 3.1.2 one has the option to install all three of these during 
install.  I have all three installed and had been using only KDE for a 
long time, but have recently found that I am beginning to lean towards a 
more streamlined gui and am using IceWM, now.   they all look very 
similar, but have various levels of customizability.  Certtain app are 
written for a specific WM, but you can run them in others as long as you 
have the necessary libs installed.  Switching from one WM to another is 
as simple as logging out, choosing another, and logging back in.

tony

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--
Anthony Baldwin

http://www.School-Library.net
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