1 desktop instead of 4

[oldPES]

Hi,

I noticed that (as far as I know) linux uses desktops to switch between them. If I'm right, then even DSL uses 4 destkops!

Anyway, is there a manner in YDL to disable the 3 desktops and just keep 1. Is it a matter of installation or is it just a matter of changing WM? I only need one, and my guess is that it's using some kind of "something" of the PS3 to keep them allive.


Thanks in advance,

[ppietro]

Anyway, is there a manner in YDL to disable the 3 desktops and just keep 1. Is it a matter of installation or is it just a matter of changing WM? I only need one, and my guess is that it's using some kind of "something" of the PS3 to keep them allive.

Not really - no. There isn't physical memory assigned to each desktop. Instead - think of it like this. When X Windows creates a window, you assign it a Desktop ID #. Then, the display you pick shows the windows associated with that ID #.

In other words - it's more like a filter. Say you have 3 windows on desktop 1 and one window on desktop 2. Click Desktop 1 - "Show me all the windows with desktop ID 1" - 3 windows are displayed - switch to desktop 2 - "Show me all the windows with desktop ID 2" - one window is displayed. There's still the same number of windows in memory - 4 windows. But - that's all. There isn't one chunk of memory with 3 windows and another chunk of memory with 1 window. They're all in the same chunk of memory. The desktop control just keeps track of which window to display.

Does that make sense? I'm having a hard time explaining it.

Cheers,
Paul

[oldPES]

There isn't physical memory assigned to each desktop. Instead - think of it like this. When X Windows creates a window, you assign it a Desktop ID #. Then, the display you pick shows the windows associated with that ID #.

In other words - it's more like a filter.

Yes, I fully understand the working now you have explained it. It works as a filter.

Though, I keep in mind that you can't change the background, places of the desktop icons, GUI for each desktop, etc... because I thought that was possible? If it is possible, then that has nothing to do with the filter-system anymore?

[ppietro]

Though, I keep in mind that you can't change the background, places of the desktop icons, GUI for each desktop, etc... because I thought that was possible? If it is possible, then that has nothing to do with the filter-system anymore?

The icons, etc. that you see are not part of the desktop(s). They are riding on a file manager program called Nautilus that creates its own master window. (Especially if you're using YDL as setup by default.)

Normal X Window managers like Enlightenment (E17) - and, by extension, X Windows Desktops - do not have icons like that. They are just window controllers. Icons, toolbars, etc. are usually the responsibility of different kind of program called a Desktop Manager.

Since this is X Windows, even a Desktop Manager must have a Window Manager associated with it. X Windows does not actually draw any windows - it only knows how to draw windows. You must have a Window Manager running that actually uses X Windows to draw windows. That's why all of these Linux desktops look so different, but the GUI code runs on all of them. (Well - mostly, anyway.)

More here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_en ... dow_System

Cheers,
Paul

[CronoCloud]

Does that make sense? I'm having a hard time explaining it.

Cheers,
Paul

Mulitiple desktops only make sense to me in the ability to move between them by having them switch when the mouse hits the screen edge. That was probably useful to effectively get more screen space in the VGA 640x480 days. I know some folks used multiple desktops in that way on the PS2 Linux kit. I tend to maximize apps and deal with one at a time so multiple desktops aren't useful for me, I just use the fluxbox slit and alt-tab as necessary.

Ron Rogers Jr. (CronoCloud)