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WMDE

Copyright © 2017 by Steve Litt

Contents:

Writing of and Pronunciation of WMDE

In writing, WM/DE is the most obvious, and WMDE is easier and perfectly acceptable. Lower case wmde is only acceptable in situations where everyone knows what it is and what it stands for. The plural of WMDE is WMDEs, and the plural of WM/DE is WM/DEs.

WMDE is pronounced "Doubleyou Em Dee Eee", or if talking to an audience familiar with its meaning, "Wimdee". The plural of "Doubleyou Em Dee Eee" is pronounced "Doubleyou Em Dee Eze", the plural of "Wimdee" is pronounced "Wimdeze"

Introduction

After fifteen years witnessing good and intelligent discussions stopped, hijacked, or turned into flamefests by a strawman argument consisting of a distinction lacking a difference, I've finally stepped in and defined a new word, WMDE, to stop the strawman in his tracks. WMDE stands for Window Manager / Desktop Environment

The set of WMDEs is the set of all window managers and desktop environments. It could be said to be the union of Window Managers and Desktop Environments. A WMDE is one window manager or desktop environment.

The need for this new word is clearly illustrated in the following discussion, which every one of us has seen way too many times:

Allen:
Ben, what window manager do you use?
Ben:
I like KDE.
Charles (chopping his sentence ends to convey the proper technical authority):
KDE is a desktop environment, not a window manager!
Discussion tailspins into arguing distinctions between window managers and desktop environments.
Steve:
Darn, this happens every time. I'm going to invent a new word!

This time wastage occurs almost every time a discussion turns to graphical user interfaces. That's why I invented the new word "WMDE". Contrast the preceding discussion with the following one:

Allen:
Ben, what WMDE do you use?
Ben:
I like KDE.
Charles (atypically silent, but thinking this):
I'll have to wait till later to display my technical genius.
Allen:
I like KDE, but on my less powerful machines I use lighter WMDEs like LXDE and ctwm. Sometimes I use Xfce on machines that are only a little underpowered.
Ben:
I'm glad you're talking about this. I've been thinking of using LXDE on my laptops.
Steve:
Yeah, LXDE is great. Light, simple, easy to understand. When I don't care about having a panel, I use Openbox plus dmenu.

Changing the word to "WMDE" allows the discussion to proceed down its planned path, avoiding frustration and giving everyone the information they desired.

WMDE Supercedes the Deprecated Term "GOSFUI"

For a brief time the term "GOSFUI" was used to mean the same thing as WMDE now means. "WMDE" was much better accepted than "GOSFUI" had been. If you're one of the few people using the word GOSFUI, please switch to using the word WMDE.

The Distinction and the Difference

The distinction between "window manager" and "desktop environment" is simple enough: Different phrases spelled differently. But what's the difference? In this section, I'll make the argument that the differences turn out to be a bunch of "tend to be" items with few absolute differences:

  1. Desktop environments tend to be a bunch of programs assembled to work well together.
  2. Desktop environments tend to be themeable.
  3. Desktop environments tend to be prettier.
  4. Desktop environments tend to use more RAM and resources.

But...

  1. Many window managers, including Openbox, work well with all sorts of other programs, with "desktoppy" features including drag and drop.
  2. Many window managers, including Openbox and IceWM, are themeable and come with themes.
  3. Window manager Windowmaker is prettier than most desktop environments, at least in my opinion.
  4. Supposed Desktop Environment LXDE uses only about 35MB of RAM, according to https://l3net.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/cmp-all4.png. That's 5.5 times less RAM than desktop environment KDE, but only about twice the RAM of supposed window managers Fluxbox and Mutter. Note that Fluxbox uses 16 times more RAM than supposed window manager dwm. All statistics according to https://l3net.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/cmp-all4.png.

Bottom line: In most respects, the "difference" between window managers and desktop environments is a spectrum, not a hard yes/no. The only hard and fast difference between them is that a desktop environment must contain a Window manager.

Even the "Experts" Disagree

As if the spectrum-like span of window managers and desktop environments isn't enough, even the most argumentative "experts" can't agree on which is which. Some call LXDE a window manager, some call it a desktop environment. Other experts claim that all WMDEs are desktop environments, because they all contain window managers, but some of those window managers are integral to the executable. So perhaps twm is really a desktop environment. On the other end of the spectrum, I've heard Xfce called a "window manager", for gosh sakes.

And the experts sure do argue. And for what? Who the heck cares whether you call it a window manager or desktop environment: Either way it interfaces the human mouse and keyboard with operating system details like running programs. The experts argue for argument's sake, and the original question is left unanswered.

All because of the absence of a word meaning "window manager or desktop environment"

Differences in Context

Occasionally the difference between window manager and desktop environment is material, such as in the following questions:

  1. What window manager does KDE use?
  2. Can LXDE use any window manager besides Openbox?
  3. Which Desktop Environment uses Mutter for a window manager?

But usually the difference is immaterial, because the person who started the discussion phrased it as "window manager" or as "desktop environment" when he or she really meant either?:

  1. Which is the most featureful window manager? (What they're looking for is "KDE" or "Gnome".)
  2. What are some lightweight window managers? (What they're looking for is "i3", "icewm", "jvm", "twm", "Openbox", "LXDE".)
  3. Which window managers have panels? (What they're looking for are "KDE" or "Xfce" or "LXDE" or "IceWM".)
  4. Which window managers are tiled? (What they're looking for is "i3", "dwm", or "ratpoison".)
  5. How much does KDE slow down your computer?
  6. I use LXDE on all my underpowered computers.
  7. I use jwm on all my underpowered computers.
  8. I switched from KDE to i3 and got a noticible performance advantage.
  9. I used to use i3, but now I like how easy KDE makes all my computing tasks.

Use the Word: Solve the Problem

Since the 20th century, good discussions have been derailed by lack of a word referring to the union of all desktop environments and window managers. Results include frustration, confusion, and wasted time. And because the tech world contains many show-offs who try to elevate themselves by making the other guy wrong, lack of this word has also resulted in some less experienced technologists refraining from asking needed questions.

This has gone on long enough. The old saying goes "If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Let's stop this problem dead in its tracks: Let's all use the word WMDE when we mean "window manager or desktop environment." When others ask what that means, point them to this page.

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