i have a very simple but yet very importend (for me) question -

i have been using slackware 9.0 for a while now - totally rid myself of winblows and feeling proud of it - anyhow -

i wanna setup slackware (cause imho slack is the best (4 me)) but i don't want kde or gnome cause they feel really bulky and i don't even use 10% of either - i have a liking t'wards fluxbox but i am still a slave to winblows and kde + gnome way of desktop ways with a taskbar with a {start}menu button acces to quicklinks time, pager ect - and a desktop with icons - so whot i wanna know is if there is a window manager that has the taskbar and desktop features but isn't as bulky as kde/gnome - also found a fancy for xfce4 but neither xfce4 or fluxb has the desktop icons option (tried the plugin for flux but had no luck) and is almost tempted to use xfce4 as my WM but it still has that primitive look and the 3rd one i looked at was afterstep also with a couple of cool things attached to it -

i am also trying to go after independent apps that isn't dependent on having another useless program to be installed in order to work - like xfce doesn't need kde or gnome to be installed to work i want the same for the software i run - like netscape as a browser ect ect ect

one thing that i have probs with is that only kde a gnome setup my sound right - aRts - cause of my nvidia onboard sound system running the nforce stuff { which by the way when i install the nforce drivers for linux i get a kernel tainted error }

i do hope who ever reads this has an idea where i am headed -

secondly i am strugling a bit setting up dual display on slackware - i have one onboard nvidia gforce 2 and a voodoo3 pci and two 14" screens running 1024x768 @ 60Hz - my problem is i can't get the gforce to work gl and rgb and dri - i did search in this forum and google and seems like every other distro under the sun has a problem settin up devices like this except slackware which either means slackware is really with dual stuff and i am doing something wrong or nobody is using dual display, something i find hard to believe. i did edit my XF86Config file and have both listed and the screens setup and everything related to that but voodoo3 just refuses to work like it supposed to -

then i would like to enquire bout file viewers like kde's konqueror or gnomes nautilus - i would like to have one that is independent but at the same time give me as much freedom as nautilus and konqueror -

and as a last point i am having trouble with sun's j2re - i download the *.bin file and do like they say but all that happens is the files get's extractedto the local dir where the *.bin file is located - i then move it to /usr/lib/j2re-version/ - and then have a java.sh in my /etc/profile.d/ folder wich points to where my java x is and the man files - but as soon as i try to use anything that requires java doesn't work at all and even my browsers complain bout java - how do i go about installing it so my slack system knows it iis there {i googled and read forum after forum and everyone on most other distro's have problems but they don't relate to my problem}

and my last point today i need to figure out is how do i build a package for my slack from places like j2re and most other apps that doesn't make use of ./configure && make && checkinstall ??? i use this method to compile and install a program on slack so i can view it in kpackage and use the pkgtools to setup and maintain my installed files - i came to know it as my litlle add/remove for linux.

my last real problem is with my modem - i have a duxbury 56k external on ttyS0 my problem is it dials-up nicely and get my 44000bps connection {exactly whot i expect} but for some reason i just can't surf and pinging a site from terminal is just as bad and slow whot am i to do - i have a pc running as a general firewall and router for my network and right now it uses windows cause i couldn't get it to work with linux - slow speed - i tried running slack, mandrake even tried smoothwall and on all the same problem slow speed even from the pc where the link is on, my usual download speed is round about 4-6 Kbps but when i dial-up using some sort of linux the best i get on download speed is not even 900bps - i have tried everything i could with my limited knowledge of troubleshooting in linux and i just can't get anything to work - any suggestions ???


last note before i stop typing - is that i wanna build a small light stable system where i feel at home and is not bound by the ideas of someone else on how a desktop pc should look or work - is there any hope of acieving this ???

i think this about covers most of my pressing questions since i am not using winblows anymore {don't even have it on one of my hdd's}

Have you looked at trying window managers like IceWM, or FVWM95? I believe they have the taskbar available.

hi -

i did try IceWM & FVWM95 and the ones that comes installed with slack 9.0 and none of them appealed to me except xfce and fluxbox/blackbox - i am a power and configure hungry person - the more power i get the better and the more something allows me to configure it the bettere and the more i am allowed to find out something works and fits together the more my knowledge grows - and i am not just after a taskbar

You'll find that the latest version of XFCE has a much more polished and professional look to it.
The version of XFCE in 9.0 really does look primitive

There are a few ways of getting desktop icons with different windowmanagers that don't support it.
Fbdesk is one program meant to be used with fluxbox to get desktop icons.
I believe there's also ICEdesk for ICEwm.

There's a lot out there, and only so much time to explore

There are slack-packs which make it easy to upgrade to XFCE 4.0.x
I like it quite a bit.

--Shade

Try using xfce and run nautilus.

Then you will get the best window manager and you will also get the desktop you are after.

Have a look at fluxbox + rox filer + rox desktop if you want to put icons on the desktop.

With Rox-Session and the openbox window manager you can
get a taskbar-type panel, desktop top icons and a right-click desktop menu.

Add Rox-Menu for a start-type menu, gkrellm for a clickable dsl/dialup
connection, and you have a fairly functional desktop without
KDE or Gnome.

Unfortunately, there are no official Slackware packages for any
of these programs so you would have to install/compile them by
hand.

been looking aroundat WM's last night and ...
i did download all of xfce and fluxbox and is busy with rox - afterstep also looks ok -

doesn't nautilus need gnome to function ????

and i don't like downloading premade packages for slackware - i love building them myself - but i still get a bit stumped with programs that doesn't feature the ./configure stuff or have their own installer - but i am getting the hang of it - checkinstall is really a cool program making life so much nicer on slack - truly slackware really gives me everything i want - power -stability - freedom to do whot I want - ect -

my one reall problem is keeping stuff up2date there is so much things to see and do - been busy trying to compile the new 2.6.x kernels but not having much luck that y aksed bout the whole slack thing cause i wanna install just the basic slack packages and then after that add only the stuff i downloaded so i have my own system with only the things i want on it - kinda like slackware from scratch - hehehehhehe -

well - i gotta go now - need to go paint a flat !! -

please allow me to say that in all the time i have been on this forum it is great to see so many people together helping each other - and a big thanx from me 2 -

laters

peace

>>doesn't nautilus need gnome to function

If I said that xfce would give you a good window manager and running nautilus would give you the desktop features you asked for.....

I meant it.

Try it out and it will be as I already told you.

I may have misunderstood your question. If you were wondering if you had to install gnome for nautilus to function, you will have to install most of gnome.

But I like to use the best app for the job. Thus I have the base packages for kde and gnome installed. That lets me run konqueror, etc. from kde and a few gnome apps that I need.

Most people aren't hurting for hard drive space on a desktop machine so install the packages and use the apps that you like

cool - i'll give it a try -

one thing i did notice is when i run nautilus is the desktop changes - freaky ! hehehehe -

i always try to install with the future in mind so that i am able to change stuff as i go along -

don't know how good u r with slackware - but i still have way much to learn and is eager to learn - that one of the cool things of slack is u leanr something everyday - well me anyway -

just one question pooped to mind - how do u keep up to date with ur packages ?? there is so much - how do u define when is the right time to update packages ?? maybe if there was a serious but in the version u have or when there is a major update or version change ???????

anyhow thanx for the tip - i'll be off now in my quest for a perfect system -

laterz

If you want to run nautilus without it changing the desktop run it as

nautilus --no-desktop

I thought he wanted to change the desktop -- he asked for icons.

But anyway....

I use swaret and keep my system current. Just make sure you do frequent backups of your home directory, /etc and anything else placed in important areas.

Keep good notes of how you installed things and files you like to modify just in case you want to reinstall sometime.

The more you get to know slack the better off you will be.

Windowmaker is great! Have a look at this HOWTO for tips on alternatives to KDE/GNOME.
http://home.earthlink.net/~gnashley/...ix8_1howto.htm
I have a great little 160MB 9.1 system with only gtk+-1.2.10.
Windowmaker, ROX_Filer, Opera 7.23, SciTE and nedit, yawmppp and now with KNOPPIX-style hwsetup using kudzu libs and my own hardware recognition routines that find most IDE or SCSI CD/DVD drives and hard disks.

gnashley - i'll have a look into it - it sounds like exactly the system i am trying to setup - i wanna do the same to a p1 200Mhz that i use as an router/firewall - but somehow slack doesn't like my modem cause my dialups is right but my speed doesn't even make 900bps when it supposed to do 4 to 5 Kbs - whot is this knoppix i have been reading bout lately ??????

laterz

=======EDIT========

y u running Opera if i may ask ?? i found that opera is cool but it doesn't do as good as netscape ?? (i have both and i prefer netscape) i gues cause i don't know opera that well and the fact that opera don't wanna work java, java-vm or show other stuff on the internet -

=======EDIT=2=======

KNOPPIX-style hwsetup using kudzu libs and my own hardware recognition routines that find most IDE or SCSI CD/DVD drives and hard disks. <-- Can u elaborate on this ???