fvwm first attempt

[sk8harddiefast]

Hi. I was thinking to try fvwm so i install fvwm2-devel from ports.
First time on this environment and of course i have no idea what happens!
Just begin from the standard thinks. How can i change the menu?

 

[wblock@]

Each port directory has a pkg-descr, and most have URLs for the related web page. For this one, it's http://www.fvwm.org/. There's a FAQ and a bunch of other information there.

 

[sk8harddiefast]

It was the first i saw but have so much things and i am completely lost!
To open opera, i put it on .xinit file! I think this explain everything
Ok.I will make again a try to understand this encyclopedia

 

[zeiz]

May be you'll like this: http://www.zensites.net/fvwm/guide/menu.html
But probably it's good idea to google or (ts,ts!) find a Linux distro with fvwm and
learn it's config then just edit it if necessary :e

 

[graudeejs]

http://aldis.git.bsdroot.lv/fvwm-bluth/
http://aldis.git.bsdroot.lv/dotfiles/

you can try my config.
but I stongly suggest you read fvwm(1)(ye it's very long, but did you thought it will be peace of cake?
Note that recently I started using M4 preprocessor to reprocess my config

also this is very handy:
http://www.fvwm.org/doc/unstable/allCommands.html
http://www.fvwm.org/documentation/faq/
http://fvwmwiki.xteddy.org/
http://www.zensites.net/fvwm/guide/index.html

anyway, remember, that you need lot of time, patience and reading to configure fvwm from scratch

EDIT:
updated links to my new repos on my own server....
NOTE: now I use sh to reprocess config (check .xinitrc in dotfiles)

 

[Beastie]

How can i change the menu?

Create ~/.fvwm/config and add the following:

Mouse 1 R N Menu RootMenu Nop

DestroyMenu RootMenu
AddToMenu RootMenu "Root menu" Title
+ "&Opera" Exec opera
+ "&Editor" Exec replace_this_with_your_editor
+ "" Nop
+ "Reload configuration" Read config

Add exec fvwm to ~/.xinitrc.

Start X and left click the root window. You can now run Opera manually if you need it. You can also run your favorite text editor and open the ~/.fvwm/config file, and every time you save it you can just click the last menu item and fvwm will automatically reload the configuration for you.

How about that for starters?

 

[LateNiteTV]

ive been using fvwm for about 4 or 5 months now and i must say its quite a challenge to get it all configured. killasmurfs stuff helped me out a lot.

 

[sk8harddiefast]

For understand. All fvwm is config file on /home/user/.fvwm?
Because now i have this but completely nothing else.just a black screen.
I guess because on my config file exist only menu entry.
Also how to create submenu?

 

[Beastie]

All fvwm is config file on /home/user/.fvwm?
Because now i have this but completely nothing else.just a black screen.
I guess because on my config file exist only menu entry.

Yes to all. Note that you can override the default configuration file using the -f fvwm option (e.g. in ~/.xinitrc). And you can read additional files using the Read command within your existing configuration file.

Also how to create submenu?

# same as in above post, just added the 5th line
DestroyMenu RootMenu
AddToMenu RootMenu "Root menu" Title
+ "&Opera" Exec opera
+ "&Editor" Exec replace_this_with_your_editor
+ "Submenu" Popup TheSubmenu
+ "" Nop
+ "Reload configuration" Read config

# the submenu
DestroyMenu TheSubmenu
AddToMenu TheSubmenu "My new submenu" Title
+ "&Test" Exec command

As you can see the submenu has exactly the same syntax as the "root" menu. If you don't want any title, remove "My new submenu" Title.

 

[sk8harddiefast]

If i feel it right, in fact fvwm is not a wm 100%
Just start the X server and gives you all the appropriate commands/settings to write your own wm on a conf file as you like it. Right?
Submenus also done
But if for the menu basics i have already write 100 lines for all wm i would 1000000 lines!
I believe fvwm is really too difficult to learn it but also very good!
Just rocks!

 

[Beastie]

If i feel it right, in fact fvwm is not a wm 100%
Just start the X server and gives you all the appropriate commands/settings to write your own wm on a conf file as you like it. Right?

Uh, then what is your definition of a WM? "An application that does everything by default"? Many applications fit that definition (e.g. a web browser). Or "An application that manages windows"? I tend to use this second definition myself. fvwm does just that: it manages windows. When you configure it properly that is. Or you could just use the default but not-so-appealing configuration. Or you could modify this default configuration. Or you could grab one from the Internet and modify it. Or...

But if for the menu basics i have already write 100 lines for all wm i would 1000000 lines!

How much more do you think you really have/want to add? My menus are 250+ lines and the entire configuration is 650+ lines. If you really want to use many features, you could have maybe 1500+ lines, but not 1,000,000 hahaha!
Anything you want to add (FvwmButtons, FvwmPager, etc.), you just override the defaults and start the appropriate module using the "StartFunction" function or by "swallowing" it.
Plus you probably want some more keyboard and mouse bindings, and you'll be almost done.

I'm sure you can find all the information you need in the documentation and by checking existing configurations online.