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Old 11th June 2008
ocicat ocicat is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvilGardenGnome View Post
...what is the difference between a Windows Manager like the *boxes and a Desktop Environment like Xfce?
OpenBSD supports nearly forty different window managers which range from the feature-rich environments offered by KDE & GNOME down to very the very minimal such as cwm(1). One site which pictorially compares a number of window managers can be found at the following:

http://xwinman.org/

As for the choices you mention, XFCE lies closer to the KDE/GNOME end of the continuum, & fluxbox/blackbox lies closer to cwm. The default window manager configured on OpenBSD is fvwm(1), however cwm is also installed. Given only 128MB RAM, I would recommend staying away from KDE/GNOME, however you can likely run them, but you will also see the system work at keeping up with the eye candy. XFCE is most likely a better choice, but personally, I prefer fluxbox which is quite popular amongst many on these forums. The best advice anyone can give is to urge you to experiment by installing different window managers & choose for yourself.
Quote:
My understanding is that the DE's are more like Windows and Gnome, but I'm really at a loss for how WM's compare to that. Is a WM just a collection of windows?
Window managers are optional, however attempting to do daily work without a window manager is laborious. Window managers allow multiple windows, & the decorations required to resize, reposition, minimize, & expand windows. Window managers usually provide some means to graphically select applications to execute as well as manage whatever features the window manager provides.
Quote:
Do you do all the interaction through terminal?
KDE/GNOME/XFCE have file managers which allows a graphical interface for managing files & directories, however file managers can be installed on lighter weight window managers such as Fluxbox. Rox is a common choice. Personally, I use xterm(1)-like applications like aterm for most system interaction, but I also use more mainstream applications like Firefox, OpenOffice.org, Adobe Reader, & GIMP as well. Running any of these applications can be done with any window manager.
Quote:
...any hints/links are greatly appreciated.
Given that you have already mentioned OpenBSD, you will save yourself significant time by familiarizing yourself now with the information found in the official FAQ:

http://openbsd.org/faq/index.html

...as well as OpenBSD's application system (known as packages & ports system...):

http://openbsd.org/faq/faq15.html

Good luck!
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