Using Fvwm as a window manager

[PackRat]

Every forum needs a thread about Fvwm so I started one. 

Lightweight, incredibly configurable, stable window manager. Desktop is all Fvwm with FvwmPager, FvwmIconMan, stalonetray, and xclock swallowed by FvwmButtons to create the standard xfce/gnome2 type panel. A function defined in the Fvwm configuration files creates a thumbnail for iconified windows instead of the usual icon:

Vastone likes to say "screenshot or it didn't happen" and it's his forum, so:

[vrkalak]

Hey, PackRat . . . I know you. 

I like what I see -- so far -- tell us more?

[PackRat]

Not a whole lot to say - almost the entire theme/desktop is Fvwm. There is no system tray in Fvwm so I use stalonetray. Mainly because it supports transparency and color gradients if needed. Peksystray and Xysystray also work well but are more limited. All three are swallowed into FvwmButtons more readily that trayer  to create a traditional taskbar in my experience. Xclock provides the clock. The rest is all Fvwm configuration.

Nothing particularly fascinating under the hood; all pretty well documented Fvwm functions.

[peterscott]

Hi, 
Can you tell me what's happening with FVWM?  I see that many of the links on its home page lead to 404s.  Is FVWM dying?

[VastOne]

Hi peterscott and welcome to VSIDO

The FVWM website seems alive and well...

And the ArchWiki FVWM is also available

[PackRat]

Hi, 
Can you tell me what's happening with FVWM?  I see that many of the links on its home page lead to 404s.  Is FVWM dying?

Everything is working now - except the forum. Not dying as far as I know. The forum has gone down for extended periods if Thomas Adam is doing some work on it.

Edit - grabbed the latest source from cvs just in case though 

[gonzomcgraw]

Hi there!

Yes, Fvwm is the greatest window manager I've used ever! 

Hey, PackRat . . . I know you. 

I like what I see -- so far -- tell us more?

If you want to play around with Fvwm use Fvwm-Nightshade. It's easy to install and good documented ;-)

Best,
gonzomcgraw

[PackRat]

For those who have never used Fvwm, it is a modular window manager - modules used to create the desktop GUI are loaded in the ~/.fvwm/config file, or started from the menu (Enlightenment - e16 and e19 - were forked/derived from Fvwm so if you have used either, you get the idea). The typical modules to load are FvwmPager and FvwmIconMan for pager and icon (taskbar-type) management. An IconBox can also be used for icons on the desktop. FvwwmButtons can be used to create your typical panel.

One module, that get overlooked a lot (IMO anyway) is FvwmScript. This module allows the user to build graphical applications that can be used as desktop widgets. FvwmScript uses it's own particular programing language, and each script consists of 5 parts so writing one from scratch would be a bit difficult. Easy enough to find some existing scripts at the Fvwm forum page, or some of the sites that have Fvwm themes like box-look.org..

I grabbed a few that had the information I wanted and tweaked them to my liking. After messing around came up with:



direct link

desktop is almost all Fvwm modules - only 3rd party app is stalonetray for the system tray; not a significant hit to resources running scripts for all the system resource information.

As with all Fvwm modules, the man page is pretty extensive; but still best to get an existing script and sort it out.

[PackRat]

Some activity for Fvwm -

New design for the home page and the current build (2.6.7) can be downloaded from git.

Nice to see this project still has life.

[ido]

wondering: is Fvwm the ONLY window manager that enables window titlebar to be displayed at left side (vs at top edge of each program window)?
Also, is that (left-side) a global configuration option, or can you have fvwm set/remember it for specified windows (by window title) ?

[PackRat]

I think Fvwm is the only window manager that allows for placement of the title bars on the left|top|right|bottom natively. I would suspect that you can do the same in window managers that are scriptable/extensible like StumpWM. Note that any vector or pixmap buttons you're using do not get rotated (which you can see in the screenshot).

In Fvwm it can be done globally or per application (window class or title) with the Style command:

Code Select Expand

Style * TitleAtLeft    #Left|Right|Top|Bottom

or:

Code Select Expand

Style UXterm !Title    <- no title bar, old syntax NoTitle

Style Sakura TitleAtLeft

Screenshot of per app styles - Sakura TitleAtLeft, Uxterm !Title, Urxvt default titlebar



There is also the WindowStyle command which I have not really used and have only seen used in FvwmFunctions to do things like remove the title from a window when it is maximized. So you can have the global style:

Code Select Expand

Style * TitleAtLeft

to set your windows with the titlebar on the left, then write FvwmFuctions utilizing WindowStyle for more complex actions on your windows.

[ido]

Thanks for the info. I've grown comfortable using fluxbox. I appreciate its tear-off (and stay open) desktop menu, ability to remember position/dimensions per window, ability to customize titlebar buttons. To prevent accidental closure, I sometimes place the 'close' button at left side. What I don't care for is transparency, especially the pseudo-transparency in fluxbox. I'll install Fvwm in the coming months and check it out.

[PackRat]

The default transparencies in vsido are an easy fix. Start a new topic for what you want to change if need be. Someone will help you out.