xfce, fluxbox, iceWM.... what's the difference?

[SkittleLinux18]

You guys wanna give me some quick explanations on this, please?

[elija]

Have a look at this linky

[Gtrax]

In my admittedly limited experience...

Xfce, Fluxbox, and IceWM are so-called 'lightweight' window managers. They have less expansive bells and whistles compared to the 'Big Two' meaning GNOME and KDE. This does not mean they are poorer for it. Many folk appreciate the zippy snap-to fast responses, and the low tax on computer resource. It also makes them more suitable for making older hardware perform to look and feel like faster modern kit.

Probably Xfce has the most configuration features. Notably, the desktop icons require a Windows-style 'double click' although within the file management tool (usually Thunar as default) you can set folders to open with a single click. A single right-click on the desktop brings up the menu, although Xfce as delivered with Zenwalk and Vector Linux also put a 'Menu' icon on the taskbar. Xfce desktops can be configured to be hard to tell from a KDE, or even a Windows version.

Fluxbox is damn fast, but very functional. I have not had much chance to really try it, but it seems much more geeky and less easy on newbies. There are not so many configuration tools. If you want to change a font, or a border, or a background, you may need to find and edit a config file. Tends to be a favourite among Gentoo users who cannot face another 'emerge kde' adventure.

IceWM is the next I will try, (only had a quick look so far). It comes with a whole lot of themes, and was built from the start for speed, and a consistent interface. It cames with support for KDE and Gnome menus inherently built-in. Like Fluxbox, you configure it by editing files, but there are several graphical configurator aids to help do this for you.

Also in this field, though bigger, is the 'Enlightenment' desktop. Some implementations of these desktops are designed to be more familiar to Windows users. Like with Xfce, where every aspect of look-and-feel, window focus, and mouse behaviour can be altered, there are some radical and colourful desktops out there.

[SkittleLinux18]

Have a look at this linky

In my admittedly limited experience...

Xfce, Fluxbox, and IceWM are so-called 'lightweight' window managers. They have less expansive bells and whistles compared to the 'Big Two' meaning GNOME and KDE. This does not mean they are poorer for it. Many folk appreciate the zippy snap-to fast responses, and the low tax on computer resource. It also makes them more suitable for making older hardware perform to look and feel like faster modern kit.

Probably Xfce has the most configuration features. Notably, the desktop icons require a Windows-style 'double click' although within the file management tool (usually Thunar as default) you can set folders to open with a single click. A single right-click on the desktop brings up the menu, although Xfce as delivered with Zenwalk and Vector Linux also put a 'Menu' icon on the taskbar. Xfce desktops can be configured to be hard to tell from a KDE, or even a Windows version.

Fluxbox is damn fast, but very functional. I have not had much chance to really try it, but it seems much more geeky and less easy on newbies. There are not so many configuration tools. If you want to change a font, or a border, or a background, you may need to find and edit a config file. Tends to be a favourite among Gentoo users who cannot face another 'emerge kde' adventure.

IceWM is the next I will try, (only had a quick look so far). It comes with a whole lot of themes, and was built from the start for speed, and a consistent interface. It cames with support for KDE and Gnome menus inherently built-in. Like Fluxbox, you configure it by editing files, but there are several graphical configurator aids to help do this for you.

Also in this field, though bigger, is the 'Enlightenment' desktop. Some implementations of these desktops are designed to be more familiar to Windows users. Like with Xfce, where every aspect of look-and-feel, window focus, and mouse behaviour can be altered, there are some radical and colourful desktops out there.

Thanks guys, that helps a lot!! And I definitely had a good look at the link you gave me. Now comes the big question: Which is better? Xfce, fluxbox, IceWM, or Enlightenment?"

[thesimplecreator]

its really an opinion on wich is better. so ANSWERS MAY VARY lol

i like xfce, but jwm works perfect installed on xubuntu(the speed is unbeatable)

[Dapper Dan]

As most anyone here who knows me will tell you, I'm IceWM all the way.

I've tried most of the other major window managers and in my opinion, IceWM is the fastest, the most configurable and the easiest to configure and customize. You'll get differing opinions about this though. You need to try as many as you can and use the one that best suits you.

By the way, here's something that many don't know: Just because you use Gnome doesn't mean you have to use its window manager Metacity. Nothing wrong with it but if you prefer, you can use the Gnome desktop environment with other window managers as well. On Ubuntu, I use Gnome Desktop with IceWM window manager.

Not to be critical here, but XFCE really qualities as a Desktop Environment, not just a window manager.

[Gtrax]

Not that I know where all the overlaps are, but maybe we had better make very clear what are window managers and what are desktop environments, and how some come automatically bundled with the other, and how some can (seemingly) manage to use the other, no doubt with a whole bunch of hacks.

If you get a Linux system working enough to deliver a command line login, the next step is to go graphical, to invoke the famous 'X'. XFree86, and later X.org provide the kit. A graphical interface has also to include keyboard, mouse, monitor capability, graphics adaptor, etc, and is needed by all the flavours of window manager.

So you are going to come across display managers called xdm and gdm and kdm, any one of which can do the whole job by itself. These do the bones of getting the graphics up. Then on top of that, you have window managers, for which we repeat the link to the colourful set of logos here --> 'Window Managers'

At this stage, either you, or an automatic script is going to deliver a command such as 'startx' or 'startxfce4' or 'startkde'. You get all kinds, and the way these initialize scripts allow and exclude to achieve selection is a marvelous tangle of 'ifs', 'ands', and 'buts', and checks for each other's existence.

The window managers provide the different desktop environment behaviors, the 'look and feel'. They come with collections of established tools, like a way to see and manipulate your files, a menu to let you kick your stuff into life, themes, icons, and suchlike. Its easy to see why you might end up with KDE using kdm by default, but GNOME will run under more than gdm. I don't know if absolutely any combination works, or even if they can live together, different ones being invoked as needed. Xfce is a desktop environment, just like GNOME or IceWM. Its all about window widgets and borders and focus and functionality, not about making the graphics adaptor and mouse work.

For most of us, we make our choice of desktop (say Xfce4), and let the installer figure out what to put under it (say gdm). Then, when we install another desktop choice, (maybe GNOME), it will possibly be added without changing the display manager underneath.

[SkittleLinux18]

Ok I just installed IceWM in Mint 4.0 KDE edition. I logged out and back in, changing the session type to IWM. So my question is this:

Since I am still running KDE as my Desktop Environment, is IceWM running as fast and lightweight as it could be; or is it heavier and slower?

[Dapper Dan]

If you chose it as a session choice, it should be running alone without KDE. If KDE is still going and you want to use it under KDE, do:

icewm --replace

...while in KDE and IceWM will handle the windows. Or, if you prefer to run it as just a window manager alone, log out, look in "sessions" while in kdm. If IceWM is installed, you should see it as a choice there. Choose it and log in as usual. If it doesn't appear there in kdm, log in to a default terminal, (also in your sessions menu), and after the terminal shows in the bottom right hand corner of your screen, do:

icewm-session

That should change you over to it. Keep in mind a bare IceWM desktop unconfigured will look very plain. Once it is running, look in your main menu and choose an IceWM theme. If the themes aren't there, you can easily get them through synaptic/apt...

apt-get install icewm-themes

There are about twenty or so of them, so you should be able to find one you like. From there, you can configure your desktop background, toolbar and menu to suit your liking. All are easily configured with your favourite editor and are located in .icewm located in your home directory.

Here are a few of my older ones to show some of what you can do...

Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

[SkittleLinux18]

If you chose it as a session choice, it should be running alone without KDE..... Here are a few of my older ones to show some of what you can do...

Perfect!! IceWM was showing up in kdm sessions menu. So I'm glad to know that when chosen, it's running alone at it's full potential. By the way, you're right: log in is almost instantaneous! I ran the code to get more themes and I went from 8 choices to like 50! hahahaha.... liQuid is my favorite theme. Anyway, thanks man! I'm going to keep playing around with this. It seems there are not a lot of apps preloaded on IceWM, which only adds to the purpose =D so I am going to get a few basic programs.

errr... wait, couldn't I just add the programs already installed in my root folders to IceWM's start menu??