UDE (Unix Desktop Environment)

by Seth Kenlon

In 1996, the UDE project was started. The developers took on a bold name (UNIX Desktop Environment) and held high hopes of reinventing what a desktop could be. They weren't trying to redefine just UNIX desktops, they were trying change the way users interacted with applications on their system. Windows 95 had only just come out, so the idea of managing a make-believe "desktop" filled with "folders" and "windows" meant to mimic a real-world desktop had not necessarily won the mindshare of all computer users (and in fact it still clearly hasn't, but it does seem to be at least a reliably stable option at this point). There was still room for experimentation in the UI of computers, and the UDE project introduced some truly innovative ideas.

One of the most intriguing concepts of UDE is that its windows have no title bars or handles. All window control is performed with a hex menu that appears when a window border is clicked. Windows are moved with a middle-click, and resized with a right-click.

UNIX Desktop Environment [IMG]

If you're in the mood for something completely unique, then UDE is the next desktop you need to use.

Installing UDE

Your distribution probably doesn't have UDE in its software repository, bit it's a relatively easy compile for someone who's used to building software from raw source code.

I installed UDE on Slackware 14.2, but it doesn't rely on any libraries other than standard Xlibs, so it should work on any Linux or BSD system. The compile process requires build tools, which ship by default on Slackware but are often omitted on other distributions to save space on the initial download. The names of the packages you must install in order to be able to build from source code vary depending on your distro, so refer to the documentation for specifics. For example, on Debian-based distributions, you can learn about build requirements on

wiki.debian.org/BuildingTutorial

, and on Fedora-based distributions refer to

docs.pagure.org/docs-fedora/installing-software-from-source.html

. Once you have the build tools installed, you can build UDE with standard

GNU Automake

way:

The default location for installation is `/usr/local`. You can adjust these paths during the configuration step.

Xinitrc and UDE

The easiest way to get up and running with UDE is to let Xorg do the bulk of the work. First, you must create an `$HOME/.xinitrc` file. I adapted this from scripts bundled in Slackware:

According to this file, the default action for the `startx` command is to launch the `uwm` window manager (which houses the UNIX Desktop Environment). However, your distribution may have other ideas about what happens when your graphic server is launched (or killed to be restarted), so this file may do you little good. On many distributions, you can add a `.desktop` file to `/usr/share/xsessions` to have it listed in the GDM or KDM menu, so create a file called `uwm.desktop` and enter this text:

Log out from your desktop session and log back in to UDE. By default, your session manager (KDM, GDM, or Lightdm, depending on your setup) will continue to log you into your previous desktop, so you must override that before logging in.

With GDM:

Selecting your desktop in GDM [IMG]

With KDM:

Selecting your desktop in KDM [IMG]

Launching with brute force

If UDE fails to start, try installing XDM, a lightweight session manager that doesn't look at `/usr/share/xsessions` and instead just does whatever the authenticated user's `.xinitrc` proscribes.

Desktop tour

When UDE first launches, you may find yourself staring at a black screen. That's the default primary desktop for UDE, and it's blank because no background wallpaper has been set. You can set one for yourself with the `feh` command (you may need to install it from your repository). This command has a few options for setting the background, including `--bg-fill` to fill the screen with your wallpaper of choice, `--bg-scale` to scale it to fit, and so on.

Interacting with the desktop

The next task to launch an application. UDE provides an application menu, which you can bring up at you mouse pointer's position with a right-click on the desktop. Because you haven't customized the menu yet, your best bet is to launch an `xterm` window so you can issue arbitrary commands.

Once you have an xterm window open, you might notice that there's no window decoration. This is the central idea behind UDE: windows are manipulated primarily with a "honeycomb" or hex menu that appears when you left-click on the border of any window.

UDE honeycomb menu [IMG]

Clockwise from the top hex:

Most are self-explanatory, but the minimize option can be confusing, because there's no place for windows to be minimized *to* because there's no taskbar, no docklet, and no desktop icons. To retrieve a minimized window, middle-click on the desktop.

The middle-click menu [IMG]

This presents a menu of virtual desktops, one of which is your current desktop and therefore contains even your minimized applications. Select the minimized application to restore it to your screen.

There are example and default config files in `/usr/local/share/uwm/config`, including one for the right-click application menu configuration. The syntax for the menu is simple and well-documented at the top of the file. This code sample changes the browser option from Netscape to Firefox:

To see your changes, restart UDE from the left-click menu.

The `uwmrc` configuration files dictate the layout of UDE, including the size of window borders, fonts, and other stylistic choices. They are also well-documented in comments, so look through them, and make changes to experiment with what works best for you.

Old innovations, new again

The interface of UDE is strange and new and, if you're intrigued by UI design, very exciting. UDE's design exemplifies the avantages and disadvantages of creating standards in computing. On the one hand, something like UDE is so alien to most users that it's bound to get in the way, and yet on the other hand it's fresh and different and forces the user to re-evaluate their own workflows, which may result in several unexpected improvements. The reaction you probably have when trying UDE is the same reaction you're likely to sse when you introduce a friend to Linux: what's an old familiar GNOME or KDE desktop to you is a puzzle to them. But deep down, most of us know the potential benefits of changing the way we look at something we take for granted.

That said, UDE is unquestionably an experiment, not a finished project. It probably isn't going to be your primary desktop, but it's well worth exploring. This is innovation. It's sometimes messy, sometimes slow, sometimes tumultuous. But it's important, bold, and a heck of a lot of fun.

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