Re: gnome compliant window managers

[Michael Fulbright <msf redhat com>]

If the main problem we are discussing here is that the donated RPMS I
build for ftp.gnome.org require enlightenment by default, we can fix that
problem by removing the requirement. I'm not sure that is what we want to
do however (read below).

The requirement will remain in the Starbuck release and next release of
the distribution because of our decision to use Enlightenment by default.
But I agree there is no reason to force people who are trying out GNOME
from the RPMS on ftp.gnome.org to have to use Enlightenment.

However, since users of all backgrounds are trying out the GNOME RPMS for
the first time, I think it wise to bundle a window manager that will
actually work properly with the pager/etc with the GNOME RPMS. Requiring the
user to install said WM will insure they get it up and running. Remember,
these people may not even know what a window manager is.  Starting GNOME w/o
a window manager is a BAD thing, especially for new users who will not
know how to start one from a command line.

I'm open to other technical solutions, but at the moment I think the
benefits from requiring Enlightenment far outwiegh the 3.6 meg of
disk space it uses ( $0.10 US dollars at current HD prices :)

The GNOME user's guide that we've written at RHAD mentions exactly how to
change the window manager:

  http://www.gnome.org/users-guide/gccdesktop.html#GCCWM



Michael Fulbright
drmike@redhat.com
Director - Red Hat Advanced Development Labs