I've tried my luck with saerching forums and newsgroups havent gotten a satisfying answer. Would someone explain to me what the difference between a simple WM and a Desktop Environment is? It sounds like a Desktop Environment(DE) has a lot more to offer than a WM, but when I compare GNOME(DE with Sawfish WM) that I had and Fluxbox,(WM that I use now). From my experience, both of these look and feel like a WM. So, What the heck is a DE?

And why does a DE have to use a WM inside if they're as mighty as they sound? Does a DE communicate with a WM using a standard protocol? Do they go in pairs( like if they use the same widget set ) or can I use an arbitrary window manager ( like Fluxbox) with GNOME? Is the 'icons on desktop' all that a DE has to offer?

OK, take a step back here. First, there's X. This tells your WM to display a window. The WM decides how best to display it (your personal settings, like size and colour, and stuff). The DE is basically just a collection of programs that intergrate with eachother on top of the WM to provide a 'nicer' environment in which to work. You can change the WM for Gnome, but I think if you try and change the KDE WM to anything other than KWM, it gets a bit teasy.

HTH

Ahh, that clears up things a li'l bit. I think I still have questions, but looks like I can use some reading before I ask them. Meanwhile, all are welcome to drop their 2 cents (or more ) here.


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All of us are confused. Or is it just me?

use windowmaker ... its lite and not bloated ...

Purple, that wasn't the most helpful thing you could have said, now, was it?

This is not going to turn into another 'this wm is better than that wm' thread; there are already too many of them on these forums. If anyone has anything of value to contribute to this thread as to how to distinguish a window manager from a desktop environment then do post. If not, then please refrain.

Thank you.