wish to install a new WM


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ok, here is the situation: since I entered my 2nd year of university, our Windows accounts have been revoked so we are limited to using unix. specifically SunOS 5.8. The setup is that of a thin client type, i.e. we only have a small box beside the monitor that handles keyboard/mouse/monitor ins-and-outs, doesn't actually have CPU or HDD. That is all packed in the server room.

Problem: we have a really old version of some obscure Window Manager (WM) installed, I think it's called twm (but not sure). The problem being that it's so old that it only displays somewhere between 256 and 16bit colour (I tried 16bit on my SUSE and it had incredibly more colours and hues, so I think twm has closer to 256 colours). However I cought a glance of some people having something installed that definitely looked like a more modern and developed WM. I dunno what it was, but judging by screenshots in "Linux Desktop" thred here looked a lot like fluxbox (but of course I can't be sure).

What I'm asking: Given the hardware set up (meaning I don't have access to actuall CPU/HDD/CDROM physically) How can I install a different Window Manager on SunOS 5.8? Are there any good tutorials/docs for this? I have never installed a WM myself from scratch, it always came during install of OS, so I'm a bit lost on how to do it manually. I'm also a bit space constrained, so I'll need the smalles WM there is that still can pull full 16bit colour.

If you guys want to help, but I missed important info please specify explicitly what you need to know and I'll post it.

Thanks in advance!

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I am 95% (roughly ;)) percent sure that you cannot do anything about your WM.

You have no hard drive to install to, so you would need to be able to install onto the server (which shoudl be properly secured against these types of hazardous activities).

However, you can probably contact the sysadmin, and see if they already have other WM choices (like there are typically already different shell choices). This should be an "account level" setting, and different users should be able to have different shells, window managers, etc.

Not to say that they have or want to do this, but it is the only way on a thin client (that I am aware of).

Good Luck!

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This is the exact same situation I was in. We have unix accounts and we use x terminals and we have crappy twm enables by default. What you have to do is to compile a window manager. Here's some steps:

1. Pick a window manager. Since you're using X terminals, the programs are run off a few central server so you should pick a wm that uses little CPU power. I would recommend Blackbox.

2. Download it.

3. Extract it.

4. In the extracted directory, type:

./configure --disable-nls --prefix=$HOME

5. Type: make

6. Type: make install

7. Change your .xsession file to point to the new WM.

You may need to change step 4 depending on how your systems are setup. At the uni I go to, $HOME points to the users home directory so this will compile and install to my home directory.

BTW: What university do you go to? The way you describe sound a lot like the school I go to, University of Waterloo. We use unix in second year, our servers run SunOS 5.8, we have thin clients (X terminals) and we have twm by default.

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lol I do go to UofW! So I presume you directions would work well then :) btw I did read the Unix tutorials MFCF provides, but all it says is you "can" change your WM, has not a single reference to how one would do it in practice, and they claim there are other WM's "available" though again no word on how to get them (i.e. no names, so .xsession can't be changed). So I did know I have to edit .xsession, just don't know what strings to add there. :pinch:

I was reading FluxBox install docs (just 'couse I found them first), but got worried about permissions, "make install" assumes you have root (their docs claim), do we as users have enough freedom of action? In other words do I have to go to admins for permission to install a WM?

While we at it, does anyone know of any comparisons (spee/performance wise) for me to pick a fast and small shell while maitaining functionality? So far I'm torn among BlackBox and FluxBox.

Edited by lexor
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Since you go to UW, I'll give you easier instructions that do not require compiling. I made my bin directory world readable and world executable, so you can run blackbox from my account and here's how:

1. In the .xsession file, comment out the line

/software/x11-mfcfenv/data/xdm/xsession

2. Add to the next line:

/u4/amistry/bin/blackbox

I'm pretty sure they meant for us to customize the environment, why else give us 90meg of space. If you really want to compile it yourself, go ahead, but I'd reccomend doing it when there are few people using the servers and not using cpu power.

DTW: I've tried compiling fluxbox, it won't work. However, if you have hi-speed at home and aren't on resnet, you can configure your home computer to allow ssh logins so you can run programs on your home comp and redirect the windows to your terminal. I can't do this since I'm in res, but I'm sure it would work. It's the only way to use kde, gnome, etc.

Edited by MrA
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:huh:

no, wait...

:s

but what if your directory becomes somehow unavailable? is there an if (like those in .cshrc) I can add to make sure it defaults to something if something goes avry?

P.S. I don't so much want GNOME or KDE, as somewhat pleasant colours, current ones just hurt my eyes after a while.

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:huh:

no, wait...

:s

but what if your directory becomes somehow unavailable? is there an if (like those in .cshrc) I can add to make sure it defaults to something if something goes avry?

yes, if something goes wrong, there are things you can do to reset it. You can ssh into your account and change the .xsession to the way it was before. If you want, I can meet you in the MC today and I'll show you how to do this stuff.

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I actually went home for the weekend, so maybe Monday? If it's not too much trouble :) who knows maybe it was you who I saw with that blackbox like setup...

Monday sounds good. I'd like to mention that you may have access to windows at UW. They're testing out a new server that uses windows remote desktop. It can be access from the real-time lab using your unix login and pass.

BTW: Do you use MSN? It would be a lot easier to communicate using that, rather than going back and forth using neowin.

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