I GOT XFREE86 INSTALLED, NOW ...

been using debian linux, i got xfree86 installed and working, and installed icewm for a window manager.

allright, now i need a file manager i think.  but the thing is, i can't drag anything to my desktop, because one doesn't exist.    i would like to use the background to organize files, etc. like i can on windows.

that's basically all i want, just whatever program that lets me keep files on the actual physical root window as a desktop + drag and drop functionality.  i don't need start menus, wizards, control panels, etc.  do i have to install a full blown environment like gnome or kde to get this, or is there some small program that can do that.

i haven't really messed with file managers like xfe or whatever yet.  i need suggestions.

X.org X11 7.1
KDE 3.5.5
Beryl 0.1.3

It'll look good, run faster, increase productivity, and only cost you 25MB of RAM and a few dozen MB of disk space (depending on if you install *EVERYTHING* KDE has to offer, including games and shit).  Please stop using software from the 90's.

>>1
try XFCE, it's lightweight but just as good as the huge desktop environments

you might want to check out using the "testing" branch so you can use more recent software

LOLOLOLOLOL XFREE86 LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

>>1
1. su
2. gedit /etc/apt/sources.list
3. change sarge/stable to "etch"
4. save
5. aptitude update
6. aptitude dist-upgrade
7. reboot because of new kernel
8. enjoy a modern Debian

>>2
Sarge was released in 2002 (or 2003)

>>4
Welcome to 2002

>>1
icewm is a WINDOW MANAGER, not a DESKTOP.
If you want a desktop, install Gnome or KDE

op here, thanks guys for your comments, they are helpful.

i actually found a program that did what i was talking about called dfm ... going to mess with xfce too sometime ... ZOMG DESKTOP!

>>2 and >>4, well, the packages i installed were xfree86-common and x-window-system-core; is X11 different or how does that work?

and >>5, i KNOW icewm is a window manager, lol.  (furthermore i'm running 2.6.19).  i want to install things separately for now to play with things and see how they work before i have everything setup for me in a desktop environment.

XFree86 used to be the main implementation of the X Window system (a display protocol, the current version being X11).  Around 2003, XFree86 Inc made some bad moves and people got pissed at them so they abandoned XFree86 in favor of X.Org (which had been established 4 years earlier as the industry standard, but at that point was pretty inactive).  Then XFree86 Inc changed their license, which basically spelled their doom.  Now X.Org is the one being actively developed and distributed with Linux distros, while XFree86 is basically only getting bug fixes.  I think the only things still using it is NetBSD and MacOS X for it's X11.app, but that should be changing with 10.5 Leopard.  Debian switched with Etch.  XFree86 4.6.0 uses X11 Release 6.6, while X.Org is on X11 Release 7.1 (with X11 Release 7.2RC2 in testing).

tl;dr:
Update your distro and switch to X.Org.

>>7 and everyone
Thank you very very much for the help and clarification.  You guys rock!  I seriously appreciate it!

rox-filer and the associated projects let you store stuff on the desktop, regardless of what window manager you use.

>>8
As long as you are using Linux, and not Gentoo or Ubuntu Linux, you are safe from much of the trolling here ;)

>>1

Apart from all these nutloaders here who are screaming "UPGRADE UPGRADE", I'll tell you this.

ROX filer has a pinboard mode, where you can have icons on your root window. Not exactly what you're looking for, but here you go.

ROX should do the trick (with some work), although you could always just toss icewm out completely and start gnoming.