The Perfect Window Manager / Desktop Environment

[oz]

A couple of years back, I was a distro-hopper for several years before finally settling in with Arch Linux. Now that I've found my distro, I can't seem to find that special window manager (WM) / desktop environment (DE) that's just right for me. Obviously what's just right for one person isn't perfect for everyone else, so please keep in mind that this isn't meant to be a "what's the best WM/DE thread".

As for window managers, I've run numerous releases of Blackbox, Fluxbox, Openbox, FVWM, IceWM, PekWM, Enlightenment, Rat Poison, Ion, and wmii. Of course, they all have their pluses and negatives, but none of them come close to perfect. When it comes to complete desktop environments, I've run Gnome, KDE, and Xfce... each of them many times. They are all quite nice, but then you start getting into mounds of files, special libraries, and overall bloat. Xfce is the smaller DE, but it's noticeably not as well polished as Gnome, or KDE.

It seems that once I find a WM/DE that suits me, I quickly become bored with it and then move on to something else. There's simply nothing out there that keeps my interests for long. While I've thought about trying to write my own WM/DE, I'm not overly eager to get that deeply involved. The FVWM window manager gives the user a huge amount of control, but it's also a great deal of work to write your own configuration from scratch.

It would really be nice if the user could go in and pick the very best things about each WM/DE and then assemble them into the perfect WM/DE, but unfortunately it's not as simple as that.

Do any of you have this problem, or am I all alone in this crazy world of window managers and desktop environments?

* I've included below the links to all the sites, WM's, and DE's mentioned above in case any of you should want to check them out:

arch linux distribution

window managers for X

blackbox window manager

fluxbox window manager

openbox window manager

FVWM window manager

icewm window manager

pekwm window manager

enlightenment window manager

ratpoison window manager

Ion window manager

wmii window manager

Gnome desktop environment

KDE desktop environment

Xfce desktop environment

[benjamin20]

ive never really thoguht of a DE or WM as something that is suspose to be, well, entertaining. thats what games are for. there are game like DEs, but nobody uses them on the count that they are pointless.

[antidrugue]

What about Joe's Window Manager? I like it a lot personally.

Since version 4.4, I can't stop using Xfce though.

[oz]

What about Joe's Window Manager? I like it a lot personally.

Thanks for the suggestion, antidruge - that's one I've not tried. The screenshot reminds of a bit of the default look for FVWM.

[techieMoe]

ive never really thoguht of a DE or WM as something that is suspose to be, well, entertaining. thats what games are for.

I'm kind of the same way. In fact, in the height of my gaming days in college I'd load up a minimalistic WM like Blackbox just so that I'd have more system resources available for my games.

[oz]

ive never really thoguht of a DE or WM as something that is suspose to be, well, entertaining. thats what games are for. there are game like DEs, but nobody uses them on the count that they are pointless.

No, I agree and don't look to the WM/DE for entertainment myself, but then I don't find games at all entertaining, either, for that matter. My entertainment usually comes from good movies, certain sports, and from traveling.

For me, the WM/DE matter boils down to the ability to customize, ease of use, overall looks, stability, and footprint size, but not necessarily in that order.

[owa]

Ahh, the perfect OS, the perfect window manager, the perfect ... whatever. I, like you, have been distro-hopping, looking for that 'perfect OS.' I currently use CentOS5, somewhat modified to clean up just the bloat you refer to. Gnome works fine for me. KDE seems clunky, no offense KDE lovers. But I have to say this.
I'm reminded of something my Dad said to me when I was at the age that everyone over thirty was stupid, especially parents. We had been talking about what I saw in my future. I had said that I wanted to be rich. His reply was, "Getting money is like eating breakfast. 'Long 'bout noon, you get hungry again." I didn't say it, but I thought, "Good grief! What a stupid thing to say!"
It was many years later that I understood the wisdom of what he'd said. About getting money, specifically, that truth is almost painful. But, in a larger sense, achieving any goal, whether it's a financial goal, a job or position, that dream house, or that dream car. it seems that not long after we get it, we begin wishing for something better, and finding faults with what we have.
So, I'll close for now by saying, "Enjoy your breakfast!"
owa

[fingal]

I must be honest: I don't really think about it. I actually avoid going into the finer points of DEs and Window Managers. I'm still using KDE 3.4 and it works perfectly. As long as things work, I'll only dig into them and find out more if they start to 'act up' (stop working properly).

If it ain't bust, don't fix it and be content.

[Juan Pablo]

Have you tried WindowMaker? I uses it a couple of weeks with Crux and it was pretty good

[MikeTbob]

Afterstep WM is still around....updated in 2007 too!
AfterStep - Welcome to the Official AfterStep website