> Open source PC Unixes didn't follow this pattern because in the 1990s, there were few or no open source desktop environments. Well, yes and no. Most early Li

> Open source PC Unixes didn't follow this pattern because in the 1990s, there were few or no open source desktop environments. Well, yes and no. Most early Linux distributions came with XFM, a graphical file manager for X that predates even Linux (1990). This, together with other common X-based tools (xman, xedit, xcalc, xpaint, xv, etc.), was cobbled together into what can be called a desktop environment. Not as polished and coherent as its proprietary counterparts, but even in those the file manager often felt like an afterthought and the real work was, much like today, done in terminal windows.