[NRAO]

Gnome, KDE, X11, Oh My

All-in-one version

(Regular [individual slides] version)

Overview

It's not just Window Managers anymore!
Who does what on my screen?
Choosing your Desktop Environment
Customizing things
Conclusions

Window Managers?

[figure 1]

Window Managers?

[figure 2]

Who does What?

X11 server manages pixels on your screen
X11 clients like xterm and XAS (AIPS TV) do useful stuff
Window Manager (fvwm, twm, wmaker, sawfish...) puts decorations around clients, gives menus
Desktop Environment (GNOME, KDE, CDE) helps clients talk to each other (e.g., drag-and-drop), can give more menus

Desktop Environments

CDE: Sun mainly (Also HP, SGI): proprietary, expensive, slow
GNOME: Open Source (Linux, *BSD; soon Sun too) from the GNU people
KDE: Like GNOME, but uses different (once proprietary, not anymore) library; different look/feel
CV -> Gnome mostly; AOC -> KDE mostly
Red Hat 8.x will make Gnome, KDE look and act very similar.
CHOOSE YOUR ENVIRONMENT AT LOGIN! (see next slide)

Desktop Environments

[gnome login screen]

Customizing

"What dot file do I hack on?" Not for Desktop Environments.
The Session: remembers stuff you changed, customized (but not AIPS TV etc)
Most customizing done via point/click
Example: WindowMaker menu customization (GUI Preferences Utilities)
Example: use Gnome Panel without gnome session (just type "panel &")

Conclusions

Lots of new bells, whistles
Can still operate the "old fashioned way" - for now
"Go with the flow": other sites may have generic Gnome/KDE setups
Find what works for you, use it (or parts of it)
Be aware of your options! (You're not locked into anything)