_NET_DESKTOP_LAYOUT question

[Etan Reisner <deryni eden rutgers edu>]

I recently switched window managers and my current wm doesn't support its
multiple desktops in a configuration other than 1xX (as if they were in a
horizontal line).
I've recently undertaken the project of writing a netwm compliant pager for
my wm, and in that process I came across _NET_DESKTOP_LAYOUT.
This property is very clearly labeled not for setting by a wm, only for
setting by pagers. I was wondering what the rationale behind this was, and if
it might not make more sense to allow the wm to set this property also. That
way I could run my wm with a certain configuration of desktops without a
pager, and if I then ever ran a pager it would pick up the correct layout. I
could also then use the pager to set/change the layout and the wm would update
it's configuration.

	-Etan