What's your ideal desktop?

Trevoke · Advocate Joined: 04 Sep 2004 Posts: 4099 Location: NY, NY

I've tried to gather the main themes behind desktop-managing.. This is really a shameless attempt at learning about other apps in portage :-)

So.. What apps _DO_ you use?
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Stormy Eyes · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:42 pm Post subject:

Just give me a few unobtrusive diagnostic displays under everything else, double buffering, and all windows set to 90% opacity. Everything else is just clutter.

ag_x · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 7:59 pm Post subject:

Ratpoison,screen,rxvt-unicode,mutt,mpd-mpc,xine,firefox,sc for sheets,vim and nano is all i need.

Ruzbeh · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 223

How sexy is THIS!

I wanna see everything at once really, it just plain ownz!

placeholder · Advocate Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500

Ruzbeh · Apprentice Joined: 23 Jun 2004 Posts: 223

Unne · l33t Joined: 21 Jul 2003 Posts: 616

You left off a few, such as "Empty root window with everything in a menu that pops up when you click", which covers FVWM, *box, etc. That's a fairly popular method. Icons on the desktop is very unappealing to me at this point. Tons of log text is too cluttered and doesn't serve any purpose, speaking personally. Torsmo is good enough for monitoring everything and only takes up a little corner.
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Jefklak · l33t Joined: 26 Oct 2003 Posts: 818 Location: Belgium

Some of all...
A auto-hidable log (thank you fvwm

) and a taskbar with max 10 icons to quick-start some apps. None on the background if possible. Also some monitoring stuff in the taskbar (ACPI//CPU). The rest? shortcuts all the way!
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gullyg · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 9:12 pm Post subject:

Now that i've started to use xfce4 i really cant stand icons all over the desktop, and as an effect my file system is far better organised (rather that them just all over the desktop).

I have a "mini command line" on my xfce4 bar with other system monitor plugins and gkrellm2 with glass theme in the background.

clicky

The white "bar" on the xfce launcher is the mini comnand line - which actually just ties into the "run command" program (xfrun?).

gKrellm2 shows,
CPU, lmsensor info (temps etc), hdd activity

The xfce4 bar shows (right of the clock on screen shot)
Overall HD access activity, network in/out, % cpu used.

Might seem like over kill - but i don't usually look at gkrellm, only when something looks suspicious on the monitor plugins do i look at the more detailed gkrellm info.
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DoktorSeven · Posted: Fri Oct 01, 2004 11:44 pm Post subject:

ideal desktop = fluxbox

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Jeremy_Z · l33t Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 671 Location: Shanghai

I like beatiful desktops when i see them, but i won't have the use for them. The main reason is that i have a 12" screen on my laptop, and i use very few applications.

So i use FVWM, with just a pager a clock, and gkrellm. But when i work i have nothing but the wallpaper. I don't use a taskbar, i find the FVWM snapshot iconify more useful. Moreover i don't use a menu, just keyboard shortcuts and fbrun when i need it.

I still didn't find a proper "expose" like feature ( Skippy-rd is fast but doesn't switch desktop or i didn't find out how) which would be complementary to my desktop.
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Deranger · Veteran Joined: 26 Aug 2004 Posts: 1215

Imek · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:06 am Post subject:

Openbox, with some gdesklets or gkrellm monitors showing date, time, cpu load, music playing, etc.. Everything is nice and fluid to use with the right & middle-click menus, and of course the ability to switch desktops and shade windows with the mousewheel.
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andrewlubinus89 · n00b Joined: 14 May 2004 Posts: 32

No one mentions Ion??
It's teh 1337

miqorz · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 10:40 am Post subject:

http://vortex.floppyhat.net/Screenshots/ss.png

That.

Careful · n00b Joined: 31 Jul 2004 Posts: 1

Voted for the taskbar, but, I still like to monitor my CPU and memory usage, as well as the cpu temp.
Also, I'd like to be able monitor the network from my desktop.

spb · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 2:57 pm Post subject:

A panel with launchers for my most common programs and a pager. Popup menus next to each item with related apps (eg, a menu next to firefox with epiphany and mozilla on it). That and the taskbar autohiding so they don't take space away from whatever I'm doing. Nothing on the desktop except whatever background I'm using.

So yeah, a pretty normal Xfce4 desktop really.

denstark · l33t Joined: 02 Jun 2003 Posts: 654 Location: sd.ca.us

My ideal desktop is one that would make work easy to do, not get in the way, but at the same time look nice. Would probably be the taskbar option.
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playfool · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 6:18 pm Post subject:

I'm quite fond of my GNOME desktop - it works for me.

placeholder · Advocate Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500

SilentGreg · Posted: Sat Oct 02, 2004 11:30 pm Post subject:

Some sort of terminal, xterm for example; few icons and a run command and I am golden. Of course I need a wallpaper too.

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placeholder · Advocate Joined: 07 Feb 2004 Posts: 2500

I am using Openbox right now, and I like it other than the fact that when I play music it skips when I browse via Mozilla Firefox. I am not sure about other browsers since I have no others besides links, but it does not matter much because it affects both Rhythmbox and Beep Media Player but does not occur in Fluxbox. Other than that, Openbox is nice.

EDIT: Upgrading Firefox to 0.10.1 seems to have fixed this problem. It may arise again, since it happened with other versions. but for now I am enjoying Openbox.

Muso · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 1:08 am Post subject:

It's in my sig
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WhyteWolf · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 2:08 am Post subject:

Wi1d · Posted: Sun Oct 03, 2004 8:54 am Post subject:

give me a big maxed out term and I'm happy. The hard part is finding a WM that's light and to my liking. I don't really like the way ratpoison/ion control what windows I do open, flux is just getting a little bit to fat for me and fvwm takes more configuring than I want to put into a WM. I don't like menus, icons , or even taskbars. Docks are nice and are best if they are easily configured/changed/themed.

I recently started using windowmaker again and am now questioning why I ever stop using it. Anyhow:

text
lots of text apps
control over windows
and ease of configuration (I'd rather spend my time configuring something useful even though I've wasted so many hours playing w/ my DE)