default ctwm config thoughts

nia <[email protected]>
Newsgroups gmane.os.netbsd.devel.x11
Message-ID <[email protected]> 
i recently installed NetBSD with someone in real life and they visibly
recoiled when the default twm started - it's pretty bad, and I think
a lot of developers agree with that.

somehow I recently got reminded that ctwm is in base, checked out the
website, and noticed it's pretty configurable and can be made to look
and behave half-decently.

I'm quite tired of tiling window managers, so I've somehow ended up
maining ctwm and wrote up a config. I had several goals:

1) avoid potentially 'obnoxious' colours and patterns like the
   default config (wood background, multicolored buttons, etc).

   avoid color combinations that may be problematic for colorblind
   users.

   be a boring and accessible default, users can customize things
   to be fancy later on.

2) provide controls that would be familiar to the broadest range
   of users possible.

   this means including keyboard shortcuts like alt+f4, alt+tab,
   a close button on windows, etc.

   still it should be usable to old unix desktop people, e.g.
   sloppy focus, evilwm style keyboard controls.

3) keep system requirements low (e.g. work with anicent monochrome
   x servers, non-opaque movement, etc), use only assets (fonts,
   etc) from xsrc itself.

4) lil bit of netbsd branding

https://i.imgur.com/mIMV3FB.png

^ bottom right corner provides some workspaces, top right corner
provides a window list. clicking on items in the list iconifies
them. clicking anywhere on the desktop opens a menu.

i'm wondering whether anyone would find this offensive as a default,
either for ctwm in netbsd or netbsd in general (ctwm was imported a
while ago but nothing was done with it, is it just lack of time?)

it might be tempting to restart the whole discussion of replacing
twm in netbsd (jwm is bsd licensed now and has very few dependencies!),
but honestly ctwm is there already and i'm tempted to do something with
it, just so we're not shipping a new major release with a default twm
that is pretty horrible for most new users.

my config is attached. drop it to $HOME/.ctwmrc,
echo 'exec ctwm' > $HOME/.xinitrc, startx
ctwmrc (text/plain, 7.9 KB) 
#
# $NetBSD$
#
# ctwmrc by [email protected]
#
# An attempt to strike a usability balance that makes keys and buttons
# do the thing users of various operating systems expect them to do.
#
# Also, mostly inoffensive colours (avoiding potentially inaccessible
# combinations like red-green) and full-ish keyboard control.
#

# don't use the default buttons or key bindings, we define our own
NoDefaults

ShowWorkSpaceManager
ShowIconManager

# 3D icon managers do not seemingly honor IconManagerHighlight,
# which makes them slightly less useful
#UseThreeDIconManagers
#UseThreeDWMap
UseThreeDBorders
#UseThreeDMenus
UseThreeDTitles

ThreeDBorderWidth         3

MenuFont         "-misc-fixed-medium-r-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
TitleFont        "-misc-fixed-bold-r-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
IconManagerFont  "-misc-fixed-medium-r-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
IconFont         "-misc-fixed-bold-r-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
ResizeFont       "-misc-fixed-medium-r-*-*-18-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"
WorkSpaceFont    "-misc-fixed-medium-r-*-*-14-*-*-*-*-*-*-*"

RestartPreviousState

DecorateTransients

NoOpaqueMove
NoOpaqueResize

SloppyFocus

AutoOccupy
AutoRelativeResize

CenterFeedbackWindow

NoGrabServer

RaiseOnClick

DontMoveOff
MoveOffResistance	  150

ConstrainedMoveTime       0

IgnoreLockModifier

RandomPlacement          "off"
MoveDelta                 3
ClearShadowContrast       50
DarkShadowContrast        50
MovePackResistance        100

RaiseWhenAutoUnSqueeze
ShortAllWindowsMenus

#BeNiceToColorMap

NoStackMode

StayUpMenus
WarpToDefaultMenuEntry
MenuShadowDepth      1

NoTitleFocus

# warp through all windows in the current workspace
WindowRing
WarpRingOnScreen

TitleButtonShadowDepth    1
TitleShadowDepth          1
TitleButtonBorderWidth    0
TitlePadding              0
TitleJustification        "left"
ButtonIndent              0
FramePadding		  0

LeftTitleButton           ":xpm:dot"      = f.menu "titleops"
RightTitleButton          ":xpm:resize"   = f.resize
RightTitleButton          ":xpm:cross"    = f.delete

BorderWidth               4
BorderShadowDepth         2
BorderResizeCursors

MaxIconTitleWidth         120
NoIconManagerFocus
IconManagerShadowDepth    1
IconManagerGeometry       "200x-1-1+0" 1
IconifyByUnmapping

ReallyMoveInWorkspaceManager
MapWindowCurrentWorkSpace {  "black", "firebrick" }
DontToggleWorkSpaceManagerState
DontWarpCursorInWMap
NoShowOccupyAll	
ReverseCurrentWorkspace	
StartInMapState
WMgrHorizButtonIndent     0
WMgrVertButtonIndent      0
WorkSpaceManagerGeometry  "70x270-4-4" 1 5

WorkSpaces 
{
    "1"    { "lavender" "black" "darkslateblue" "white" }
    "2"    { "lavender" "black" "darkslateblue" "white" }
    "3"    { "lavender" "black" "darkslateblue" "white" }
    "4"    { "lavender" "black" "darkslateblue" "white" }
    "5"    { "lavender" "black" "darkslateblue" "white" }
}

Color
{
  BorderColor           "steelblue"

  BorderTileBackground  "lavender"
  BorderTileForeground  "lavender"

  DefaultBackground     "grey70"
  DefaultForeground     "black"

  TitleBackground       "lavender"
  TitleForeground       "black" 

  MenuBackground        "lavender"
  MenuForeground        "black"
  MenuTitleBackground   "darkorange"
  MenuTitleForeground   "black"
  MenuShadowColor 	"gray15"

  IconBackground        "black"
  IconForeground        "white"
  IconBorderColor       "gray45"

  IconManagerBackground "lavender"
  IconManagerForeground "black"
  IconManagerHighlight  "firebrick"

  MapWindowBackground   "lavender"
  MapWindowForeground   "black"	
}

Monochrome
{
    BorderColor 		"black"

    BorderTileForeground 	"black"
    BorderTileBackground 	"white"

    TitleForeground 		"black"
    TitleBackground 		"white"

    MenuForeground 		"black"
    MenuBackground 		"white"
    MenuTitleForeground 	"black"
    MenuTitleBackground 	"white"

    MapWindowForeground 	"white"
    MapWindowBackground 	"white"
}

menu "NetBSD"
{
    "NetBSD"			f.title
    ""				f.separator
    " Terminal"			!"uxterm &"
    " Calculator"		!"xcalc &"
    " Clock"			!"xclock -digital &"
    " XEyes"			!"xeyes &"
    ""				f.separator
    " Restart CTWM"		f.twmrc
    " Quit"			f.quit
}

menu "titleops"
{
    "Window"       f.title
    ""             f.separator
    " Iconify"     f.iconify
    " Resize"      f.resize
    " Move"        f.move
    ""             f.separator
    " Raise"       f.raise
    " Lower"       f.lower
    ""             f.separator
    " Zoom"        f.fullzoom
    " Zoom-V"      f.zoom
    " Zoom-H"      f.horizoom
    ""             f.separator
    " Kill"        f.destroy
    " Close"       f.delete
}

IconManagerDontShow
{
   "XClock"
} 

OccupyAll 
{
   "XClock"
}

AlwaysOnTop
{
}

NoTitle 
{
   "TWM Icon Manager"
   "WorkSpaceManager"
   "XClock"
}

WindowRingExclude
{
   "TWM Icon Manager"
   "WorkSpaceManager"
   "XClock"
}

StartIconified 
{ 
}

NoBorder
{
   "TWM Icon Manager"
}

Function "raise-move"          { f.raise f.deltastop f.forcemove }
Function "raise-and-resize"    { f.raise f.deltastop f.resize }

# These are basically essential for basic functionality.

Button1 =	: title		: f.function "raise-move"
Button2 =	: title		: f.function "raise-and-resize"
Button3 =	: title | frame	: f.menu "titleops"

Button1 =	: frame		: f.function "raise-and-resize"

Button1 =	: icon | iconmgr	: f.iconify
Button2 =	: icon			: f.move
Button3 =	: icon | iconmgr	: f.raiselower

Button1 =	: root		: f.menu "NetBSD"
Button2 =	: root		: f.menu "TwmAllWindows"
Button3 =	: root		: f.menu "NetBSD"

#
# Mod1 is the "Alt/Meta" key.
# Mod4 is the "OS" key.
#

Button1 = mod1	: window	: f.forcemove
Button1 = mod4	: window	: f.forcemove
Button3 = mod1	: window 	: f.resize
Button3 = mod4	: window 	: f.resize

"Up"     = mod4           : all : f.upworkspace
"Down"   = mod4           : all : f.downworkspace
"Left"   = mod4           : all : f.prevworkspace
"Right"  = mod4           : all : f.nextworkspace

"Up"     = mod1 | control : all : f.upworkspace
"Down"   = mod1 | control : all : f.downworkspace
"Left"   = mod1 | control : all : f.prevworkspace
"Right"  = mod1 | control : all : f.nextworkspace

"1"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "1"
"2"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "2"
"3"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "3"
"4"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "4"
"5"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "5"
"6"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "6"
"7"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "7"
"8"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "8"
"9"      = mod4 : all : f.gotoworkspace "9"

#
# "Windows" style keyboard shortcuts
#

"Tab"    = mod1           : all : f.warpring "next"
"Tab"    = mod1 | s       : all : f.warpring "prev"
"Tab"    = mod4           : all : f.warpring "next"
"Tab"    = mod4 | s       : all : f.warpring "prev"
"space"  = mod1           : window : f.menu "titleops"
"F4"     = mod1           : window : f.delete

#
# "Mac" style keyboard shortcuts
#

"w"      = mod4           : window : f.delete
"m"      = mod4           : window : f.iconify

#
# "evilwm" style keyboard shortcuts
#

# it is useful to be able to spawn a terminal without clicking.
"Return" = mod1 | c : all : !"uxterm &"
"Return" = mod4 | s : all : !"uxterm &"

# vi-style directions
"j"      = mod1 | control : window : f.jumpdown "10"
"k"      = mod1 | control : window : f.jumpup "10"
"h"      = mod1 | control : window : f.jumpleft "10"
"l"      = mod1 | control : window : f.jumpright "10"

"j"      = mod4 : window : f.jumpdown "10"
"k"      = mod4 : window : f.jumpup "10"
"h"      = mod4 : window : f.jumpleft "10"
"l"      = mod4 : window : f.jumpright "10"

"j"      = mod4 | s : window : f.changesize "bottom +10"
"k"      = mod4 | s : window : f.changesize "bottom -10"
"h"      = mod4 | s : window : f.changesize "right -10"
"l"      = mod4 | s : window : f.changesize "right +10"

"j"      = mod1 | c | s : window : f.changesize "bottom +10"
"k"      = mod1 | c | s : window : f.changesize "bottom -10"
"h"      = mod1 | c | s : window : f.changesize "right -10"
"l"      = mod1 | c | s : window : f.changesize "right +10"
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