Author: Rick Moen Date: To: dng Subject: Re: [DNG] fvwm
Quoting Stephen Dennison (stephenrd@???):
> A user interface that faces a graphical operating system... I don't
> understand the choice of words picked here. I followed the link but
> it didn't really help. I'm not sure which words are supposed to be
> modifying which other words.
Here's how this came about: A few times over the years, Steve has
referred to things like XFCE as a 'window manager', and was told
(paraphrasing) 'Technically, that's a DE that characteristically uses
_xfwm_ as its window manager but has also hooks to instead use the
awesome WM or any other WM, preferably one compliant with the XFCE
suite's hinting interface for alternate WMs'.
After this occurred a few times, Steve's response was _not_ 'I guess I
ought to learn more accurately what a window manager is'[1], but rather
concocting a new, opaque, difficult to remember, and somewhat hideous
jargon item and continually ask everyone else to adopt it & cease
talking about WMs and DEs.
Which obviously isn't working, and won't work -- but everyone needs a
hobby.
> I think I grasp how you want the term to be used, but
> every time I see the new acronym come up I have to google it again to find
> out what it is.
Which, along with fundamental pointlessness, is why it won't work.
> > A session is something that runs for awhile, and usually the
> > implication is it's already running.
>
> Yeah, a session is certainly something that runs for a while, but no,
> it does not imply that it's already running.
To quibble: SLiM actually uses the word 'session' to mean 'user state,
maintained on-disc by an X11 session manager.' In that context, it
_doesn't_ mean merely something that runs for a while. Don't take my
word for it: Read /etc/slim.conf, find the sessiondir line, and look up
what the referenced directory location houses.
> I would be curious to hear how others handle this when they wish to
> customize their session.
Don't look at me. ;-> I prefer xdm from the Stone Age as my X display
manager. Because it's bog-simple.
[1] In a better world, Steve might also have expressed gratitude to his
interlocutors for letting him know that different WMs could be swapped
in, and maybe finding one he likes better. Steve's helpers were, after
all, trying to tell him something useful he might not have known -- not
just quibbling for quibbling's sake.