Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 7th Feb 2007 19:57 UTC, submitted by Dolores Parker
"The ROX Desktop is a lightweight alternative to GNOME or KDE built around the ROX-Filer file manager. The project's name is an abbreviation of 'RISC OS on X'. The ROX Desktop's performance is reminiscent of IceWM, and it's noticeably faster opening programs than GNOME or KDE. However, its speed comes at the expense of a needlessly redundant default configuration, and some users may balk at some of the assumptions its design makes about how they prefer to work."
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Member since:
2006-09-21
I don't use the ROX Desktop environment, but I am a huge fan of the ROX Filer. It's a refreshing departure from its competition which, quite frankly, try too hard to be Macintosh or Windows replacements.
Unlike its competition, the ROX filer is lean and fast. That's great for people with slower hardware, and for people who want their fast computer to feel fast. It doesn't chew up much screen real-estate either, so your 1280x1024 screen won't feel as cramped as 640x480 felt a decade ago.
The Filer makes extensive drag-and-drop, while providing excellent command-line integration. I know that it sounds like a bit of a paradox since most people are firmly in either the GUI or the CLI camp, but I kinda like using both without having to mentally switch modes. ROX Filer also allows you to use a verb-noun sort of setup, which seems to mesh with my thought processes nicely. (The Filer allows me to 'delete file', while the competitors want me to 'file delete'.)
It is dead simple to configure the things that matter. I don't care about choosing themes, or creating them. I want to be able to set file associations, choose how much information is shown to me, and change file permissions because that sort of thing allows me to get work done faster.
ROX Filer is a no-nonsense environment that helps people get things done. If it is confusing to use, it is only because it sets out to do things in a different way. That only implies that it is different, not that it is the domain of experts or other such nonsense.