[H-GEN] Desktop wars ..... (no not really)

[Robert Brockway]

[ Humbug *General* list - semi-serious discussions about Humbug and     ]
[ Unix-related topics. Posts from non-subscribed addresses will vanish. ]

On Wed, 25 Jun 2003, W. Sierke wrote:

> Hi, Rob.
>
> Would you care to share a few examples of the kinds of customisation that
> you've done, to help out the clue-challenged (or is it only me)?

Where to start :)  Remember, I've had 9 years to think about how I want
this stuff layed out :)

I have done very little to change the graphical look of fvwm2.  I use
motif style wherever possible (borders, buttons, etc) as I prefer it to
the native fvwm2 look.

I've replaced the default application menus with a completely
personalised set.  My menus only list the apps I use most often.  The
layout is designed to allow me to find the right app to execute on the
menus in the least possible time.  For less used apps I simply execute it
from an xterm (since 90% of my work is done through an xterm anyway).

I've completely re-configured all of the buttons as well as having various
clicks on the title bar complete certain WM functions quickly
(stick-to-glass for movement between virtual desktops, iconify, etc).  I
use "hidden icons" (ie, if a window is iconified it actually disappears
completely and is only accessible from a drop down list of windows) as
well as functions like "sloppy focus" and "auto raise".  The auto-raise is
set tp 750ms - 500ms is a bit quick and can cause a window to auto-raise
when passing over it to another window, while 1sec is too slow.  Sloppy
focus is like the "focus follows mouse" option of many WMs but the
keyboard focus stays in the last window when you move the mouse to the
root window.

As I mentioned in another thread, I now have FvwmPager popup when I click
the right mouse button on the root window.  This allows me easy access to
all of my virtual desktops without the Pager taking up valuable screen
realestate.  I use the right number of virtual desktops for my own useage.
The beauty of X[1] is that there are so many WMs to choose from, and each
one gives so many options to tweak.

There are lots of other personalisations as well but this probably give
you a fair idea of the types of changes I've made to the interface.

[1] Actually, the most beautiful thing about X is probably network
transparency.

Cheers,
	Rob

-- 
Robert Brockway B.Sc. email: robert at timetraveller.org  ICQ: 104781119
Linux counter project ID #16440 (http://counter.li.org)
"The earth is but one country and mankind its citizens" -Baha'u'llah

--
* This is list (humbug) general handled by majordomo at lists.humbug.org.au .
* Postings to this list are only accepted from subscribed addresses of
* lists 'general' or 'general-post'.  See http://www.humbug.org.au/