Return of MWM (as EMWM) and Associated X11 Tools
Posted: Wed Oct 23, 2024 1:27 pm
So, I've always had a soft spot for that old Motif look which I first experienced with FVWM in the 90s, and having looked at what Motif was like in 1980's Unix made me wish something like that existed for modern *nix today.
Sure, there's still FVWM as well as NsCDE which uses FVWM and other tools, but the geek in me wanted something proper.
Thankfully, this individual has taken the MWM code, as well as the code for Xfile (a lovely looking file manager that integrates nicely with Motif) and some other tools at the following site.
https://fastestcode.org/
For MWM, there's EMWM (Enhanced Motif Window Manager), and Xfile and other associated tools are also being updated to support current X11 technologies and features.
I decided to install this on my FreeBSD laptop at work and play around with it for a bit, and it's such a breath of fresh air for me.
I'm still trying to figure out how to configure the cosmetics, but otherwise, it just looks great.
I've always wished UI devs would bring the bevels back since I'm getting worn out on the flatness of everything, and this meets that requirement for me. It's also available on OpenBSD, as is Xfile (listed as "xfiles" in ports), though Xfile doesn't seem to be in FreeBSD ports from what I can see.
Sure, there's still FVWM as well as NsCDE which uses FVWM and other tools, but the geek in me wanted something proper.
Thankfully, this individual has taken the MWM code, as well as the code for Xfile (a lovely looking file manager that integrates nicely with Motif) and some other tools at the following site.
https://fastestcode.org/
For MWM, there's EMWM (Enhanced Motif Window Manager), and Xfile and other associated tools are also being updated to support current X11 technologies and features.
I decided to install this on my FreeBSD laptop at work and play around with it for a bit, and it's such a breath of fresh air for me.
- Emwm window manager running with the xmsm session manager and xmtoolbox at the top left. XTerm is running next to xmtoolbox at the top center showing the man page for EMWM. Behind it towards the bottom right is Chromium focused on my account page for the bsd.network Mastodon instance. At the bottom right are two XTerms and Caja minimized as Beastie icons and a green folder icon, respectively.
- emwm_fbsd.jpg (148.28 KiB) Viewed 4947 times
I'm still trying to figure out how to configure the cosmetics, but otherwise, it just looks great.
I've always wished UI devs would bring the bevels back since I'm getting worn out on the flatness of everything, and this meets that requirement for me. It's also available on OpenBSD, as is Xfile (listed as "xfiles" in ports), though Xfile doesn't seem to be in FreeBSD ports from what I can see.
