Managing Your Unix Desktop In Statistics

The "default" Unix windows manager on the Stat/CSL Linux computers is FVWM. This is a pretty basic windows manager with limited features, especially in the original configuration provided at login. It is now more common for users to activate GNOME as their desktop manager. GNOME is relatively self-explanatory. But there are some GNOME functions that cause trouble for Statistics computers. Please see WARNINGS below. Keep in mind that GNOME requires more computing and memory resources than FVWM. FVWM is a better choice for thin-client terminal stations (stermXX computers). And GNOME is definitely too slow to use remotely from a wireless connected or home Windows computer (see Using X on a Laptop documentation).

WARNINGS!

--If you have been using FVWM for more than a year, please replace your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file (as recommended below). Old versions of FVWM do not work with some new applications. --Enabling sound on GNOME has been known to break user desktop configurations. Recommendation - don't enable sound
--Statistics workstations are not configured for high-performance multimedia (including sound). Recommendation - don't use Statistics computers for listening to on-line music or viewing on-line video. If you have your own Windows or Mac laptop, please use that for multimedia.
-- GNOME defaults to a bad screen saver configuration that keeps screen saver animations going continuously. This wastes power and shortens the life of flat-panel monitors. Please fix your screen saver preferences as follows:

-When in GNOME, go into the Applications->Preferences->Screensaver preference
-Select the "Advanced" tab that shows options for "Display Power Management"
-Enable Power Management and select a reasonable delay to use in all the boxes, maybe 30 minutes max (less is better)

Customizing FVWM:

If you continue to use FVWM, you can make it a little more pleasant to work with by customizing the configuration. This requires editing or replacing the configuration file at ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc (we use Version 2 of FVWM). Remember that if you make a change that breaks your windows manager, you can restore the original by running newdots (see I Changed My dot Files... at the CSL Doc pages). If you were careful and saved a previous version of .fvwm2rc, you should be able to restore that and continue from a previous working state.

You can either replace your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc with the standard Statistics version of .fvwm2rc, or you can edit your existing ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file.

The easiest way to install the standard Statistics version is to execute the update command:

/p/stat/bin/fvwm_update

That command performs the following steps (that you could do manually if you wish):

Step 1) Move your current .fvwm2rc file to another name:

cd ~/.fvwm
mv .fvwm2rc .fvwm2rc.orig

Step 2) Copy the .fvwm2rc updated file from the Statistics public file area:

cp /p/stat/www/public/ftp/statcustop/.fvwm2rc ~/.fvwm

Or from the Statistics .fvwm2rc link, which will display the .fvwm2rc text in a page, right-click in the page, select Save Page As, select Show hidden files and directories, navigate to your .fvwm folder, and save the page as .fvwm2rc.

You will need to logout and log back in to have the new settings take effect.

The standard Statistics version adds Statistics programs to the left-button pull-down menu, adds a virtual desktop that is four screens wide, and adds a task-bar at the bottom of the screen to easily select an active application.

If you are interested in more control for customization, you can edit your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file. But before you do, make sure your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc has been updated within the last year. Old versions of FVWM do not work with some new applications. You can add individual changes as follows:

Add Statistics Applications to the Pull-Down Menu

At the bottom of your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file, add the following lines:

#####################################################################
# New Popup Menus

AddToMenu Stats      "R"      Exec xterm -ls -geometry 80X40 -e /unsup/R/bin/R
+         "SAS"      Exec sas
+         "Octave"   Exec xterm -ls -geometry 80X40 -e octave

This defines a new set of popup/popover options for the left mouse button pull-down menu. You now must add a reference to the new popup options in the main pull-down menu. Find the line:

+         "Math"       Popup Math

and immediately after it, add the line:

+         "Stats"      Popup Stats

The Stats popover option will now appear at the bottom of the left-button pull-down list and you can select the Statistics applications from there.

If you want to add more popups and popovers to the left-button pull-down menu, follow these same procedures.

Add Virtual Desktop Space to Your System

In the ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file, find the line:

# Startup Functions

Remove the # from the two lines in this section that read:

#+      "I" Module FvwmPager 0 3

so it looks like:

#####################################################################
# Startup Functions
# Default Enabled

AddToFunc InitFunction
# "I" Module GoodStuff
# comment out the following line to disable fvwm pager with 4 desktops
+   "I" Module FvwmPager 0 3

AddToFunc RestartFunction
# "I" Module GoodStuff
# comment out the following line to disable fvwm pager with 4 desktops
+      "I" Module FvwmPager 0 3

This enables the 4 screen wide virtual desktop. The standard Statistics .fvwm2rc file also renames the desktops to P1, P2, P3 and P4. To do this, find the 4 lines with FvwmPagerLabel in them in the Pager section, and change to the following:

*FvwmPagerLabel 0 Pl
*FvwmPagerLabel 1 P2
*FvwmPagerLabel 2 P3
*FvwmPagerLabel 3 P4

If you want more virtual desktops, change the 3 in the Startup Functions lines to a bigger number, and add more labels for the additional desktops. You can also change geometry by modifying parameters in the Pager section.

Add a Quick-Access Button Bar to the Bottom of your Desktop

The bottom button bar requires insertion of a standard set of code to the bottom of your ~/.fvwm/.fvwm2rc file. You can view and copy the code from here.

-- MikeRedmond - 03 Sep 2009