Question about the history of twm

redneonglow · 02-17-2020, 02:49 PM

I always thought twm stood not for "Tom's Window Manager" or "Tab Window Manager", but "Teal Window Manager" (the default color scheme being teal). However, I can't find any evidence on Google of twm ever standing for "Teal Window Manager".

A long time ago I asked this question on Reddit, and they suggested this was an example of "the Mandela effect." But now that I am on LQ, I want to see what people here have to say. Has anyone on LQ ever heard of twm standing for "Teal Window Manager"?

rtmistler · 02-17-2020, 02:53 PM

Well did you look it up?

Because yes, there is no evidence of a teal window manager.

Mandela effect, or the same as a friend who overhead someone singing the Culture Club song, "I'll Tumble For You", and shamefully admitting that they had it incorrect and the whole time they thought the refrain was, incorrectly: I'll tell my lawyer.

We sort of had an awkward laugh at it, shook our heads and claimed he was the first who the alcohol affected that night.

Sorry, facetious I know, but you were wrong, please check the wiki.

MadeInGermany · 02-17-2020, 03:29 PM

Well, I have thought it were Trivial Window Manager, but Wikipedia says it is Tom's Window Manager.

ehartman · 02-17-2020, 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by redneonglow

I always thought twm stood not for "Tom's Window Manager" or "Tab Window Manager", but "Teal Window Manager"

This is the original announcement for twm

Quote:

Here is my first source posting to comp.unix.sources. I hope this is the
appropriate place for this code. There are 3 shar files for "twm". Twm
is a window manager for X11.

Twm has never been compiled or run on a System V machine. All development
was done on a Sun 3 running Release 3.4 of the operating system. It has
also been run on a VaxStation II and a VaxStation 8000.

Nothing real special you should have to do to compile it. If you are
running X11R1, you will have to link in the resource manager library in
addition to libX11.a.

We here at E&S; have been using twm for almost 6 months now in various
states of development. I hope you find it to be useful tool. Twm is my
first, and so far, only X program. If I'm doing anything blatently wrong,
forgive me.

I would appreciate hearing from those who like it as well as those who
dislike it.

--
Tom LaStrange

It doesn't give a derivation of the name, but it's from 1988, long before Linux was first created, so for "real Unix/X11".
PS: that SUN version mentioned was before Solaris too....

rtmistler · 02-17-2020, 06:27 PM

It originally was called Tom but it was renamed to Tab.

fatmac · 02-18-2020, 05:31 AM

I've only know it as the Tab Window Manager, (since 1999).