Other FreeBSD with JWM as the desktop environment !

T

teo

FreeBSD with JWM as the desktop environment uses very little 283 MiB and is very lightweight.


FreeBSG.png
 
Flat size : 375KiB
Pkg size : 145KiB
Description :
JWM is a window manager for the X11 Window System. JWM is written in C
and uses only Xlib at a minimum, though additional libraries are
supported for extended functionality and features. JWM supports MWM and
Extended Window Manager Hints (EWMH).
Click to expand...
That is not 283 MiB. What else did you install?
 
I tried that a while back, part of my drive for a light-weight system with as little GPL software as possible. At the time it felt a little limited, so I stuck with TWM for that purpose. I can't really remember exactly what I found limiting though, and it looks like there has been an update in JWM since then. From your screenshot it does looks a little better than I recall. I may give it another shot.
 
Thanks for pointing me to neofetch! I didn’t know about that one. Nice terse display of the system information. It doesn’t detect my WM correctly, though.
 
jardows said:
I tried that a while back, part of my drive for a light-weight system with as little GPL software as possible. At the time it felt a little limited, so I stuck with TWM for that purpose. I can't really remember exactly what I found limiting though, and it looks like there has been an update in JWM since then. From your screenshot it does looks a little better than I recall. I may give it another shot.
Click to expand...
It's been a real treat using jwm with FreeBSD, it's ultra-lightweight, and fast, and you can't even hear the machine's fans.
 
How does jwm compare against other “classic” minimalist window managers, say, ctwm?

Currently I use ctwm for small X11 servers on remote machines that are accessed via VNC with limited bandwidth. If jwm has any advantages, I might consider switching.
 
I don't like ctwm; NetBSD comes with it by default, and it's very clunky—nothing like the ease and comfort of JWM, which is simply fantastic,
 
nxjoseph@ said:
It seems it's the customization, by default, it's very barebones. :(
Click to expand...
JWM: You are not wrong. It's basically an old school X window manager that you configure through modifying it's config file and .Xresources, .xinitrc, etc. Sure, it's not as easy as a built-in "preferences/settings" widget, but I think for the basics that are in .jwmrc it would easy/feasible/trivial to create one. It's XML so by definition, it's well formed. There are standard X tools like xfontsel, probably color pickers that could be pulled in.

So it's not really a problem, it's part of the distinction between a "Window Manager" and a "Desktop Environment"

CTWM: go to the homepage and it talks about themes. Looking at what is "a theme" you see it's the .ctwmrc config file, .xinitrc to start things and any custom images/icons. One could easily do something similar for jwm.

teo : would you be willing to post your .jwmrc? Your tray configuration looks interesting. I'm assuming the icons on the left side are "click to launch an application" like terminal, web browser?
 
I’ve read through the documentation of jwm. Apparently, it has a few features that ctwm is lacking (like snap-to-border / snap-to-screen). On the other hand, it’s missing some features, for example, it has no “workspace manager” (in ctwm terms, it is a window that is representing the entirety of all virtual desktops).

Maybe I’ll just give jwm a try. I’m curious how much memory it’ll need; ctwm has a RSS of just 2 MB on my machine.
 
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