Re: Window managers and GNUstep

[Pascal Bourguignon]

> From: <anstouh@yahoo.com.au>
> 
> Both AfterStep and GNU Window Maker make a reference to GNUstep on their
> webpages but neither use GNUstep (although they both store user data in
> ~/GNUstep). GWorkspace seems to have support for things normally left to
> window managers (a root menu, application launching stuff and the process
> list stuff).
> 
> I was wondering if there was going to be a GNUstep window manager? 

"May be".

It would  be meaningfull in  a pure GNUstep environment,  perhaps like
SimplyGNUstep.


> Is that what GWorkspace is supposed to be in the end? 

One  thing that  must be  understood, is  that window  manager is  a X
notion. When GNUstep is (will be?) running with other back-ends, there
would be no window manager.

GWorkspace is not a window manager,  it's a mainly a file browser. You
can think of  it as a GUI  shell. The only feature it  should take off
from WindowMaker is the dock.

If there was no WindowMaker to  draw the window frame (title bar, grow
bar), it would be the job of the NSWindow class to draw this stuff. In
the case of GNUstep menus, it's  actually done by the NSMenu class (or
one class that is hidden behind  NSMenu, I've not looked at the actual
implementation), because WindowMaker does  not provide exactly what is
needed for NeXTSTEP-like application menus.

In NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP,  the NSWindow class implements  the window frame
drawing,  while leaving  a  few things  to  the windowPackage.ps  like
moving the  window, so  it can  be done even  when the  application is
suspended.

Now, if the NSWindow class  implemented this window frame drawing code
(and dragging/resizing of the windows),  we could use a minimal window
manager or even do without any window manager.

BUT, the reason a window manager such as Window Maker is needed anyway
in a X environment, is to be  able to run other X applications with at
least windows looking like on NeXTSTEP.


> GNU Window Maker seems to
> have some level of GNUstepity in it---a GNUstep application's appicon, for
> example, shows the main menu when you right-click it. Is it intended that
> GNU Window Maker be made to use GNUstep? (I don't know, some sort of merge
> between WINGs and GNUstep... although I guess WINGs will no longer be
> NGs then.)

Putting the window  frame drawing in NSWindow, while  clean, would not
remove the need to have it at the window manager level for the other X
applications. Then  what would  be the use  to rewrite  WindowMaker in
Objective-C with GNUstep? Note  that even on NeXT, windowPackage.ps is
not written in Objective-C but in Postscript.

The menu shown with right click  on a WindowMaker appicon is not "the"
main menu. It's  a menu managed by WindowMaker,  (Keep on top, Launch,
Bring Here, Hide, Setting..., Kill).

The menu shown with right click  on a GNUstep appicon is the main menu
of this application.

Once  again, the  use of  WindowMaker here  is to  provide functionaly
needed to run  X applications. It had had to be  modified to have good
integration with GNUstep applications,  and things will probably still
evolve.


> Mostly, I like GNU Window Maker. There are some things about it---for a
> start, it doesn't have an identical look and feel---that I'm not too fond

By default yes, I don't like it either. But you can revert to good old
NeXTSTEP look with WPref.app (eight pane, Titlebar Style).


> of, and things like how GWorkspace has the fiend and GNU Window Maker has
> the clip. I wouldn't mind seeing the two brought together (although they
> don't necessarily have to be the same application, they could just work
> together.)
> 
> Tristan


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