[aklug] Re: multiple distros coordinate to establish /run directory

From: Arthur Corliss <acorliss@nevaeh-linux.org>
Date: Wed Apr 06 2011 - 23:13:16 AKDT

On Wed, 6 Apr 2011, Jim Gribbin wrote:

> I think it's likely that I've never gotten my mind around how one can
> have a "Window Manager" and not have a "Desktop Environment".
>
> I have, for instance, Enlightenment & Gnome installed. When I log in, I
> have the choices of Enlightenment w/ or wo/ Gnome. I have tried it both
> ways and can't see the difference.

The lines can be blurred at times. The primary difference between a window
manager and a desktop environment is that the window manager really only
cares about managing windows, and possibly icons in the root window and
virtual desktops. A desktop environment does all that as well, but adds a
layer of integration in a suite of applications. This means that
applications have defined rules of interaction when you, say, do drag & drop
of objects between applications. It means that there's a standardized
configuration database format that allows applications to interogate the
system for default handlers of certain media types, or to inherit a themed
"skin" for decorating the interior of the application windows.

That latter case demonstrates really nicely the differences between them.
The window manager can manage the frame & widgets it places around a window
(so you can drag the title bar for window placement, iconify, etc.) but it
has zero influence on color scheme, textures, etc., used by the application
itself. A desktop environment allows those preferences to be specified once
in the configuration database and every compliant application will use those
settings by default.

There's more than that to an environment, of course, but that's the basics.
Most modern window managers are desktop environment compatible, primarily
through a standardized protocol EWMH (Extended Window Manager Hints). They
don't need a desktop environment to run, but if there is one present,
they'll integrate as well as they can.

         --Arthur Corliss
           Live Free or Die
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Received on Wed Apr 6 23:13:35 2011

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