I got rid of metacity by

as root

rpm -e firstboot

rpm -e metacity (firstboot was the only dependency)

log out of gnome

log back in using failsafe (if graphical, else, just log back in on the command line)

edit the file /home/~user/.gconf/desktop/gnome/applications/window_manager changing /usr/bin/metacity to /usr/bin/sawfish

log back into gnome

if I tried to make the change with the "System Tool" terminal, metacity would change the file back to using metacity. grrr.. so that's why I deleted it and did it outside of gnome.

however, you cannot save window attributes, still... had to log out and "Save Current Setup"...

geesh...

From linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in Tue Oct 22 18:36:54 2002

From: linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in (Green, Shaun) Date: Tue Oct 22 18:36:54 2002 Subject: [ILUG-BOM] RedHat 8 - Switching back to Sawfish Message-ID: CBA5720BD606864A8D6FFFE53D4B81F201585D0C@nsstcex2.nsstc.nasa.gov

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Does anyone know how to switch off this terrible bluecurve crap and get back to Sawfish??

I want to use my GTK themes; like BlueHeart.

Thanks, Shaun

linuxers@mm.ilug-bom.org.in (Tahir Hashmi) Date: Wed Oct 9 11:52:43 2002 Subject: [ILUG-BOM] [rant] Red Hat 8 Desktop under-featured and less configurable Message-ID: 20021009113608.3443df87.code_martial@softhome.net

Hi Linuxers!

Okay, Gnome2 and Bluecurve look really cool, especially with AA fonts but there's quite a lot that I didn't like. Here are the issues (when I say that something "is" or something "isn't", it is supposed to be *AFAIK* and not the absolute truth):

- Under-featured window manager:

The MetaCity Window manager doesn't have any options for layering management and attribute memory. I can't keep EveryBuddy on top now.

- No options for custom keyboard short-cuts:

Unlike Enlightenment or Sawfish, there's no provision for having keyboard shortcuts to run commands. There's a lot more move-move click-click involved now.

- No option to switch Window Managers! I installed RH8 clean on one system and upgraded another. The former doesn't have sawfish, the latter doesn't have an option to switch Window Managers, even though it has Sawfish.

- Complicated Menu:

The main menu is now more broad than deep a la KDE and that was one of the main reasons why I didn't like KDE.

- Overall lack of customizability

I could go on and on but to summarize, a lot of customizability that Gnome users had grown accustomed to is now gone and the overall feel has a lack of "freedom".

- The Terminal is now a "System Tool" (duh!)

I looked around the Net a little and I didn't find many people ranting about these things. Is it just me? Am I missing something? I'd be grateful if some of you could give some pointers.

TIA