WM Question: Fluxbox v. Blackbox v. Windowmaker

spaceballs · 02-19-2006, 01:13 AM

Here is a WM question. It isn't necessarily a slackware question, but users of most other distros don't use WMs as much. Here goes:

What is the difference between Fluxbox and Blackbox? Fluxbox's documentation says "a lot," but that doesn't really mean a whole lot to me. Why is one better than the other?

Windowmaker seems to be a little different beast than these other two. I did a search and couldn't find a lot about windowmaker. Can anyone give me the down and dirty on windowmaker?

cs-cam · 02-19-2006, 02:55 AM

Quote:

It isn't necessarily a slackware question, but users of most other distros don't use WMs as much.

Is that because Slackware users are so leet? Man I wish I was as pro as you...

Fluxbox is pretty average, well it's a good WM on the surface but there are a few minor bugs that get annoying over time and the dev team has a really shitty attitude about it. Kind of like "We don't notice it so go away now kthxbi". Blackbox is a lighter WM, less features but just feels nicer IMO. Never used Windowmaker cause every screenshot I've seen looks like crap.

Why don't you install them? They aren't big or anything...

rigelan · 02-19-2006, 09:45 PM

Good idea. Try them out. I use fluxbox, and don't have any problems with it. It just uses manual configuration files in the .fluxbox directory.

pdw_hu · 02-20-2006, 03:48 AM

I use blackbox, cause it's fast, minimalist which just suits my needs. And not to mention it's 1337

koloth · 02-20-2006, 04:37 AM

I use windowmaker i can tell you that it's light, fast, highly configurable and there is an enormous number of dockups for its dock. Give it a try it's worth it.

tuxdev · 02-20-2006, 01:04 PM

IceWM is good too. The themes that come with are less straining on the eyes than Fluxbox or Blackbox IMO.

pdw_hu · 02-20-2006, 02:24 PM

Well i believe that default themes are at the end of list when choosing a wm

ludist · 02-20-2006, 03:29 PM

My main objectives are light / practical and BLACK colors.

IceWM suits me in the first two, but I din't manage to have black colors on programs (newbie). I have black theme on firefox e.t.c. but xchat and other programs are light gray (bad for my eyes).

KDE awfull to my PIII 500Mhz, slow and ram hungry.

pdw_hu · 02-20-2006, 04:06 PM

I'm using a ghost in the shell theme (maybe it was only a gits) from themes.freshmeat.net. Of course i changed the desktop.

http://users.atw.hu/pdw/desk.jpg
If you are interested. Yes, no toolbar if wondering

Poetics · 02-20-2006, 05:26 PM

I love Fluxbox - even on 'modern' (high-powered) systems it suits my needs. Blackbox isn't necessarially 'stripped down,' because iirc Fluxbox was bourne of Blackbox. Never used WM.

cs-cam · 02-20-2006, 11:24 PM

Quote:

xchat and other programs are light gray

You need to install and setup a black GTK theme then.

spaceballs · 02-21-2006, 12:51 AM

This is more of a Window Maker question, but what are the dock and that paperclip for? I tried to read about it on the documentation, but I couldn't find much about it.

quintessence · 02-21-2006, 07:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pdw_hu

I use blackbox, cause it's fast, minimalist which just suits my needs. And not to mention it's 1337

.. same here.. but i use fluxbox ,lol

tuxdev · 02-21-2006, 12:14 PM

The dock in WM is used for app launch shortcuts and for the many applets available for things like the clock, battery status, XMMS. Don't remember what the paperclip is for.

spaceballs · 02-22-2006, 12:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tuxdev

The dock in WM is used for app launch shortcuts and for the many applets available for things like the clock, battery status, XMMS. Don't remember what the paperclip is for.

OK, now what is the difference between the dock in WM and the slit in fluxbox?