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[Sindi Keesan <keesan AT iamjlamb.com>]

Thanks, James.  I think I fixed the 'focus' problem by making all the
windows centered, but some people like to see more than one window at a
time.  Since I don't, I have rarely been using X.  To see two non-X
programs on screen at the same time, and switch/copy between them without
a mouse, I can use splitvt (a small utility found in bin.tgz for SW4.0 as
well as SW7.1) in console mode.  I have not experimented much with it yet,
and don't know if you can run svgalib programs in one of the split
screens, but it might be possible to run links2 graphical and a text
program that way.  Does JP's static version of links2 work in BL3?  

My usual solution to seeing two windows at once is to use a two-monitor
system (VGA and HGC/TTL) with mdacon - you could put links in X mode on
the VGA and mc on the TTL, for instance.  I successfully used BL3 with
mdacon and set it so the third virtual terminal displays on the TTL
monitor. I have one computer that will not work at all with a Hercules
graphics card (1997 board).  But I have not found a way to use link2 
graphical without a mouse, unless I set it not to show frames, since 
there seems to be no way to switch frames via the keyboard and a dearth of 
instructions.  Nor could I get the arrow (keyboard) mouse to work in 
either svgalib or X.  

I don't recall if svgalib takes up less RAM than X but it might be worth
the experiment if you have have little RAM but have installed BL3 to HD
and have the space for JP's links2, about 7 MB.  

I will try this when I have more time.  Two linux computers are nearly
ready to install (a third is ready for a hard drive transplant to another
board) after determining that the 84-key keyboard was not what caused
linux not to display, but the monitor was failing and is now sort of dead.  
(Video error horiz freq 0.00 KHz, vert freq 0.00 KHz).  It was a curbside
find and was variable in brightness before that.

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004, James Miller wrote:

> swm is a really neat little window manager Here's what I did that somewhat
> addresses some of Sindi's concerns with mouse dependency using it.  I made
> a menu entry called "startem" that starts several programs: 2 rxvt terms,
> mc, links, rclock full screen (my "screensaver") and the internet menu and
> the main menu in non-popup, non-teleport mode (made a special 2menu.sh
> entry in /usr/share/swm for this main menu).  When I select that item from
> the initial menu (using a mouse, I must admit), all these progs open.  I
> then can use alt-tab to cycle between them.  To open further progs, I
> cycle to the main menu where - I again admit - I must use the mouse to
> select.  This could be resolved (i.e., made more mouse independent) if the
> "focus" shifted to the prog in the foreground: then, you could just use
> arrow keys and "enter" to select from the menu(s).  Currently, the mouse
> cursor has to be over an open window before it gets focus (I think focus
> means something like "active" in window manager jargon - correct me if I'm
> wrong).  So, this is a great little window manager with even some decent
> keyboard functionality.
> 
> James
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