Re: Lightweight desktops?

On Nov 5, 11:58 am, Dan Espen <dan...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Dan C <youmustbejok...@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
On Mon, 05 Nov 2007 16:27:05 +0100, Robert Heller wrote:

A 'lightweight desktop' does lots less than Gnome and KDE. A lightweight
desktop generally means:

1) NO GUI file manager. You learn how to navigate the file
system with the shell from an xterm.
2) NO Heavyweight task / session manager. You lauch most
applications from the shell from an xterm.
3) NO 'Start' menu.
4) Little or no 'eye candy' (a very simple / sparse desktop). In
the extreme case it means no application launcher icons at all, just a
simple (usually text only) menu of very basic applications (web browser,
e-mail client, xterm, and a few odds and ends).

Basically, just a small step up from a pure console (no graphics at all)
setup.

I'd have to disagree with most of this, depending on how you define
"lightweight" desktop. Since the OP was referencing it to KDE/Gnome, I
would certainly include Xfce and Fluxbox in the category of "lightweight",
and they certainly do NOT meet any of the 4 conditions you specify above.
They have all of those features, and more.

Someone has to get the draw the line between "desktop" and "window manager".
I nominate Matt Chapman.

By his defintion, only Gnome, KDE, CDE, and XFCE qualify:

http://xwinman.org/

Personally, I have no use for desktops.


There are 2 main features that make desktops really handy for me.
First is the organized list of applications. Second is showing newly
mounted external devices as icons. Related to that is popping a
window to ask what to do with a newly attached usb or firewire device
or a CD or DVD in the optical drive. Maybe I'm just lazy.

.

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