On 03-May-2002 Jeremy C. Reed wrote: > What does it mean when a window manager supports GNOME hints? > > What are some examples of GNOME, KDE, and/or GNUstep hints? >
In the past there were hints set by each of the desktop groups. Each set of hints was proprietary to that desktop. GNOME hints were only read by GNOME, KDE by KDE, etc. This is also when blackbox had its own set of hints created. Hinting is the result of X's design. The window says "please, I beg you I want to look like this" and the wm has the option of ignoring, obeying, modifying, etc these desires. The title of a window is a hint for instance. The ICCCM defines the standard hints and what they mean as well as what a well behaved window manager should do when each hint is seen. The ICCCM was last modified circa 1990. When the desktops started becoming full featured they needed a way to extend the ICCCM. Window hints are pretty much the only safe communication mechanism in X. So each group added their own. The new hints set things like "I am a dialog box", "put me on Workspace 3", "I want to start as an icon", etc. The hints plus a few more atoms comprise a communication protocol. This is how external pagers work and how the various panels operate. So, without the hints for a desktop you are possibly missing extra options like "always open this window on workspace 3". This is one piece of the extra integration you hear about. KDE and GNOME v2 have moved to using the netwm as their standard so there is no longer KDE or GNOME hints. GNUSTEP is following NeXT and will not come into the present.
