Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!yale!husc6!think!barmar
From: barmar@think.COM (Barry Margolin)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Why window managers? (was Re: output in icons)
Message-ID: <22428@think.UUCP>
Date: 22 Jun 88 04:17:12 GMT
References: <8806211610.AA15708@leviathan.cs.umd.edu>
Sender: usenet@think.UUCP
Reply-To: barmar@kulla.think.com.UUCP (Barry Margolin)
Organization: Thinking Machines Corporation, Cambridge, MA
Lines: 22

In article <8806211610.AA15708@leviathan.cs.umd.edu> ogata@LEVIATHAN.CS.UMD.EDU (Jeff Ogata) writes:
>Why window managers?  Couldn't all the functions of the window
>manager be handled by default widget code that the clients had more control
>over?  Or something?  Am I missing something obvious that only window managers
>can do adequately?

I think there are a couple of reasons for window managers.  First of
all, it reduces network I/O, by allowing many of the routine,
repetitive actions of managing a set of windows to be done in the
server, without requiring an excessive set of messages between the
client and server machines.

Second, it guarantees a certain level of consistency.  If window
manager functionality were moved into client libraries then things
would be weird if two clients were using the same server but
incompatible toolkit libraries.

Barry Margolin
Thinking Machines Corp.

barmar@think.com
{uunet,harvard}!think!barmar