How does the Beryl GUI work?
 

Hello Linux Community!

I am excited to take the delve into Linux. I plan on using Ubuntu. My question is about the Beryl interface.

I am really interested in the customizations available and recently this one has caught my eye http://www.gnome-look.org/content/sh...?content=54701

What I am confused about is this... is Beryl in the same class as Gnome and KDE or does it run on top of either of the two?

Beryl is it's own window manager (WM), but alone it does not do much. You need to run it on top of an existing DE/WM which will provide the actual interface (menus, task bar, etc), and just use Beryl to actually handle drawing the windows on the screen.

So you would use Beryl in conjunction with whatever GUI you would usually use, assuming it is able to function with Beryl anyway, not all of them are. I personally use XFCE, but KDE and GNOME will work just as well.

Welcome to LQ & the "Wonderful World of GNU/Linux (tm ;))".

If you haven't realized it yet, the Ubuntu project supports the 3 DE's (Desktop Environments) by having 3 "sub-"distros that each default to a different DE:

Ubuntu . . . . Gnome
Kubuntu . . . KDE
Xubuntu . . . XFCE

It's as if M$ had an alternative GUI called "Doors" & also made all earlier looks available, too.

Roughly, very roughly:

• KDE is close to M$' current offerings.
• Gnome looks a lot like a pre-OSX Mac.
• XFCE perhaps resembles Win95.

I know these are nowhere near perfect. If anyone disagrees, please offer better comparisons, not flames or rudeness. :)

I don't know what XFCE specifically resembles (if anything) but it certainly is not Windows 95.

XFCE uses a "dock" to launch programs, much like OS X; but also features an automatically generated list of programs not unlike the Windows "Start" menu. It also has a top task bar like GNOME, to which you can add various widgets and plugins. Here is a screen shot.

If I had to classify it, I guess that would be the best description, GNOME with a dock on the bottom.

There is also some debate as to what XFCE actually is. It is certainly more advanced then a basic window manager, but most people don't consider it on the same level as a true DE as KDE and GNOME. Generally it is considered something in the middle.

Of course, then there are the actual WMs themselves to consider, of which there are almost too many to count. I have not used Ubuntu extensively, but I know that you can install most WMs fairly easily, such as Window Maker and FluxBox. However, in relation to Beryl specifically, most won't work with it as they don't run their panels and interface separate from their integrated WM (which was a painful discovery for me, since I really wanted to use Beryl with some of them).

Well, then I am still looking for a Win oriented, non-technical, analogy to "explain" XFCE.

I have used it a little, & am quite impressed. I may start using it on servers in order to have a basic GUI available. I'm surprised you consider it Gnome-like, I normally use KDE & felt quite at home in it, unlike how I feel in Gnome.
(Can you say "Cats & water?" :))
(Given that it seems to use FVWM, that's a potential groaner. :D )

I would consider it more like GNOME than KDE simply because it doesn't have as much "flash" as KDE by default. GNOME/XFCE have a more simplistic (maybe even utilitarian) interface which is designed to be easy to use and manage. KDE has a very distinct visual flare in almost every aspect of it. It follows GNOME's ideology of keeping things simple, rather than having tons and tons of configurable customization options.

That and the top bar that is on a default XFCE installation is very similar to what is in GNOME. You have various little plugins you can add to it, like weather reports, and you can put the XFCE-menu up there so it has the same pull-down application menu as GNOME does by default.

That said, I much prefer KDE over GNOME myself, but do like XFCE. I think that I don't like GNOME because it is so large but at the same time doesn't give me a lot of options. XFCE, being relatively small, I am OK with it not being as dynamic since you usually expect smaller applications to forgo some options and capabilities in exchange for efficiency.

Well thank you guys. I really appreciate your help on this. Linux is a whole new world for me and to say I am excited would be an understatement.

I had a question based on MS3FGX's post hereAs I understood it Beryl will not run on Ubuntu?. What exactly should I look for if I wanted to run Beryl along with KDE/gnome (since it looks like I will need KDE/Gnome for a working desktop).

Thank you again for your help!

Beryl will work under Ubuntu if you are using a compatible desktop manager (with all three main variants are), but Beryl is not included by default, as is the case with most distributions.

If you want Beryl and KDE, then you could use Kubuntu and install Beryl, or you could use Sabayon, which includes Beryl by default and runs KDE.