My desktop work environment and workflow

[Steve Litt]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2020 20:20:02 -0700
Matthew Crews via PLUG-discuss <plug-discuss at lists.phxlinux.org> wrote:

> On 11/12/20 8:35 AM, Steve Litt via PLUG-discuss wrote:
> > Hi all,
> > 
> > Given the discussion of KDE, Gnome, Openbox, LXDE, etc, I should
> > probably describe how I compute.  
> 
> ** Snip **
> 
> Hey Steve, thanks for sharing this! This was a great read.
> 
> The way you use Openbox is remarkably similar to how I've seen people
> use tiling window managers such as i3. I'm glad that it fits the way
> you want to compute. I don't think I could ever grok that kind of
> workflow; I'm too addicted to icons and task bars and the like.
> 
> I am curious. You went into great detail about why you use Openbox. It
> seems that other window managers would fit the bill for your workflow.
> What made you decide against them?

Hi Matt,

First and foremost, Openbox is completely compatible with LXDE, which
uses Openbox as its window manager. Also, Openbox has complete window
decorations, which I need because my vision is lousy. And Openbox is
amazingly configurable. As far as the other window managers:

* IceWM: Almost as good, but IceWM's menus suck. Not that I use a
  WM/DE's menus much. Also, you can't get rid of the panel, so my
  screen real estate is reduced. And I don't think there's a way to
  make a "no windows" place on the left where I can always click the
  desktop.

* ctwm: Wonderful, but the alt+tab behavior isn't the typical Windows
  98 Alt+Tab behavior I like so much. I used ctwm for 3 months, making
  its workflow just like Openbox
  (http://troubleshooters.com/linux/ctwm/index.htm). But in the end, I
  couldn't hang with the Alt+Tab behavior, and I couldn't, in a
  reasonable time, write the C code to add a window stack to ctwm.

* Fvwm: Tiny default fonts that I need to enlarge but I can't see to
  adjust them larger. Menuing is REALLY funky, not that I use a WM/DE's
  menus much.

* WindowMaker: Too consumptive of screen real estate, too weird menus
  and config. WindowMaker sure is beautiful though, isn't it.

* JWM: I couldn't get the windows to look how I, as a person with lousy
  vision, needed the to work. Also, IIRC JWM had the same Alt+Tab
  problem as ctwm.

* twm: I couldn't get it to work well.

* fluxbox: It would take *a lot* of work to adapt this to my workflow.

* Kwm: I never used it, because I kicked absolutely all KDE code off my
  computer in 2012, and I never want any of it back.

* Enlightenment: I think I've used it a few times, and been
  disappointed. Maybe I'll try it again.

* Sawfish: Every time I try it, once again, I'm disappointed.

* Tiling window managers: I couldn't memorize all the necessary keys to
  work fast enough. It was kind of like learning Wordstar without the
  help screen.

If Openbox vanished from the scene, I could make due with IceWM. I
could make due with ctwm if I could persuade them to keep window
pointers in a stack instead of or in addition to a ring. I could use
fvwm if somebody would give me enough of a jump start that I could see
what I was doing. Maybe I could use WindowMaker.

On a day by day basis, Openbox gives me everything I need to, once I've
configured it to my specifications, work the way I want to work.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
Autumn 2020 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
http://www.troubleshooters.com/thrive