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⇤ ← Revision 41 as of 2011-07-02 16:12:51 →
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Comment: brief intro to tiling window managers with link to wikipedia
← Revision 60 as of 2020-08-08 17:21:25 → ⇥
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The window manager gives windows a border and allows you to move them around and maximize/minimize them. The user interface for these functions is left up to its author. The window manager gives windows a border and allows you to move them around and maximize/minimize them. The user interface for these functions is left up to its author. Often, the window manager is just one component of [[DesktopEnvironment|Desktop Environments]] suite.
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This proves to be quite confusing for the new user of a X windowing environment because most other environments simply use one window manager and give the user no choice. In this sense, X is much more versatile and allows more tailoring of the environment to whatever the user wants. It allows the creation of an xterminal, a diskless workstation which runs only an X server (out of ROM) and leaves all user interface implementation to a central compute server.  This proves to be quite confusing for the new user of a X windowing environment because most other environments simply use one window manager and give the user no choice. In this sense, X is much more versatile and allows more tailoring of the environment to whatever the user wants. It allows the creation of an xterminal, a diskless workstation which runs only an X server (out of ROM) and leaves all user interface implementation to a central compute server.
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 * FluxBox [[http://fluxbox.sourceforge.net/]]
  * [[FluxBox]]
 * Fvwm [[http://www.fvwm.org/]] (an old but useful window manager - still in constant development!)
 * IceWM [[http://www.icewm.org/]]
  * IceWM is a small, fast, lightweight WindowManager designed to resemble Microsoft Windows.		  * [[FluxBox]] [[http://fluxbox.org/]]
 * [[Fvwm]] [[http://www.fvwm.org/]] (an old and useful window manager - still in constant development!)
 * IceWM [[http://www.ice-wm.org/]]
  * IceWM is a small, fast, lightweight Window Manager designed to resemble Microsoft Windows.
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  * IceWM is also extremely themable, supporting rounded corners, pixmaps, and many amazingly ugly themes.    * http://www.icewm.org/   * IceWM is also extremely themable, supporting rounded corners, pixmaps, and many amazingly ugly themes.
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 * Openbox [[http://www.icculus.org/openbox/]]
  * [[Openbox]]		  * [[Openbox]] [[http://openbox.org/]]
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 * XFCE [[http://www.xfce.org/]]  * Xfwm [[https://docs.xfce.org/xfce/xfwm4/start]]
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 * OpenLook
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== Tiling Window manager ==
[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiling_window_manager|Tiling window managers]] arrange application windows into various grid layouts, often in a manner which displays all of the windows seamlessly without overlapping. Debian provides several popular tiling window managers, including:		 <<Anchor(tiling_window_managers)>>
== Tiling Window managers ==
[[WikiPedia:Tiling_window_manager|Tiling window managers]] arrange application windows into various grid layouts, often in a manner which displays all of the windows seamlessly without overlapping. Debian provides packages for several popular tiling window managers, including:
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=== awesome ===
 * awesome [[http://awesome.naquadah.org/]]		  * [[http://awesome.naquadah.org|awesome]]
 * [[http://dwm.suckless.org|dwm]] (see also [[Dwm]] page on this wiki))
 * [[http://i3wm.org|i3]]
 * [[http://www.fnurt.net/larswm/|larswm]]
 * [[http://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/|ratpoison]]
 * [[http://sawfish.wikia.com|sawfish]]
 * [[http://scrotwm.org|scrotwm]]
 * [[http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/|stumpwm]]
 * [[http://wmii.suckless.org|wmii]] (see also [[Wmii]] page on this wiki)
 * [[http://xmonad.org|xmonad]] (see also [[Xmonad]] page on this wiki)
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=== dwm ===
[[http://dwm.suckless.org]]
Package: DebianPkg:dwm		 Other tiling window managers, which can be built from source, include:
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PROS:
 * Clean and minimalistic user interface. Very lightweight.
CONS:
 * It has no configuration file, one have to fetch the source and recompile it to customize it.
See also [[fr/DWM]] ''(French)''
=== larswm ===

=== i3-wm ===

=== ion ===
 * [[fr/Ion]] ''(French)''
=== mutter ===

=== sawfish ===
 * Sawfish [[http://sawfish.wikia.com/wiki/Main_Page]]

=== wmii ===
 * [[Wmii|wmii]] [[http://wmii.suckless.org/]]

Uses a [[http://9p.cat-v.org|9P file system]] for scripting and configuration.

=== xfwm ===

=== xmonad ===

 * xmonad [[http://xmonad.org/]]		  * [[http://plhk.ru|echinus]]
 * [[http://tuomov.iki.fi/software/|ion]] (see also [[fr/Ion]] (French))
 * [[https://github.com/enticeing/musca|musca]]
 * [[https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Subtle|subtle]]
 * [[http://wmfs.info|wmfs]]
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Window Managers must not be confused with [[Desktop_environment]]s such as GNOME, KDE, XFce. These three environments use a window manager as a __single__ part of a much larger system. And to make things much more complicated, GNOME doesn't force you to use any one window manager. They have a list of "supported" window managers that you can choose from. Window Managers must not be confused with [[DesktopEnvironment|Desktop Environments]] such as GNOME, KDE, Xfce. These three environments use a window manager as a __single__ part of a much larger system. And to make things much more complicated, GNOME doesn't force you to use any one window manager. They have a list of "supported" window managers that you can choose from.
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 * [[display_manager|Display manager]]s: (gdm, kdm, xdm ..).  * [[DisplayManager]] (gdm, kdm, xdm ..).
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 * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/window_manager  * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/window_manager in Wikipedia
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 * [[http://www.gilesorr.com/wm/table.html| The Comprehensive List of Window Managers for Unix]]
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CategoryDesktopEnvironment | [[CategoryXWindowSystem]] CategoryDesktopEnvironment | [[CategoryXWindowSystem]] | CategorySoftware

Translation(s): English - Français - Italiano

In the X Window System, the X Server itself does not give the user the capability of managing windows that have been opened. Instead, this job is delegated to a program called a window manager.

The window manager gives windows a border and allows you to move them around and maximize/minimize them. The user interface for these functions is left up to its author. Often, the window manager is just one component of Desktop Environments suite.

This proves to be quite confusing for the new user of a X windowing environment because most other environments simply use one window manager and give the user no choice. In this sense, X is much more versatile and allows more tailoring of the environment to whatever the user wants. It allows the creation of an xterminal, a diskless workstation which runs only an X server (out of ROM) and leaves all user interface implementation to a central compute server.

The most commonly used Linux window managers are:

Other WMs include:

Tiling Window managers

Tiling window managers arrange application windows into various grid layouts, often in a manner which displays all of the windows seamlessly without overlapping. Debian provides packages for several popular tiling window managers, including:

Other tiling window managers, which can be built from source, include:

See x-window-manager packages descriptions If you use startx rather than a login manager, you'll probably want to choose a default Window Manager. To change the default window manager use

  update-alternatives --config x-window-manager

( See update-alternatives manpage).

Window Managers must not be confused with Desktop Environments such as GNOME, KDE, Xfce. These three environments use a window manager as a single part of a much larger system. And to make things much more complicated, GNOME doesn't force you to use any one window manager. They have a list of "supported" window managers that you can choose from.

Afterstep should be mentioned - (and fvwm is actually fvwm2 whereas fvwm1 already had/has lots of "functionality" and lives on a smaller foot-print)

See also

CategoryDesktopEnvironment | CategoryXWindowSystem | CategorySoftware