Re: Dumb question : E pager and GNOME

[Tom Gilbert <gilbertt tomgilbert freeserve co uk>]

* James Henstridge (james@daa.com.au) wrote:
> Do you mean that doing an XReparentWindow() call is fairly naughty?  When
> James.

I said your opinion may vary ;-)

My only reason for the "fairly naughty" comment, was that I personally
feel that windows are for window managers to manage, not applications.

XReparentWindow is a useful function, for wm writers ;-)

I was also in a slightly controversial mood yesterday.

> you say only some window managers support this, can you name a window
> manager other than E that does not allow this?  I am not saying there is
> no such window manager -- I am curious to know of other cases.

Having not done enough research, I said "some", but if you are saying
"all", I am unable to disagree ;-)

I believe that the reason enlightenment resents applications doing
window reparenting, and other wms don't, is multiple desktops. To
achieve the effect of multiple root windows, e keeps rigorous track of
window parenting, and even goes as far as totally unparenting windows
when you move them, in case you move between two desktops.

You may disagree with me as to who is at fault here, but its the way it
is. If the panel is going to arbitrarily reparent windows, then if
another wm chooses do handle parenting differently, things may break.

This is why I believe wms should manage windows, not apps.

I concede however, that a desktop environment blurs the line between
application and windowmanager, and may lead to conflicts over such
things. This is apparent from other wm/gnome conflicts such as
who handles root-window clicks, desktop backgrounds etc.

I therefore think that conflicts such as this can be overcome by
communicating with the wm-developers to achieve a solution acceptable
to everyone, rather than accusing them of not supporting your
features, which is something I see on the list quite often ;-)

No offence meant by my comments ;-)

Tom.
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