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From: pjg@acsu.buffalo.edu (Paul Graham)
Newsgroups: comp.emacs,comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: X marks the suit
Message-ID: <32295@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 8 Aug 90 03:01:24 GMT
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grunwald@foobar.colorado.edu writes:
|
|You're correct. SWM looks and feels like is a superset of TWM,
|allowing you to switch between Twm-ish, OpenLook and MWM behaviour.

actually swm might be better characterized as offering either Motif or
OpenLook decorations and characteristics -- as provided -- or a number of
other interfaces within the limits of its configurability.  it doesn't seem
very much like twm (tom's window manager) or twm (tab window manager) to me
at all.  which is probably why i don't use it.  i did spend some time
getting it to be reminiscent of twm (tom's) but although i like the panner
(and vtwm could do a better job of copying if that's what they like) i
don't like it enough to give up twm (tab).  actually the
panner/virtual-desktop (i think the trouble must be about the panner since
i'm sure lots of folks [me included] have had various ideas about virtual
desktops, + multi-screens + etc., for some time) is neat.  i'd like to know
the origins of these ideas if they have some. i.e. did the people at
parc(place) consider such a thing and then discard it and not really
useful?  if you have some pointers/annecdotes please mail them to me.

[for those who haven't seen it]

the "panner" is a small window that is filled with smaller rectangles.  the
largest of these represents the current visible portion of the "virtual"
display and the visible portion is usually some small fraction of the
total.  scattered around this representation of the virtual display are
smaller rectangles that represent floating open windows.  in the "panner"
you can click/drag things around (on/off/partially-on the screen), either
open windows or the visible portion of the display (i.e. "pan" the viewport
around).  non-floating items are always fixed in the same place.  i
understand that other (non-x) versions of things like this let you perform
all window manager functions, rather than just move, from inside the
"panner".  from my naive viewpoint a "panner" is just a variation on the
icon-manager idea (or vice-versa).