"That's something that always bugged me about X. Didn't the reference implementation of some window manager become the de factor standard?"
The choice of Window Manager and desktop in *no* way affects the user interface of GUI applications. It is entirely a user preference, and implementations multiply for the same reason desktoip backgrounds do.
You would have a more relevent point when it comes to "widget toolkits". The GTK toolkit provides a somewhat different application look and feel from Qt, which is different from Athena or Wx or Java Swing. So while you can mix GTK and Qt and Java Swing applications under your choice of windows manager and desktop, they look different and the widgets act somewhat differently.
But no matter which toolkit your apps use, even if they use raw X calls, moving and resizing the windows is consistent with the current window manager.
All it takes is one attempt to install non-OEM *Windows* on arbitrary hardware to disabuse one of that silliness. Makes you appreciate the work that OEMs do to make Windows usable (Microsoft has "distros" too!) That is how my dad was converted. One used computer with no OS. One Windows XP retail CD. One Fedora 9 install CD. That is an apples to apples comparison.
My dad now avoids all driver problems by purchasing OEM linux hardware (linux preinstalled with all hardware tested and integrated - just like OEM Windows). I think he uses system76.com.
Authored Comments
"That's something that always bugged me about X. Didn't the reference implementation of some window manager become the de factor standard?"
The choice of Window Manager and desktop in *no* way affects the user interface of GUI applications. It is entirely a user preference, and implementations multiply for the same reason desktoip backgrounds do.
You would have a more relevent point when it comes to "widget toolkits". The GTK toolkit provides a somewhat different application look and feel from Qt, which is different from Athena or Wx or Java Swing. So while you can mix GTK and Qt and Java Swing applications under your choice of windows manager and desktop, they look different and the widgets act somewhat differently.
But no matter which toolkit your apps use, even if they use raw X calls, moving and resizing the windows is consistent with the current window manager.
All it takes is one attempt to install non-OEM *Windows* on arbitrary hardware to disabuse one of that silliness. Makes you appreciate the work that OEMs do to make Windows usable (Microsoft has "distros" too!) That is how my dad was converted. One used computer with no OS. One Windows XP retail CD. One Fedora 9 install CD. That is an apples to apples comparison.
My dad now avoids all driver problems by purchasing OEM linux hardware (linux preinstalled with all hardware tested and integrated - just like OEM Windows). I think he uses system76.com.