Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

[torm]

IceWM - Alternative idea concept.

This is about collecting different ideas on IceWM window manager,
and how to integrate it more closely with PuppyLinuxOS.

Official development of IceWM appears to be stopped at version 1.3.8.. or so.
There is unofficial but maintained fork developed at github
with the latest ( for time of post.. ) version IceWM-BRANCH-1.4.2

I would suggest IceWM-BRANCH-1.3.12.144 for testing.
It has a lot of bugfixes applied and I have not noticed any
runtime problems with it.
1.4.2 version from git (bbidulock/icewm) builds only with cmake on my system.
While the source looks a lot cleaner than the usual - where it comes to pixmap
related code etc., it appears to have some new and not resolved bugs.
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Alternative idea concept - Why?

To provide a version of IceWM that is easy to build for / install on PuppyLinuxOS.
Also to rework some design mistakes, that are kept in mainstream for "legacy theme support".
And to remove overlapping, hidden and/or obsolete features.

Maybe to integrate it with ROX filemanager ( desktop ) and Gtkdialog4 ( settings, dialogs.. )
more deeply, as those come preinstalled with most Puppy versions.
( I would not worry about Puppy versions that use XFCE/Thunar etc. )

Why IceWM ? It has most needed ( and some unneeded ) details already onboard and figured out.
It should be less work to fine-tune it, than start anew with some obsolete wm or to
start picking out the pieces of de and struggle with dependencies.
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The difference.

It should be smaller, more simple and solid, starting with the source.
More work for the theme designer and less for the user, to get things going and look right.
Easy to use and update.

In other words, something of a "sport" version, with balanced speed, weight and look.
Not the "light" version that, almost works, while without the features one would be
interested in..
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..how ?

For now it would be a place where anyone can make the suggestions.
If You feel like maintaining the project and/or moving it to github etc. please,
do say so. The way I see it, there is a lot of puzzles to resolve first.

[torm]

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[torm]

I'm afraid I'm running out of spare time with this thing..
Anyhow.. here's the current work-in-progress snapshot of the source.

NB!
It may or not work, - or compile on your system.
Also, don't expect a lot of updates or quick response to comments.
At the given moment, there are no real themes included and
no detailed documentation.
When in any doupt, please use official build of IceWM from PPM.


ChangeLog:
-- change from GNU LGPLv2 to GNU GPLv3(or any later) license
-- change namespace to "nicewm", can co-exist with regular icewm
-- simplified theme-engine, regular icewm themes will NOT work (should be easy to port)
-- removed (nearly) everything that I did not find use for..
-- added simple xdg-menu with automated (fixmenus) and on-demand update method
-- added gtkdialog4-based settings window with basic options
-- clock command defaults to GTK2 infowindow with month calendar, free space ( .. and? )

-- updated to version 01
-- ..some cleanup, and some changes in internal namespace
-- added "Logout" button on panel
-- simplified workspace buttons, should be harder to "forget" stuff on other workspaces..
-- moved date below the clock from tooltip
-- included theme and settings information in info folder as html files
-- added nicewm_setup.po and a script to create nicewm_setup.mo
-- nice_extras separated into "musthave" and "optional" folders, edited Makefiles
-- in "optional" folder included pclock-retro, well, it is optional..


-- updated to version 02
-- ..some more cleanup, no radical changes
-- should build around 10kb smaller now ( stripped size )


ToDoList:
-- if possible, fix systray a bit and allow decent theme support for it
-- move free space indication ( and maybe add alarm? ) to acpustatus.cc from infowindow?

Bugs:
-- there are some single-inactive state window ( .?? ) issues
that I have not figured out for now. Maybe there's hints in upstream 142..
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Known buildtime dependencies:

-- autopoint
I get the impression, that autopoint version should be
equal or better than gettext version..
For xenial, tahrpup and slacko that should be in range 0.18 to 0.19.8.1
You can type in terminal, to find out:
gettext --version
If it is within this range you can just use the autopoint pet below.
Doesn't matter if it is 32 or 64 bit system.
Or search for "autopoint" in the repository or PPM.
Let me know if not needed, why and how.


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Build and install:

0. Please delete the old /root/.nicewm folder first, if there is one..

1. download and install autopoint ( correct version for installed gettext )
2. download and install both nIceWM_02part1.pet and nIceWM_02part2.pet provided below
3. in /root/my-documents/nicewm_02_build folder ( pet files will extract there.. )
open terminal and type:

./autogen.sh
./configure
make
make install

Almost the usual thing, aside from autogen. Once finished, it should create executable files
in /usr/local/bin and a preferences file in /usr/local/share/nicewm.
"make install" command will install all translations to locale folders ( unless po/LINGUAS file is edited ) .
Or, just (strip and) drop the executable files after "make" anywhere on system path..

4. in any of /root/my-documents/nicewm_02_build/nice_extras/ sub-folders
open terminal and type:

make
make install

to make nicewm-xdgmenu,
and then nicewm_calendar, and install to /root/my-applications/bin.
( these are separate processes for now.. )

Notes:
pet packages will install noarch data for /root/.nicewm folder.

For the same notes, see README in /root/my-documents/nicewm_02_build folder.
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Use:
To start nicewm, log out from X and run:
xwin nicewm

Panel usermenu will provide settings to autostart nicewmtray, update rootmenu, etc.


So, take your time, experiment, and share your ideas.
.. and have a nice day

[torm]

EDIT: Updated to version 01. Theme and settings reference is now included in pet files.

[BarryK]

torm,
Hi, have you got your modified source online?

I was looking around at window managers recently, to run in the Xephyr X server in a container, in my latest EasyOS, as JWM did not play nice.

I briefly looked at that icewm source 1.4.2, but... trying to recall, think that I had some problems with compiling it.

Anyway, settled on pekwm and lxpanel:

http://bkhome.org/news/201807/petget0-a-single-container-runs-all-of-easyos.html

Many years ago, in Puppyland, we used icewm, and it was nice. I would like to consider it again, and your changes to the source look very interesting!

[torm]

Above pet files are the only online source for now..

[torm]

Updated to version 01.
If version 00 was installed on the system, then please delete the old /root/.nicewm folder before
installing new version 01 pet files. Some configuration files are different.
Fonts package is optional.
You will still need both part1 and part2 of the source to compile, however..

Edit: Added autopoint pet for gettext ( only versions 0.18 to 0.19.8.1 )

[torm]

Updated to version 02
Some cleanup, no radical changes.
Should build a bit smaller executable,
and work better with different fonts for clock.
Reduced number or default keyswitches for workspaces to four.
You can still have up to 64 workspaces if you want to do that..

Note.
You can now set clock right-click command in preferences,
or just place some script or link on system path with name:
run_clockrightclick
To run pschedule to set alarm, pupclockset to set hw clock, or whatever you like.
Left-click will still display calendar by default.

btw..
Is there any point adding a right-click command to CPUstatus widget?