[TAG] Virtual Desktops with individual folders

[Ben Okopnik]

On Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 10:43:24PM +0100, Thomas Adam wrote:
> On Sat, Jul 14, 2007 at 01:01:36AM -0400, Ben Okopnik wrote:
> > I have very little experience with it myself, but based on what I do
> > know, FVWM can probably accomodate you. You would, however, need to
> > learn to write config files for it. I have no doubt that it has some
> > kind of a "DetectDesktopSwitch" function, as well as either the
> > capability of hiding the icons or allowing you to script such a
> > function.
> 
> OK, OK.  I'll bite.  :)  

Not too hard, please - I want to keep all the bits I've got. :)

I was hoping you'd step up, since you're as close as we can get to an
in-house FVWM expert. For all I know, other WMs can do the same thing as
well, but since you've spent so much time writing up the features of
FVWM, that's what comes up in my mind when somebody mentions an
easily-programmable WM. So it's all your fault no matter how you look at
it. :)

> FVWM is a window manager.  It has no concept of
> anything other than managing windows.  Things that fall on the periphery,
> such as icons to launch programs, file managers, etc., fall outside of its
> remit.

Hmm, I had lost track of the fact that icons weren't part of the WM. Oh
well.

(I wonder if the OP would be satisfied with launching all the apps that
he wants open and having them minimized on a given desktop? That sounds
like all-WM territory.)
 
> The fundamental problem is that programs such as idesk or rox-filer, etc.,
> need some level of munging to work with the window manager.  Because the
> icons supplied by such programs aren't individual (i.e., they're not part of
> the icon you can assign individual programs to have) you can't manage any
> one icon, only all of them en masse.

Actually, having played with "idesk" quite a bit, I can suggest an
approach in that direction:

1) Make up multiple versions of the "~/.idesk" subdirectory - say,
"~/.idesk1", "~/.idesk2", etc.

2) As you switch desktops, have the WM fire off a script that does an
"ln -sf ~/.idesk$DESKTOP_NUM ~/.idesk".

3) restart "idesk".

This would be a little wasteful of resources as well as a bit slow -
although "idesk" restarts rather quickly - but it would do what's
requested.
 

-- 
* Ben Okopnik * Editor-in-Chief, Linux Gazette * http://LinuxGazette.NET *