[BL] BL3 compiling, Ion WM

Sindi Keesan keesan at iamjlamb.com
Tue Aug 17 11:44:55 EDT 2004


On Tue, 17 Aug 2004, James Miller wrote:

> A couple of rather unrelated items in this post - one about compiling for
> BL3 and the other about the Ion window manager (for Sindi).  First,
> compiling.
> 
> Are add-ons for BL3 to be compiled statically, Steven?  I'm considering
> doing a Slack 3.5 install here in a VMWare virtual machine and doing some
> compiling for BL3.  Were I to try compiling newer programs (say, a
> graphical browser), what should I steer clear of?  You addressed earlier
> statically compiled programs stating, if memory serves, that all programs
> in BL3 are statically compiled.  Does that mean programs folks compile
> themselves for BL3 should likewise be statically compiled?

I think this was done so that BL3 could be kept smaller (by not including 
all the library files).  

I just looked at the Ion wm and a review of it.  The source code of the 
older version is about 150K and you need a few specific tools to compile 
it.  Binaries are available for Debian and Mandrake and Gentoo (probably 
not the versions corresponding to BL2).  The reviewer liked the fact that 
you can set up your own keystroke combinations for frequently used 
features.  And one F key will get you a terminal window or a place to type 
in the name of the program to be run.  I don't think there is a menu.

I may look into this more after I figure out how to make my 2-parport
computer print and how to get Xvesa to work as user so that I can print
with xv or Opera, until which time I don't have much use for X or any 
window manager.  

> 
> And, for the Ion window manager.  I was again looking at some information
> on minimal window managers last night and reread some of Ion's pages.  I
> think this might be the window manager you're looking for, Sindi.  It has
> all the keyboard functionality of Ratpoison or screen, it seems, and the
> same goal of mouseless operation for those who so desire.  Yet X
> applications can be run under it.  What happens within the given X program
> opened under Ion in terms of mouse functionality is, of course, the
> program's responsibility.  But accessing the window/frame that it runs in
> is done via keyboard, as is opening and closing the program.  Anyway, if
> intersted, take a look at their web page (sorry I don't have the url: it
> can be found readily by searching, though).  I don't know if Ion is
> available as a package for older Slackware releases.  It may be necessary
> to compile from source.
> 
> James
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