Posted on Jan 4, 2024
I realised that I never described a simple (but not always possible) configuration that is at the core of my graphical user interface preferences for the X Window System, as a Slackware gnu+Linux user; when I’m not using X, I deeply miss it.
I really want my user interface experience to be centred around the keyboard; usually, in my
X sessions, I have: four xterm launched
at startup; gnu Emacs, launched by hand in the directory of a specific project;
Mozilla Firefox launched by hand, with a configuration that I will not discuss here.
As window manager I’ve been using versions of the Fvwm project for almost 25 years; I love it. Over the first 10 years I’ve built a configuration that suits my needs; in the last 15 years I have barely touched it; it is very terse and spartan. I use no “desktop”: there is no applications bar at the bottom; there are no icons on the root window.
When not browsing the Net, I often switch window between xterm and Emacs; I do it
by pressing the function keys; Fvwm intercepts those key presses, consumes them and never
hands them to an application; so I do not press F1 for help. Intercepting the function keys
is possible under Fvwm; I think it is not possible under every window manager.
Every xterm is launched with a window title; many years ago, for some reason, I conjured
titles with these strings that uniquely identify a specific xterm: ‘Linux’,
‘Works’, ‘Jobs’, ‘Stuff’. Emacs runs in a window whose title contains the
string ‘Emacs’. Mozilla Firefox runs in windows whose resources name is
‘Navigator’. So in the Fvwm configuration file I have:
# Key Context Modifi Function Key F1 A N Next ["Linux*" !iconic] FocusAndWarp Key F2 A N Next ["Works*" !iconic] FocusAndWarp Key F3 A N Next [Emacs !iconic] FocusAndWarp Key F4 A N Next ["Jobs*"] FocusAndWarp Key F5 A N Next ["Stuff*"] FocusAndWarp Key F11 A N Next ["Navigator" !iconic] FocusAndWarp AddToFunc FocusAndWarp "I" Raise + "I" Focus + "I" WindowShade 2 + "I" WarpToWindow 5 105
pressing F1 brings forward the xterm named ‘Linux’; pressing F3 brings
forward Emacs.
With this configuration I can perform many tasks without touching the clickpad; this is my world;
for example: I’m writing this weblog post using an xterm, Emacs and Firefox
(to preview) without touching the clickpad on my laptop. I started using the clickpad even less now
that I can access some web pages from the command line, See Bookmarks
from the command line in Marco’s 2023 Weblog.
Honestly, I have developed the habit of opening Info documentation files in the ‘Linux’
xterm, which I select with F1; so, strictly speaking, I do press F1 to read
the documentation.
This weblog’s title is clickbait!