


afterstep_faq(1)   AfterStep X11 window manager  afterstep_faq(1)


NAME
       afterstep_faq -  This  document  is  an  ever growing set of questions,
       statements, ideas and complaints about AfterStep version 2.0 1. General
       Information1.1.  About this Document.  This document is an ever growing
       set of questions, statements, ideas and complaints about AfterStep ver-
       sion 2.0.

       You can get this FAQ at the following locations:

       The rest of this document assumes you are running AfterStep 2.0. If you
       are running a version of AfterStep prior to version 2.0, this  document
       will suggests only one thing: upgrade.  1.2. What is AfterStep?  After-
       Step is a Window Manager for the X Window System (hereafter referred to
       as X). It was started to emulate the look and feel of NeXTSTEP(tm), but
       has evolved into something that while still being able to emulate NeXT,
       can do much much more. Without using much memory or cpu time, AfterStep
       provides all the features one could want in  a  Window  Manager.   1.3.
       What  is AfterStep's history?  Original AfterStep was a continuation of
       the BowMan Window Manager which was originally put together by Bo Yang.
       BowMan  was based on the fvwm Window Manager, written by Robert Nation.
       Fvwm was based on code from twm. And so on....

       Idea was to emulate some of the look and feel of the NEXTSTEP(tm)  user
       interface,  but  overtime it evolved to include other concepts, as dic-
       tated by end user needs. It is that unholy direction that made  Alfredo
       Kojima  abandon project in 1997 and create a Window Manger of its own -
       Window Maker, which had a goal of strict adherance to  NEXTSTEP  inter-
       face ideas.

       After  releasing  version  1.8.11 it became aparent for developers that
       old AfterStep codebase had reached its limits and required  a  substan-
       tial  redesign.  Such  redesign began with development of radically new
       image handling library libAfterImage, introducing  high  quality  image
       manipulation,  blending, TrueType fonts, XML image scripting, and more.
       Building off of libAfterImage and incorporating new developments  in  X
       Window  management,  AfterStep  2.0 was born and released in September,
       2004. As of now AfterStep code base contains none of the original  fvwm
       parts,  and association to fvwm, twm and BowMan remain only in history.
       1.4. Fine, what if I'm not running AfterStep 2.0? Is there  a  FAQ  for
       me?   Yes.  There  should  be  a version of the AfterStep FAQ available
       within your specific AfterStep distribution. If you are using a version
       earlier  than  2.0, it is strongly suggested you upgrade.  1.5. What is
       X? What are these "window managers" ?  "X" is shorthand for The X  Win-
       dow  System.  It  is a basis for building graphical user interfaces for
       UNIX (it is available for non-UNIX systems, but wasn't designed  to  be
       as  such).  "X" is not the interface itself, just a foundation for one.
       For more information, check www.x.org .

       A Window Manager is a program that manages your windows during  your  X
       session.  AfterStep  is  one  of many available window managers .  1.6.
       What are AfterStep's main features?

       The Wharf
              Similar to NeXTSTEP's(tm) Dock, it  allows  applications  to  be



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afterstep_faq(1)   AfterStep X11 window manager  afterstep_faq(1)


              Swallowed, shortcuts with icons, and many other things.

       The Pager
              Shows  a  miniature view of the Afterstep desktops, you can move
              between them, and move windows around in the Pager as though  it
              were a miniature desktop.

       The WinList
              A  list  of all the windows, clicking on the items can show that
              window, destroy it, shade it, or anything you might want.

       Configurability
              Almost anything can be changed.

       XML image scripting
              AfterStep allows XML scripts to  be  used  to  assemble  complex
              images  for  things  like buttons, frame sides, etc, from other,
              simplier images or graphical primitives.

       TrueType fonts support
              Antialised TrueType fonts could be used to render window  titles
              and other labels.

       Unicode, UTF8 and other encodings support
              Most  international character encodings are supported as long as
              fonts provide glyphs.

       ColorSchemes
              AfterStep can calculate a set of about 34 colors to create looks
              with  harmonious color composition.  1.7. Is AfterStep 2.0 GNOME
              and/or KDE compliant?  AfterStep 2.0  supports  Extended  Window
              Manager Hints, ICCCM protocol and Motif hints, thus making it as
              compatible as possible with both GNOME and KDE, as well as  most
              other  X  applications.   1.8.  Can  I  run it in Microsoft Win-
              dows(tm)?  AfterStep 2.0 does run  under  Windows  using  CYGWIN
              compatibility  layer,  while running any X server. Some of the X
              servers available under Windows allow so-called root-less  mode,
              where  X applications can coincide with native applications. See
              sample screenshot .  1.9. Who develops AfterStep?

       Sasha Vasko <sasha at aftercode.net>
              coordinator, coder, web designer, carpenter, and everything else
              ( at the moment ).

       Niklas Lunger <niklas at fet dot at>
              documentation and user testing.

       Nathan Mahon <as_ml at vaevictus net>
              realease  manager  1.10.  AfterStep  is awesome! How can I help?
              Code contributions are welcome. Hardware donations are  welcome.
              If you can help write AfterStep, or feel you can help the effort
              elsewhere, do so. Hang out on irc (#afterstep, efnet),  partici-
              pate  on  the  mailing lists, suggest ideas, help code, etc etc.
              1.11. Who writes this FAQ?  see 1.9. above.



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afterstep_faq(1)   AfterStep X11 window manager  afterstep_faq(1)


              3. Getting and Installing AfterStep  2.03.1.  Where  can  I  get
              AfterStep  2.0?   You  can  download AfterStep 2.0 at any of the
              following locations:
               ftp://ftp.afterstep.org/stable/  SourceForge.net  RPM  packages
              3.2.  What  do I need to compile and install AfterStep?  Because
              AfterStep is an X application, you need to have X installed, and
              the  X  development  libraries (note, in this case "development"
              means libraries need to compile things with X,  not  development
              level  code). It's probably a good idea to also have a working C
              compiler.

              AfterStep includes some image libraries, but it  is  recommended
              that you install those libraries using your distribution's pack-
              age management system.  Note  that  you  will  need  development
              libraries  in  addition to run-time libraries. The following are
              the libraries that AfterStep can take advantage of :  libJPEG  -
              support for JPEG image format

              libPNG - support for PNG image format

              libTIFF - support for TIFF image format

              Freetype - support for TrueType fonts



              Note  that  following  image  format do not require any external
              libraries : XPM, PPM, BMP, ICO, XCF, GIF.  3.3.  Can  I  install
              AfterStep  without being root?  Yes, before compiling AfterStep,
              do this:

              Source : mkdir /bin
              mkdir -p /man/man1
              Source : make installwithout being root.  3.4. How do I  upgrade
              AfterStep from AfterStep version prior to 2.0.0?  Install After-
              Step 2.0 and then run it. It will start with default  configura-
              tion  that  you may or maynot like. If you wish to try and reuse
              your old configuration files, then copy them over from your  old
              /GNUstep/Library/AfterStep/  directory  and  into  /.afterstep/.
              Restart AfterStep to make changes effective. If some of the fea-
              tures  do  not work quite right - feel free to submit bug report
              along with your configuration files.

              It is recommended though that you start with default  configura-
              tion  and  try  out all of the supplied looks and color schemes.
              Select whichever is close to what you want and then modify it to
              your  liking. These approach will allow you to take advantage of
              many new features, available in AfterStep 2.0.  3.4.  How  do  I
              upgrade  AfterStep  from  AfterStep  version  higher then 2.0.0?
              Make sure that all configuration files that you ever changed are
              in  your home directory at /.afterstep/, as installing afterstep
              will   replace   everything   in    global    shared    location
              (/usr/local/share/afterstep).  Install  afterstep  and  run. You
              should not have any trouble.  3.5.  What's  up  with  all  these



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afterstep_faq(1)   AfterStep X11 window manager  afterstep_faq(1)


              compile errors?  Most likely, you don't have the X devel package
              (should have come with your  operating  system,  if  not,  check
              http://www.x.org/  ).   3.6.  How  the  hell  does one configure
              AfterStep?   Configuration   files   are   usually   either   in
              /usr(/local)/share/afterstep  for  system wide configuration and
              ~.afterstep for personal settings.

              Configuration is handled in multiple files: look file (in  looks
              subdirectory)  for visual attributes, feel file (in feels subdi-
              rectory) for the  general  behaviour;  wharf,  winlist,  banner,
              pager, animate for module specific configuration.

              Just   copy   any   file   you   want   to   modify   over  from
              /usr(/local)/share/afterstep to ~.afterstep to  override  system
              wide defaults retaining subdirectory layout.

              2.  Resources2.1. Where can I find AfterStep resources, or help?

       HTML documentation

              AfterStep 2.0 comes installed with complete set of documentation
              in  HTML  format,  usually  installed at /usr/local/share/after-
              step/doc/html or /usr/share/afterstep/doc/html . Same documenta-
              tion is available online from : http://www.afterstep.org/visual-
              doc.php . If you find  that  documentation  incomplete  in  some
              areas - please feel free to submit any corrections to any of the
              AfterStep mailing lists.


       WWW Page

              The official AfterStep web page is at  http://www.afterstep.org/
              . This web site is managed by whoever has write access to After-
              Step CVS, and is kindly hosted by the  generous  people  at  Web
              Conquest .


       FTP site

              The  FTP  site,  ftp://ftp.afterstep.org/ , is the best place to
              get AfterStep.


       AfterStep applets

              The applets (asapps) that go with AfterStep are distributed sep-
              arately.  The  applet distribution is maintained by Albert Doro-
              feev,  (<tigr@tigr.net>).  You   can   find   the   applets   at
              http://www.tigr.net/afterstep/as-apps/ . RPMs for many an applet
              could be found here : http://www.afterstep.org/rpms/


       Man pages.




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afterstep_faq(1)   AfterStep X11 window manager  afterstep_faq(1)


              AfterStep installation comes with set of man pages that  attempt
              to cover all aspects of AfterStep configuration. Please read the
              relevent man page before asking a question. Also note  that  the
              Pager man page is 'man Pager' (note the capitalization).


       IRC      There  is also #afterstep on freenode.net IRC servers. You can
              view current activity  here  :  http://www.rchitecture.com/~com-
              puter/

              2.2.  What  are the AfterStep mailing lists, and where are their
              archives?  There are three AfterStep  mailing  lists.  as-users,
              as-devel and as-bugs.


       as-users.

              as-users  is  the  general  AfterStep  mailing list, open to all
              AfterStep questions, concerns and ideas (  NO  LiteSTEP,  Window
              Maker,  some-x-app  questions  unless  it really does pertain to
              AfterStep, please). Subscribe  by  entering  your  e-mail  at  :
              http://mail.afterstep.org/mailman/listinfo/as-users/


       as-devel.

              as-devel  is  the development AfterStep mailing list. It is used
              to send notices about commits to CVS  repository.  Subscribe  by
              entering   your   e-mail  at  :  http://mail.afterstep.org/mail-
              man/listinfo/as-devel/


       as-bugs.

              as-bugs is the AfterStep mailing list for submiting bug reports.
              It is geared toward development questions, ideas and complaints.
              Subscribe  by  entering  your  e-mail  at  :  http://mail.after-
              step.org/mailman/listinfo/as-bugs/


              The     mailing     list     archives    can    be    read    at
              http://www.tigr.net/afterstep/mail/ .















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