One such bit of nifty, old-school Linux goodness is the Wharf. This tool was actually ported over from one of my old-school favorites AfterStep. What this tool does is house a application launchers, modules, action buttons, and the Linux pager. In this article we’ll examine how to invoke, use, and configure this handy module.

Installation

Fortunately, the Wharf will install along with the Fvwm installation. So there isn’t any need to bother with installation. You also do not start the Wharf from the command line. Instead you have to do that from within the Fvwm menu. Let’s take a look and see how.

Starting the Wharf

Figure 1

Sine the Wharf is a module within Fvwm, you have to start if from the Fvwm module menu. To do this left-click on the desktop to bring up the desktop root menu and click Fvwm Modules > Wharf. This action will place the Wharf on the bottom left of your desktop (see Figure 1).  What you see in figure one is a somewhat default Fvwm Wharf. I have actually re-configured the File Manager button to illustrated that the Wharf can, in fact use icons for launchers. In fact, in this instance, I have configured it to use Thunar. I can label that “Thunar” should I choose (more on that in a moment).

The larger buttons on the Wharf are used for launching applications, whereas the square of smaller buttons is used to invoke various actions on windows. These actions include:

* Move

* Resize

* Minimize

* Maximize

* Shade

* Stick

* Kill

* Info

The next row down are the xload and xclock modules. Finally, below that, is the Linux pager. Now let’s take a look at customization.

Configuration

The configuration of the Wharf is handled by the ~/.fvwm/modules file. The first section to check is the BarButtons section. This is where you configure your launchers. A sample BarButton line will look like:

*BarButtons (1×2, Title editor, Icon lemacs.xpm, Action ‘Exec exec nedit’)

Now, let’s make that a bit more useful for our installation (or at least my installation). My editor of choice is Nano which is a text-based editor. Let’s say I want to open the simple xterm window automatically with the Nano editor open. Plus I want to use an icon in the Wharf instead of just text. That new entry would look like:

*BarButtons (1×2 Title Nano, Icon /usr/share/pixmaps/mousepad.png, Action ‘Exec exec xterm nano’)

If you save that configuration file (after making the changes) and then restart Fvwm you will see the new launcher in the Wharf appear.

ButtonBar

I doubt you will want to try to change any of the buttons on the ButtonBar. What you might want to do is change the icon used for each button. By default the images aren’t there. In fact, if you do a search for any of the images you will come up blank. To use an image you will need to find fairly small icons. When you locate icons that will work you can configure them in the same file you used to configure the launchers (~/.fvwm/modules). Locate the section containing the list of *BarButtons and you will be right where you need to be. You can re-configure the icons and even re-arrange their order should you like. There is only a pre-determined set of actions that can be used for the ButtonBar. But if you’re really looking to have more launchers on your Wharf you could change out the Action for Exec and use the ButtonBar to launch more applications (or tools).

Final thoughts

If you are using the Fvwm window manager you owe it to yourself to get to know the Wharf. This is a tool that will make your Fvwm life much richer and much more efficient. Although the configuration of the tool is done via manually editing a configuration file, the time you spend will be time well spent.

With that in mind let us begin by illustrating the differences between a desktop environment and a window manager. We’ll begin by showing how the Linux graphical desktop is layered.

As you can see, in the image below, there are basically three layers that can be included in the Linux desktop:

• X Windows – This is the foundation that allows for graphic elements to be drawn on the display. X Windows builds the primitive framework that allows moving of windows, interactions with keyboard and mouse, and draws windows. This is required for any graphical desktop.
• Window Manager: The Window Manager is the piece of the puzzle that controls the placement and appearance of windows. Window Managers include: Enlightenment, Afterstep, FVWM, Fluxbox, IceWM, etc. Requires X Windows but not a desktop environment.
• Desktop Environment: This is where it begins to get a little fuzzy for some. A Desktop Environment includes a Window Manager but builds upon it. The Desktop Environment typically is a far more fully integrated system than a Window Manager. Requires both X Windows and a Window Manager.

A Desktop Environment generally includes a suite of applications that are tightly integrated so that all applications are aware of one another. A Desktop Manager will also include some form of panel that includes a system tray where small widgets can be placed for quick action or information.

Linux Desktop Layering

Much of the confusion starts to peek out when you examine such Window Managers as E17 (Enlightenment 17).

The most recent iteratio of Enlightenment includes many of the elements usually found only Desktop Environments even though Enlightenment is still considered a Window Manager. To this point I generally refer to such desktops as Desktop Managers.

There are two main Desktop Environments: GNOME and KDE. If you are curious as to which is right for you, here is some advice. The latest default GNOME will make users of OS X feel right at home, KDE 3.x will make Windows XP users feel at home, and KDE 4.x will make Windows Vista users feel at home.

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As to which Window Manager is best suited for which user? Since there are so many Window Managers I will highlight my favorites.

• Enlightenment: You want plenty of eye candy but not something as resource-intensive as KDE or GNOME.
• Fluxbox: You want minimal and fast.
• Afterstep: You want something old-school to give you hours of tinkering fun.
• Xfce: You want a Windows-like interface without the bloatware of GNOME or KDE.
• Compiz-Fusion: This is a full-blown 3 dimensional window manager rife with plugs that do just about everything. If you want something to seriously impress your friends, this is where you want to look.

One of the most wonderful things about the Linux desktop is that it is only limited to your imagination. You can make the Linux desktop look and feel exactly how you want it. You can go from complete minimalism to the full-blown 3D goodness of Compiz-Fusion. I will give you one warning: Playing with the Linux desktop might be as much of a time-suck as World of Warcraft.