PekWM

[Hedon James]

Thanks to some folks on here who have opened my eyes to the wonders of lightweight window managers, I have become enamored with Fluxbox. I was previously aware of it, but quickly dismissed it because I didn't "get it". I not only "get it" now, I LOVE it...it is my favorite....my preferred window manager! Even though I spent most of my time polishing up the LXDE interface and Openbox on my MimeticDE distro remix, I hastily included Fluxbox for myself and have been using that exclusively in my remix. That newly discovered infatuation has caused me to go back and re-examine some other window managers that I had previously dismissed. Such as IceWM, JWM, WindowMaker, etc... They're all okay, IMO, and I have nothing bad to say about any of them, but my opinion hasn't seismically shifted like it did with Fluxbox. While I wouldn't dissuade folks from using Ice, JWM, WM, etc...; I also wouldn't recommend them either. Don't get me wrong....nothing bad to say about them....they just don't stand out to me for any particular reason.

 

Fluxbox, on the other hand....I just cannot understand why it is not more popular, nor prominent in distros? If Openbox is the smart, pretty, popular girl in school; then Fluxbox is her smarter, prettier older sister, but without the popularity. JMO... Openbox is fairly common, and very well documented. Fluxbox is much less common, but still fairly well documented.

 

But I have recently discovered PekWM and am experiencing that Fluxbox-style rush of excitement all over again! PekWM is VERY MUCH like Fluxbox in terms of feature sets and configuration files, but with different syntax and slightly different ways of doing things. Graphically, it appears to be much more polished, and it appears that it is infinitely more "theme-able" than Fluxbox. Makes sense, considering it is a newer project, with newer codebase, etc... Using the Openbox vs Fluxbox analogy above, PekWM is the smarter, prettier younger sister that no one even knows of.

 

Which brings me to my question....anyone here familiar with PekWM? Anyone here using it? Documentation is somewhat scarce, and I'm having a devil of a time figuring out how to tweak configurations. The actual documentation itself looks pretty comprehensive:

 

https://www.pekwm.or.../pekwm-doc.html

 

But practical examples of other folks' ideas, suggestions, and tweaks are practically non-existent. I'm not much of an idea guy....other folks come up with good ideas....I'm the guy who polishes other folks' good ideas into great ideas...a tweaker! I'd like to know more about PekWM, but there doesn't seem to be much info out there. So I put it to my Bruno Brethren....what info do you have on PekWM?

Edited December 29, 2016 by Hedon James

[V.T. Eric Layton]

I've used Xfce for years now (since KDE went to v4.x). I like its lightness and also its customiz-a-bility (take that Spell Checker!). I've tried LXDE, Fluxbox, Windowmaker, etc., but found them a bit too minimal.

[securitybreach]

Well it's probably not as extensible as their documentation but the archwiki has some tips and tricks for pekwm: https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/PekWM

 

I did use it before but that was over 6 years ago..

[wa4chq]

I used Fluxbox for a while years ago. I really liked it. I couldn't get on board with kde and just barely with gnome. Icewm was another one I liked. Part of if for me was setting up the menus, colors, fonts etc etc. I know you can do the same with kde and gnome but I was new and looking up all the different wm's and desktop environments..... I wish I had screen shots from the early days. They were kinda sharp looking.

[Hedon James]

I've used Xfce for years now (since KDE went to v4.x). I like its lightness and also its customiz-a-bility (take that Spell Checker!). I've tried LXDE, Fluxbox, Windowmaker, etc., but found them a bit too minimal.

 

That's the beauty of Linux, IMO....a "perfect" choice for everyone, no matter what your personal preferences are! I have XFCE on my Ubuntu Studio recording desktop, but I'm not a fan. I don't dis-like it, but it's just there...doing its thing, which I suppose is a good thing. But if lightweight is the appeal, I prefer the even lighter LXDE. LXDE is just as configurable as XFCE, IMO, but XFCE is easier to configure....with all settings conveniently located in one place...a central Control Panel arrangement. I like that part of it. But I created a control panel application with YAD to solve that issue in LXDE....so with that problem solved, LXDE nudges ahead again, IMO.

 

I can certainly understand why many folks don't like the minimalist nature of pure window managers. I used to be one of them! But as I've learned more about them, and tinkered with them, I have discovered things to incorporate into my workflow, and I have also tweaked my workflow a little in order to incorporate cool new features that have enhanced productivity. That doesn't apply to everyone, but it certainly works for me!

 

But I'm not sure how productive I'd be in a "pure" window manager environment. Right now, I'm heavily invested in "cloaking" the window manager environment with LXDE-related tools and "skins". Seems to be the perfect middle-ground for me. For me, it's the best of both worlds.....for those who rely on me for tech support, they're none the wiser to my sub-surface changes.

 

With that said, you can KEEP your XFCE desktop environment, but replace the underlying window manager! It's usually a very simple thing to do, and you will probably be shocked at the performance increase. IMO, it is probably the single most effective performance enhancement you can provide your machine, short of spending money to upgrade hardware! If you're so inclined, you don't have to choose, you can have BOTH!

[Hedon James]

Well it's probably not as extensible as their documentation but the archwiki has some tips and tricks for pekwm: https://wiki.archlin...index.php/PekWM

 

I did use it before but that was over 6 years ago..

 

Thanks for the link SB. I've been using Arch resources for documentation, as their information seems to be the most up-to-date, so I've seen that page. But no examples, per se. Everything I'm finding (and it isn't much), seems to be quite dated...circa 2003-2009ish. I'm going to guess PekWM was in heavy development mode at that time, but has since matured somewhat. It's hard to find CURRENT info on PekWM, and it's almost as hard to find distros with PekWM default configurations to steal ideas from.

[Hedon James]

I used Fluxbox for a while years ago. I really liked it. I couldn't get on board with kde and just barely with gnome. Icewm was another one I liked. Part of if for me was setting up the menus, colors, fonts etc etc. I know you can do the same with kde and gnome but I was new and looking up all the different wm's and desktop environments..... I wish I had screen shots from the early days. They were kinda sharp looking.

 

Here's one for ya wa4chq...my heavily customized MimeticDE desktop, using Fluxbox window manager with LXDE "unity" skin (lxpanel and tint2 panel hides until mouse over), customized Fluxbox style theme, compton transparencies, custom conky, etc...

 

Edited December 29, 2016 by Hedon James

[wa4chq]

Oh yeah....looks really nice! Great colors too....

Edited December 29, 2016 by wa4chq

[wa4chq]

Do you have any screenshots?

Thanks....