Re: why the error messages?

[Telsa Gwynne <hobbit aloss ukuu org uk>]

On Thu, Oct 14, 1999 at 06:42:05AM -0400 or thereabouts, Richard Noel Fell wrote:
> For reasons unrelated to GNOME, I had to reinstall RedHat 6.0. Up to that 
> time, everthing worked just fine.  However, after the re-install, which was 
> the same as the initial install, I now have problems with GNOME.   
> Spefically, after issuing startx, I get two panels with the following 
> error messages:

> "You are not running a GNOME compliant window manager.Please run a GNOME 
> compliant window manager. For example, Enlightenment (DR-0.15). Then run 
> this applet again"

And can I just say how much this particular error message bothers me? :)
I get it with windowmaker, and windowmaker is one of those windowmanagers
suggested to people who ask for alternative gnome-compliant(-ish) wms.

It rather suggests that you "should" be using enlightenment with
Gnome, although I thought the general idea was that Gnome would
let you what run you liked, and if you wanted a not-so-compliant
one, then fine. I think it's confusing and can lead to people
thinking they're supposed to run enlightenment. Not that I have
a problem with them running it :) --  but it makes it look somehow 
as if you shouldn't run anything else.

When I say "I get it with windowmaker" that's not quite accurate.
I have twiddled and tinkered with my gnome and windowmaker
settings so much that when I want to report a bug, I go and
find out whether it works on test accounts I made which run
Gnome with E and with windowmaker but with normal settings, not
my mashed-together gubbins. And I find the "You are not running 
a Gnome-compliant..." one crops up with the test account with 
windowmaker, there. But it doesn't with my 'proper' one.

Of course, I can't figure out for the life of me what I changed
to stop it.

> The next panel says:
> 
> Can anyone please help with this problem? Thanks,

I can only agree that the first message is a pest. And all I can
guess for the second is my usual "when in doubt, check the spelling
of the pathname and the permissions on it" (which, lamentably,
both cure a lot of my problems. Still. I shall learn to type, one
day.)

Telsa