KDE and FVWM: Environmental Variable

[DavidMD]

Hello, everyone!

Glen Lee Edwards in his personal Web site about customizing one's Linux system with FVWM (http://members.fcwm.org/glen/fvwm/) states that "You don't have to choose between FVWM and KDE. They work well together. You can have all the configurability that FVWM brings to you, and all the nifty little tools that KDE provides."

Glen continues by stating that "To use FVWM as the window manager for KDE, beginning with KDE 3.1 you can set the environmental variable: KDEWM="fvwm" and then start KDE."

I have been searching Google/Linux for instructions on setting the environmental variable in Linux, but I many solutions are offered, depending upon the topic being discussed.

How do I set the environmental variable as Glen recommends for using FVWM with KDE (3.1)? Do I add the line he suggests to '.bashrc'?

I am still in the painful process of researching FVWM, which offers the ability to personalize just about anything, but configuration is extremely complex -- or seems so to me! :) For some perverse reason, I am very interested in FWWM. (For one thing, it is blindingly fast compared to KDE, even on my Pentium 4 PC.)

My plan is to use FVWM with KDE, or FVWM by itself. In both cases, I want to use the CDE theme with FVWM, and I have been trying to gather as much information as possible.

I have also come across a reference to a program called 'cdesim', but I have not yet found a detailed description. (A copy comes with my distribution, SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional, but the description is very brief, and I do not know how current that copy of 'cdesim' is or if 'cdesim' is still being maintained.) I would appreciate any information or pointers about 'cdesim'. (Thanks!)

Thank you very much, in advance! :)

Cordially,

David
--
http://ddickerson.igc.org/

[mdwatts]

Hey David...

Look into /etc/sysconfig/windowmanager


#
# Here you can set the default window manager (kde, fvwm, ...)
#
DEFAULT_WM="kde"

#
# install the SuSE extension for new users
# (theme and additional functions)
#
INSTALL_DESKTOP_EXTENSIONS="yes"


If that doesn't work, then try as suggested and add

KDEWM="fvwm"
export KDEWM

to /etc/profile (system wide) or /home/<user>/.bashrc or .bash_profile.

The windowmanager can also be set in /home/<user>/.xinitrc


#!/bin/bash
#
# Sample .xinitrc for SuSE Linux
# This script is called from 'startx' when you start an X session
#

#
# In case everything goes wrong, we at least fall back to a plain xterm
#
failsafe="xterm -ls -T Failsave -geometry 80x24-0-0"
trap "exec $failsafe" EXIT SIGHUP SIGINT SIGPIPE SIGTERM SIGIO

#
# Some bash (1 and 2) settings to avoid trouble on a
# failed program call.
#
test -n "$BASH" && set +o posix
no_exit_on_failed_exec=1
type shopt > /dev/null 2>&1 && shopt -s execfail
set +e > /dev/null 2>&1

#
# This should be the default
#
export TERM=xterm

#
# choose a window manager
#
if test -n "$WINDOWMANAGER" ; then
WINDOWMANAGER=`type -p $WINDOWMANAGER`
fi
if test -z "$WINDOWMANAGER" ; then
if test -x /usr/X11R6/bin/kde ; then
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/X11R6/bin/kde
elif test -x /usr/X11R6/bin/startkde ; then
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/X11R6/bin/startkde
elif test -x /usr/X11R6/bin/fvwm2 ; then
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/X11R6/bin/fvwm2
elif test -x /usr/X11R6/bin/wmlist ; then
for i in `/usr/X11R6/bin/wmlist` ; do
WINDOWMANAGER=`type -p $i`
test -n "$WINDOWMANAGER" && break
done
elif test -x /usr/X11R6/bin/twm ; then
WINDOWMANAGER=/usr/X11R6/bin/twm
fi
fi

if test -z "$WINDOWMANAGER" ; then
echo "Error: Unable to find a window manager. Please make sure you installed one!"
echo "Exiting..."
xmessage -timeout 10 -default okay -center -file - <<-EOF
Error: Unable to find a window manager. Please make sure you installed one!
Exiting...
EOF
exit 1
fi

#
# Load system and users resources if not already done
# (XSESSION_IS_UP set by xdm in $XLIBDIR/xdm/Xsession)
#
if test "$XSESSION_IS_UP" != "yes" ; then
XLIBDIR=/usr/X11R6/lib/X11
test -r $XLIBDIR/Xmodmap && xmodmap $XLIBDIR/Xmodmap
test -r $HOME/.Xmodmap && xmodmap $HOME/.Xmodmap
test -r $XLIBDIR/Xresources && xrdb -load -retain $XLIBDIR/Xresources
test -r $HOME/.Xdefaults && xrdb -I$HOME -merge $HOME/.Xdefaults
test -r $HOME/.Xresources && xrdb -I$HOME -merge $HOME/.Xresources
fi

# Start the XIM server
test -r $HOME/.xim && source $HOME/.xim

# Enable Numlock if set
test -r /var/run/numlock-on -a -x /usr/X11R6/bin/numlock && /usr/X11R6/bin/numlock

#
# Add your own lines here...
#


# day planer deamon
# pland &

#
# finally start the window manager
#
exec $WINDOWMANAGER

# call failsafe
exit 0

[DavidMD]

Hi, Mike!

Thank you very much.

Although your instructions differ from Glen's, I trust your expertise on this matter. ;) In addition, SuSE has a habit of putting files in different places than other distributions and requiring different configuration methods.

Will the changes that you suggest mean that FVWM will be my default window manager or will the changes have FVWM running as the WM for KDE? I assume that I can still run "pure" KDE or FVWM?

Finally, I did find some information about 'cdesim' on the Web, including the RPM for SuSE Linux 8.2 Professional (which I am running) -- basically just descriptions and a list of the contents of the RPM. The most current version of 'cde-sim' appears to be 0.42-462, which is dated March 2002, although I did see one reference to a slightly later version (that broke under SuSE 7.3 and, I would guess, does not work with 8.2 -- hence the inclusion of this version with 8.2). The 'cdesim' RPM includes many files, including a configuration file for FVWM and many .XPM icon files. (I have not located a home page for 'cdesim', however, which is disconcerting.)

I will give your suggestions a try, Mike, backing up any file before I modify it, and report back to you. Thanks very much! :)

I hope that you are doing well.

Cordially,

David
--
http://ddickerson.igc.org/

P.S. -- For the very few people interested in running the actual CDE window manager under Linux, Xi Graphics (http://www.xi.com/) makes DeXtop. Unfortunately, you have to run their commercial substitute for XFree86 or you get know support.

Both products are also commercial, and I have no problem with Xi Graphics making a living, but CDE is hardly the solution for everyone and it never will become the standard Linux WM, as Xi Graphics advocates. In addition, Xi Graphics warns of some problems between DeXtop and KDE applications.

Both products have downloadable demonstration versions, but if you are interested in purchasing them, DeXtop is $50 and their version of X can get very expensive, depending on which version you buy. I do not know of anyone who uses their products, but Xi Graphics must make enough to stay in business. I have no reason to question the quality of their products, based upon their positive feedback. I realize, however, that many people would resist purchasing such commercial products, but there are many commercial products for Linux, such as Oracle's database, just to name one.

Still, if someone wants a version of X that is fully supported and offers solid 3-D hardware acceleration, Xi Graphics may be an option.

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by DavidMD

Will the changes that you suggest mean that FVWM will be my default window manager or will the changes have FVWM running as the WM for KDE? I assume that I can still run "pure" KDE or FVWM?


I'm not sure as I've never tried it myself. I would assume the first suggestion I posted would be correct for SuSE as I'm running SCO Linux which is mostly based on SuSE.

SCO Rants go in that long, long thread in /dev/random. :)

[DavidMD]

Hi, Mike!

Please forgive me for being rather dense, as usual. :rolleyes:

Are you saying that my default window manager still would be KDE (for SuSE 8.2 Pro)?

Thanks very much, Mike!

Cordially,

David
--
http://ddickerson.igc.org/

P.S. -- I love the speed of FVWM on my Pentium 4 PC and I would be happy to boot into FVWM, as opposed to running it with KDE, but the configuration language of FVWM is the antithesis of "intuitive"!

Using FVWM, preferably with the CDE theme, and configuring FVWM, have become a personal challenge for me, but I obviously don't want to spend too much time on it -- time that I might very well be wasting because of my inexpertise.

(I have been searching the Web and reading about configuring FVWM, but I have found no definitive source of information.) Just getting the icons to appear is going to be a daunting challenge!

Unfortunately, JustLinux has not been of much help, although I suspect more people here are using FVWM than I realize.

Again, Mike, thank you very much! :)

Originally posted by mdwatts
I'm not sure as I've never tried it myself. I would assume the first suggestion I posted would be correct for SuSE as I'm running SCO Linux which is mostly based on SuSE.

SCO Rants go in that long, long thread in /dev/random. :)

[DavidMD]

Hi, everyone.

I have done some more research on 'cdesim' and I even installed and ran it.

Unless you are an FVWM guru, I do not recommend 'cdesim'. It is definitely not stable (I ended up in the default FVWM setup several times) and the pager, in its default location, covers the right side of the CDE panel.

Anyway, that's my "two cents worth" on the subject. :)

Thanks.

Cordially,

David
--
http://ddickerson.igc.org

P.S. -- I believe that 'cdesim' is SuSE-specific, although RPMs are available for downloading. (Please note that main "read me" file is in German, but it's very simple German if you have studied German in the past. (I managed to get through it, and I've not studied German formally since early 1983.) ;)

[mdwatts]

Originally posted by DavidMD

Unless you are an FVWM guru, I do not recommend 'cdesim'. It is definitely not stable (I ended up in the default FVWM setup several times) and the pager, in its default location, covers the right side of the CDE panel.


Hi David,

Does that mean you are going back to KDE and forgetting FVWM/CDE due to it's instability issues?

[DavidMD]

Originally posted by mdwatts
Hi David,

Does that mean you are going back to KDE and forgetting FVWM/CDE due to it's instability issues?

Hi, Mike!

Thank you for your message. :)

The answer to your question, Mike, is "no way"! ;) Getting FVWM to work with the CDE theme has become a challenge for me -- a puzzle, if you will, that I want to solve, as a Linux learning experience and out of stubborness. :D

I do not, however, recommend 'cdesim', which is a window manager based on FVWM. It is completely unstable and "disappeared" on me every time I used it, taking me back to "vanilla FVWM." Based upon my experience, 'cdesim' is a kludge that the user can select from the list of window managers at startup. It looks like CDE, but it is extremely buggy.

I am not sure why I am fascinated by FVWM, Mike. I know that most people running Linux use KDE or Gnome, with a large percentage using other, more customizable window managers that are not ten years old, as is the case with FVWM. (Perhaps I just like the cute cats on the FVWM.org Web site.) ;)

I am amazed at how quickly FVWM performs on my Pentium 4 system; it runs circles around KDE! I certainly have the resources to run KDE, which is what I am using now, but I started reading about FVWM long before I ever installed Linux.

I wish that FVWM were not so hard to configure. Of course, as an (unemployed) technical writer, I highly value good documentation, and the FVWM Web site is sorely lacking, although the development team does really try.

In addition, ideally, Mike, I would like to be able to help any other JL members who want to explore FVWM, but before I can contribute to our on-line community, I have to figure out FVWM myself!

Thank you very much, Mike!

Cordially,

David
--
http://ddickerson.igc.org/