ROX: Iconified windows

[MochiMoppel]

This is a neat feature of the ROX-Filer but it seems that very few people know about it or even tried it. I myself have long regarded it as a gimmick.
@geo_c once started the thread I like Rox's Iconified Windows. It soon went OT and nobody seemed to be sure what "iconified windows" are eventually good for.

So what are they? Pretty simple: Whenever a user minimizes a window, an icon representing this window is placed on the desktop.

Why is this neat?

1) When you have many windows, minimized or not, on the deskop, tabs of these windows appear in the taskbar, but with increasing number of windows the width of these tabs get smaller and smaller. Once minimizing a window it becomes difficult to restore this window, simply because it's hard to find it again in all these tabs. Here ROX's "iconidfied window" icons come to the rescue. These icons are big and their title is not truncated, removing all guess work.

2) The most important feature for me is the a ability to restore a minimized window from any desktop, not just the desktop where it was minimized. For this to work the "Show per workspace" checkbox must be unchecked. Let's say you have a leafpad window open on desktop 9. After minimizing it you can switch to desktop 2 and restore it on desktop 2. This means you can "park" windows for later use without the need to remember where you parked it.

Just try it. It doesn't hurt, doesn't cost extra and it's easy to disable if you don't like it

iconified_windows.png (64.46 KiB) Viewed 1601 times

[rockedge]

When installing Rox in Void Linux iconified windows are enabled by default

[fr-ke]

@MochiMoppel

Cool.
Thanks for the renewed tip.

[rockedge]

I have done some experimenting with using a simple tiling window manager instead of JWM and using it's panels, instead using a Rox pinboard, and panels with iconifed windows. These experiments were done using FIrstRib build scripts to put together a small distro based on Void Linux and using the Rox desktop model.

This does work pretty well. The "look" was a bit retro but by all accounts seems to work nicely once more familiar with the desktop operations

[MochiMoppel]

I have done some experimenting with using a simple tiling window manager instead of JWM and using it's panels, instead using a Rox pinboard

ROX says "Requires a compatible window manager, and the pinboard must be in use" . So how are you able to use ROX's iconified windows without using the ROX pinboard?

[rockedge]

@MochiMoppel I DO use Rox pinboard. That is what I mean, I use Rox, Rox pinboard and Rox panels with iconified windows enabled.

Sorry about that wording and that it is not clear. I am talking about using almost only Rox as the entire desktop experience in experiments.

[rockedge]

@MochiMoppel No response from you then? Then it is clear to you what I am saying? Or do I need to release an ISO of such a system to satisfy your concerns?

You rubbed me the wrong way amigo....just saying

Though I imagine now it doesn't matter since you've never mentioned trying or using any of the systems I release anyway. Maybe it's a "cultural" differences that brings misunderstanding.

[geo_c]

I am talking about using almost only Rox as the entire desktop experience in experiments.

Well I'm curious. How do I try this? Which base OS did you do these experiments with?

I'm still somewhat confused about how Rox can be in control of the pinboard when there are other window/desktop environments involved. It seems like there would be conflict, but I have no clue about how all these elements interact in a heirarchal sense.

[rockedge]

@geo_c I haven't played around with the set up for a while so I'll look for the PLUG files and use the FirstRib build script(s) to make a small OS that has a really basic window manager to handle opening and closeing of windows and using Rox as the primary file manager and pinboard desktop.

What I had used was what we called WeeDog's at the time but in principle is a Kennel Linux, Void Linux based small distro that does not use XFCE4 or any component of xfce4. There was only a few packages installed like a terminal console, geany and leafpad to do editing and a browser of some sort. At the time I did not install Networkmanager or anything similar and relied on a script which is still present in KLV-Airedale, /usr/local/bin/wiakwifi to establish network connections.

Super fast distro in this form but as you can see highly user unfriendly and much is manual configuration. I used a tiling window manager the last time I made one which I had not gotten used to but could see this type of OS is really something for those who work mostly on the command line and tiled open windows. The panels and desktop are handled by Rox. Once in awhile when something goes crooked in KLV-Airedale during booting on certain combinations of graphic card/devices

Rox will throw out a panel that intereferes with the XFCE4 desktop. On certain virtual machine boots one can for an instant see the Rox pinboard start before XFCE4 does with a home icon on the pinboard.

When Rox is installed by Void Linux the "iconified windows" is enabled by default. Somewhere I read that Rox is disappearing from some distro repositories but Void Linux still has a current version in it's repo

I will look around my storage to see where the relevant PLUG and build scripts are and gather them up for some new builds.

[geo_c]

Somewhere I read that Rox is disappearing from some distro repositories but Void Linux still has a current version in it's repo

That was probably me talking in the KLA-Xfce thread about installing Rox, I found that Rox had been discontinued in the arch-linux repos.

What you describe sounds like a cool hybrid of tty operation and graphical desktop. Enough window functionality to make multi-task navigation easier, and sparse enough to require a lot of terminal usage.

[geo_c]

When installing Rox in Void Linux iconified windows are enabled by default

This is true that the box is checked enabling them, but on my KLV system the windows don't iconify when minimized.

In KLV I don't mind so much because the Xfce deskbar allows for putting the window tray on the right where I would normally iconify the windows.

I actually started using the iconify option in JWM desktops again to mimic the accessibilty of the minimized windows on the right that I get from the Xfce deskbar.

[rockedge]

@geo_c It mostly mattered when I started out with FirstRib. I made a series of os's using the JWM- Rox combo based on Void Linux. Called some WeeDog as they advanced. But I really went for more polish and easier configuration and did the first Kennel Linux's with the XFCE4 desktop, which I immediately liked and saw big potential.

Of course on the JWM desktop on the early models of KLV it was a lot of configuration during the build for a decent JWM experience and at that time tried a tiling manager but have not followed through on a good user experience using them yet.

I can tell you this distro is blazing fast. I can add a link to the ISO if anyone wants to try it out.

[geo_c]

I can tell you this distro is blazing fast. I can add a link to the ISO if anyone wants to try it out.

Well I for one am pretty curious, so if you link it, I'll download and run it.

I seem to like going both directions, I like the Xfce desktops for their polish and ease of use, without being obnoxiously big and flashy like KDE, but I also like the idea of using command line apps and JWM and Rox.

I should probably be giving KLA-OT2 a good looking at.

This would probably make a good topic on it's own -- I just stumbled on this Puppy Linux mention in a Tech Radar desktop summary: https://www.techradar.com/best/best-linux-desktop

Other Linux Desktops to Consider

3. Puppy Linux is designed in the traditional fashion and does a good job of just staying out of the way. It can look a bit dated when compared to its more resource-intensive cousins, but many people find that endearing rather than annoying. Not many folks would pick this for a new machine, but it does a great job of keeping PCs running that would otherwise be scrapped.

If there's one desktop environment that stands out from all the others we have here it's this one. Before you start using it, it's best to forget everything you think you know about how a desktop should work. Right, have you done that?

[geo_c]

Here's an extension of this discussion: viewtopic.php?t=8613

I started a new topic discussing and giving examples of how I use Iconified windows in combination with Rox panels, and how that compares to Xfce deskbars and Cairo-dock.