[HN Gopher] TWM - Tab Window Manager for the X Window System
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TWM - Tab Window Manager for the X Window System
Author : ecliptik
Score : 36 points
Date : 2023-01-31 05:45 UTC (17 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.x.org)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.x.org)
| squarefoot wrote:
| The name brings memories. Without screenshots I can't tell if
| it's the same thing, but I have memories of a similarly named WM
| from ancient days.
|
| I wonder if it could be used for a project I had in mind a while
| ago, in which a small number of apps would run maximized each one
| in its own page in a tab control contained in a single full
| screen window, without any controls, so that they can't be closed
| or moved by mistake, and the user would use the tabs to bring to
| front each one (just like pages in a web browser), then any
| alert, file requester or anything opened from one app would open
| modal and bring the relevant app to front. The purpose would be
| to ease the reach for apps without having to maximize, roll down,
| bring to front etc. as quick as possible without having to look
| for them. My first use case would be a music synthesizer built
| with a Chromebox or similar mini PC in which I would run Alpine
| Linux plus Yabridge and a small number of native/WINE plugins, so
| that it can be also used live with minimal reload time in case of
| problems, power outages, crashes etc. and defaulting to a well
| defined state.
| dTal wrote:
| TWM really had something with the "iconify" management technique
| - you could shepherd many more windows than are comfortable on
| most modern desktops, provided you were disciplined with
| placement. Nowadays I find myself grubbing around alt-tab
| entirely too much. Expose-like previewing looks sorta similar,
| but I don't find myself using it much because the layout is
| autogenerated, and it's hard to sift through your windows when
| they're tiny. I liked the spatial management.
| egwynn wrote:
| The wikipedia page[0] has screenshots.
|
| [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twm
| pengaru wrote:
| Funny, I always knew twm as "Tom's Window Manager", which is how
| it was called when I learned GNU/Linux in the 90s w/XFree86.
|
| Indeed, if one scrolls down to AUTHORS the first name is "Tom
| LaStrange". I guess they renamed it at some point...
| aidenn0 wrote:
| I thought the same thing, but Wikipedia says it was officially
| renamed in 1989...
| Crontab wrote:
| I had seen it both ways but I always think "Tom" as well.
| [deleted]
| ggm wrote:
| tvtwm got a lot of traction, when fvwm came out. it was twm with
| (t)he (v)irtual desktop.
|
| uwm did me for a long time.
|
| INRIA had a staffer who did a LISP WM which was like a shot back
| to the Xerox symbolics LISP machine era. Colias Nabahoo? I think
| it was called Koala.
|
| the main reason I liked (tv)twm was size. it was really tiny.
| Fvwm was well formulated and easy to drive but it was a memory
| hog.
| teddyh wrote:
| I'm using it as my one and only desktop window manager since
| 1995. I've considered moving to ctwm, but the configuration is
| not _completely_ compatible, and I've not really had any pressing
| need to sort it out.
| hulitu wrote:
| It is fast, customizable and looks better than Windows 10.
| electric_mayhem wrote:
| How is there an entire lengthy page discussing it that doesn't
| provide any screenshots?
| felixgallo wrote:
| because man pages don't have screenshots.
| jjtheblunt wrote:
| it's possible the person asking the question is younger
| than good old manpages.
| LargoLasskhyfv wrote:
| Why would you need screenshots, when all you'd ever do is
| running terminal emulators?
|
| As it seems customary.
| rzzzt wrote:
| I also need a pair of googly eyes that follow every
| movement of the mouse cursor and Neko, the tiny cat to
| sleep on it.
| kevin_thibedeau wrote:
| This is the one true way to validate DISPLAY is set
| correctly for remote apps.
| guessbest wrote:
| man pages don't have screenshots. They typically use a pager,
| but they can have formatting. Just type 'man man' in the cli
| without the single quotes. Online used to mean documentation
| provided on the local system.
|
| X11R7.6 Manual Pages: Section 1: Commands
|
| https://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/man/man1
| rzzzt wrote:
| Classic window managers and screenshots can be found on this
| page: http://www.xwinman.org/vtwm.php
| jhallenworld wrote:
| twm is the best, but it's annoying that modern programs are not
| compatible with mouse focus (meaning whatever the mouse is
| pointing at is the focus for input). We've definitely given up
| interface speed in exchange for conformity.
|
| I used to set it up without title bars. You had to know my
| personal shortcuts to use my desktop.
| lottin wrote:
| What do you mean? I have been using focus-follows-mouse since
| the late 1990s and have never noticed a program that was
| incompatible with it.
| jhallenworld wrote:
| It's usually some commercial programs that have issues.. I
| was going to try it and give a more specific answer, but
| Ubuntu does not let me run twm. I get a blank screen when I
| log in with twm selected.
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(page generated 2023-01-31 23:00 UTC)