BROKEN PROGRAMS

There are many broken X programs. Go bug the developers of these broken programs to fix them. Here are some of the main causes of this brokenness:

The program assumes a specific window management model, i.e. assumes you are using a WIMP-window manager like those found in KDE or Gnome. This assumption breaks the ICCCM conventions.
The application uses a fixed size – this limitation does not fit into the world of tiling window managers very well, and can also be seen as breaking the ICCCM conventions, because a fixed sized window assumes a specific window management model as well (though the ICCCM does not forbid fixed-size windows). In any case, the ICCCM requests that clients accept any size the window manager proposes to them.
The program is based on strange non-standard window manager hints that only work properly with a window manager supporting these extensions – this simply breaks the ICCCM as well. E.g. trash icon programs.
The program does not conform to ICCCM due to some missing or improperly set hints.

WORKAROUND

If you still need some program which expects a floating WM, use it in floating mode.

The following programs are broken (see cool programs for saner alternatives):

XMMS (assumes fixed size, doesn’t set transient_for hint properly)
Xchat
Firefox (doesn’t set the TRANSIENT_FOR hint correctly on its download dialog)
GIMP (GIMP expects a float environment to be useable)
beep-media-player
gqview
gthumb
mplayer with GUI (assumes special window management model. It works without the GUI)
xine (same as xmms)
aterm (doesn’t like being resized by the WM), See aterm-ml-post
Alternatives: (u)xterm, urxvt, st, uuterm