AfterStep is a Window Manager for X which started by emulating the NEXTSTEP look and feel, but which has been significantly altered according to the requests of various users. Many adepts will tell you that NEXTSTEP is not only the most visually pleasant interface, but also one of the most functional and intuitive out there. AfterStep aims to incorporate the advantages of the NEXTSTEP interface, and add additional useful features.
From the man page:
AfterStep is a continuation of the BowMan window manager which was
originally put together by Bo Yang. BowMan was based on the fvwm
window manager, written by Robert Nation. fvwm was based on code
from twm. And so on... It is designed not only to emulate some of
the look and feel of the NEXTSTEP(tm) user interface, but also to add
useful, requested, and neat features. The changes which comprise
AfterStep personality were originally part of BowMan development,
but due to a desire to move past simple emulation and into a niche as
its own valuable window manager, the current designers decided to
change the project name and move on.
The flexibility of fvwm has not been traded off. Initiation files recognize most of the fvwm 1.24r commands. Virtual screens and the pager are still intact. Modules for fvwm-1.x should work just fine.
Compatibility with fvwm-2 & enlightenment modules is planned for version 2.0, but support is not yet available.
The latest version is available at ftp://ftp.afterstep.org/pub/
The initial version of the FAQ was written by Frank Fejes
(frank@ssax.com) and Jonathan B. Leffert (j-leffert@uchicago.edu).
Major additions were made by Kragen Sittler (kragen@tcsi.com). Diego
Zamboni (zamboni@cs.purdue.edu) maintained the file until Guyhelm Aznar
(guylhem@oeil.qc.ca) took over with the release of AS 1.4. The file is
now maintained by Andrew Sullivan (asullivan@sprint.ca), with
contributions from Tomas Duewiger (td@music-satellite.de). Any errors
or omissions are Andrew's responsibility; contact him to complain. Most of
the questions and answers have been provided by the people participating in
the AfterStep mailing lists. If you have a suggestion about this file or,
better yet, an answer to an unanswered question in this file, please send an
e-mail to Andrew Sullivan, or to the main AfterStep list; see the next
question for more information on the lists.
This is a low volume (moderated) list for announcements of general interest to all AfterStep users (e.g. new releases). You may submit announcements to be moderated via afterstep-announce@eosys.com.
The purpose of this list is to provide a forum in which users of the AfterStep X11 window manager can discuss issues related to to using AfterStep. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to, the installation and configuration of AfterStep and related modules and applications.
This list contains the same messages as the AfterStep mailing list. Tthe messages are saved up (not transmitted individually) and sent out as a bundle. This decreases the number of separate messages received from the list, but makes it more difficult to reply to a specific message.
This list is a forum to discuss ongoing development issues related to AfterStep. If you want to participate in the development of AfterStep, please join this forum.
This list contains the same messages as the AfterStep-Dev mailing list. However, the messages are saved up (not transmitted individually) and sent out as a bundle. This decreases the number of separate messages received from the list, but makes it more difficult to reply to a specific message.
For information on subscribing to any of these lists, please see http://wormhole.eosys.com/mailing-lists/
You can find more information, and archives of all the lists, at
http://wormhole.eosys.com/mail-archives/afterstep/, maintained by
Ed Orcutt edo@eosys.com. These descriptions were taken from his pages.