AfterSTep 1.5

One of the things that makes me glad I use Linux is the new AfterSTep 1.5beta5. I've been a long time user of this fine window manager, since well before the pre-1.0 days. In fact, I only recently upgraded to the post-1.2 series because version 1.0 was working so well I didn't want to mess with success. But, after trying the new version out, I'm glad I made the leap.

New Features

Perhaps the most pronounced difference between the 1.0 series of releases and the post version 1.2 series is the way AfterSTep is configured. In an effort to become more GNOME compliant (see www.gnome.org), the configuration has changed from modifying a single file (~/.steprc) to modifying a series of files in a directory hierarchy (either ~/GNUstep/Library/AfterStep or /usr/share/AfterStep). This makes the initial configuration a little harder in my opinion than it was in the pre version 1.2 releases, but some people consider it much easier.

A new release of ASCP (The AfterSTep Configuration Panel) is in alpha release right now. It uses the GTK libraries instead of the TkStep libraries, so it has a different look, and it will work with the new directory structure and configuration files. The old ASCP still works for the pre-1.2 releases of AfterSTep, but you must use the new GTK version to work with the post-1.2 releases of AfterSTep.

One of my favorite new features is the bubble popups. You can move your cursor over Wharf folders or application buttons, or even over applications on the pager, and a little bubble pops up telling you what it is. Before, you just had to remember what they were. It's a solution to the often-complained about inability of AS to display text in the Wharf bar.

Another new feature that existed on slightly earlier versions is forms. A form is an interactive program that can be launched from the window manager itself, adding a layer of friendliness between you and the shell command.

Making It Easier

Personally, I like the old ~/.steprc method of configuring AfterSTep better than the current method of editing many individual files. You can start the window manager in ``compatibility mode'' by using something like ``afterstep -f pathtoold.steprcfile''. Most of the syntax in the files is similar to the old single-file approach, though some new functions have been added while others have been deprecated. I decided to go with the new file structure just to be adventurous.

First, I added some variables to my ~/.bashrc file. Since in the beginning, you'll be in and out of your ~/GNUstep/Library/AfterStep directory a lot, you don't want to have to type that whole long pathname indefinitely. Instead, put gla=$HOME/GNUstep/Library/AfterStep in the variables section of your ~/.bashrc, and put alias cda='cd $gla' shortly afterwards therein, and you'll save yourself quite a few keystrokes as you customize your desktop. Also, you can copy your new background images thusly: cp oldpath/goodimage.xpm $gla/backgrounds/ much more easily now.

Second, you might have trouble compiling ASCP, as I did, because the glib-1.1.4 and the gtk+-1.1.2 libraries don't always get along together. This is one of the difficulties of developing for bleeding edge projects and for those of us who have grown to love them. The author of ASCP had to decide whether to use the old libraries, which weren't quite up to what he wanted to do with them, or to use beta-release libraries that might well be unstable or untested (or both), but would at least give him the functionality that he needed. So, as with nearly anyone who uses developmental libraries like this, there are conflicts and headaches for users. Until the newer libraries of libg and gtk are stable, ASCP itself will remain less than stable. Which is unfortunate, because the rest of AfterSTep 1.5beta5 is more stable than production releases of previous versions. It's just ASCP that is lacking at this point.

So, you are left with hand editing the configuration files in $gla or you can write a quick and dirty script to edit them yourself. That's what I did, and it seems to work all right. My script makes backups in ~/ASbackups and then overwrites the new files to your $gla location. So at least if you botch something, you haven't lost your previous working configuration.

Themes.org

Of course, if you want more ideas, check out www.themes.org. The AfterSTep themes are at http://as.themes.org. There are also quite a few AfterSTep personal pages, and you can check www.afterstep.org for some pointers to some of those. For that matter, you can swipe backgrounds from other window managers, along with their icons and sounds, and make your own themes. It's not that hard. Basically, you decide on a setup you like to use, and you simply make a copy of everything it took to make that setup: backgrounds, tiles, icons, menu configurations, title bars, window decorations, buttons, sounds, and whatever else you think makes it unique. Give it a fancy name, like ``mytheme'' and make it all into a tarball with a README and INSTALL text files, and share it with someone on IRC or at themes.org. You might become a celebrity!

Themes.org is the brainchild of Trae McCombs. He founded the themes.org project and is spearheading the effort to beautify geeks' desktops everywhere under X. (He's also speaking at my local Linux User Group, Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts. It will be interesting to see whether Geoff Harrison, co-developer of the Enlightenment windowmanager, and he don't get into whose windowmanager is better, Window Maker or Enlightenment. Film at eleven.)

If you want to look at LOTS of themes, you really need to look at themes for WindowMaker. There are more themes for it than AfterSTep ever dreamed of. Fortunately, these are adaptable to AfterSTep. But it takes more work than if they were already available for WindowMaker. It's also possible to use some of WindowMaker's cool little applets in AfterSTep too.

So why not just use WindowMaker? Lots of people do, and it's a totally cool window manager. I just haven't played with it much, though after looking at all those themes, I'll have to try it out one of these days!