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 to emulate some of the look and feel of the
NEXTSTEP user interface, while adding useful, requested, and
neat features. The changes which comprise AfterStep person-
ality 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. BowMan
development may continue, but we will no longer be a part of
it.
The flexibility of fvwm was not 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). Most of the
questions and answers have been provided by the people participating in the
AfterStep mailing lists. 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.