Using mwm

MWM

window manager for the X Window System that provides functions that facilitate control of elements of window state such as placement, size, icon, and input focus.

  • Manual page can be found here and here

Setting up the MWM window manager

  • Locate these two files in home directory: .xinitrc and .Xsession
  • Make sure to include this line at the end of both files: mwm > /dev/null 2>&1
  • Check the permissions of both files, change permission to executable if they are not : chmod u+x .xinitrc and chmod u+x .Xsession
  • Log out. At the login prompt, click option and choose custom
  • Go back to the login prompt and login as usual
  • Your running program will be inside the iconbox listed at the top right corner
  • To access main menu, right click and hold on the desktop
  • To log out, right click and hold on “exit from X11”

Customization

  • Basically, you can modify the appearance, fonts, borders, placements, menus, and key binding functions. There are 3 places where customizations can be done:
  • The resource file ~/.Xdefaults: set resources for the Session Manager, Motif window manager, and applications.
  • The Motif window manager configuration file, ~/.mwmrc : configures root menu and window menu, shells and application tools, key binding functions, buttons bindings.
  • The Motif window manager resource file, Mwm : customizes menu, focus policy, modifies window manager behavior
  • Check out the example here