[xubuntu-users] modern window-manager for an old ctwm user?

[Mike Kupfer]

Carl Alexander wrote:

> There are two critical features ctwm that I want from a new 
> window-manager:  DontMoveOff, and Occupy.
> 
> DontMoveOff (which IIRC goes all the way back to twm) prevents
> windows from being dragged off the workspace --- not even partway
> off:  if you grab a window by the titlebar and drag it in ctwm, it
> will stop when its leading edge meets the edge of the desktop.

Do you need it to be absolutely impossible to move the window off the
screen?  Or do you just want to be able to move a window to the edge,
without having to fuss with the exact position?  If it's the latter,
both xfwm4 and Compiz (Unity) support edge resistance, which may be good
enough for you.

> (This is sort of the opposite of the feature in xfcewm where
> draging a window to the border between workspaces will switch
> you into that workspace, bringing the window with you --- a
> feature I would happily do without).  

Me, too.  Fortunately, it's easily disabled.

> Occupy lets you set which applications are allowed to place their
> windows in which workspaces.   I use some applications that spawn
> a lot of little windows, and I very much prefer having them show 
> up in their own workspace, so I can stay focused on work in another.

I don't know if that's possible with xfwm4.

The Place Windows plugin for Compiz lets you specify placement rules.
I've never used it, but it looks like it might do what you want.

> Other ctwm features I would really _like_ in a new window-manager,
> but aren't critical, include windows that are ilterally tabbed 
> (that is, the titlebar occupies a fraction of the top of the
> window --- like the tab on a file folder).  

A couple of the xfwm4 themes support this (e.g., b5, IIRC).

mike