fds-os/docs/desktop.md

WindowMaker and FDS Control

WindowMaker provides the FDS desktop. Its default appearance is grayscale on all displays: white backgrounds, black borders and selected titles, gray widgets, Terminus text, and no animations. No E-Ink monitor detection or special cartridge is needed to select this theme.

Open the desktop

At the FDS console:

fds profile activate windowmaker
fds profiles

FDS opens a terminal and FDS Control. You can reopen the panel from the WindowMaker root menu's FDS Control item, or run fds-control in a terminal. An ENVIRONMENT cartridge requesting the windowmaker profile can also start the desktop. The Dasung controller runs independently of this session.

Manage cartridges in the panel

1. Select a bay in the left column. The right column shows its identity, state, running process count and available software commands.
2. Select a command, then choose Run in terminal. The terminal stays open after the command exits so you can read its output; close it when finished.
3. Choose Safe eject to stop that bay's programs and release its storage. Wait for SAFE before removing the cartridge.
4. Use Rescan to refresh discovery. The panel also checks for changes automatically and updates the display when the visible state changes.

For an inactive DATA cartridge, the primary button becomes Use DATA. Activate it there to make it available at /data; eject another active DATA first.

Errors appear in the status area. Actions are unavailable when their prerequisites are missing, such as running an application from an empty bay or ejecting the active SYSTEM. The panel uses the same cartridge service as fds.

Keyboard controls: Tab moves focus between bays, programs and buttons; Up/Down changes the selected bay or program; Enter activates the focused control; R rescans; Esc closes the panel. Closing the panel does not eject cartridges or close application terminals; use Safe eject when you want to release a cartridge.

Return to the console

Choose Return to console in the root menu, or run:

fds profile deactivate

This closes the desktop session. It does not shut down FDS. Use fds poweroff when you want to turn the computer off.

Customize the appearance

System defaults are installed in /etc/WindowMaker/. Your files in $HOME/GNUstep/Defaults/ override those defaults. The session copies the FDS settings into a new home once and preserves existing preferences. Use WindowMaker's settings tools or edit those preference files to change fonts, colors and behavior. Plain wmaker also reads the FDS system defaults.

The root menu includes Ethernet on/off controls. Equivalent console commands are fds network on, fds network off, and fds profiles to inspect the result.