2009-02-23 04:22:40 +01:00
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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN"
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"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd">
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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en" xml:lang="en">
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2009-02-19 18:04:16 +01:00
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<head>
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2009-02-23 04:22:40 +01:00
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<title>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</title>
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<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" />
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2009-02-19 18:04:16 +01:00
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<style type="text/css">
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body {
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text-align: justify;
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max-width: 800px;
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}
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li {
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margin-bottom: 10px;
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}
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</style>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</h1>
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<p>
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i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
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2009-02-23 04:22:40 +01:00
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provide some features we wanted (Xinerama done right, for example), had some
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bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
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(source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
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wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us
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to create i3.
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2009-02-19 18:04:16 +01:00
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</p>
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<p>
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2009-02-23 16:28:48 +01:00
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Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
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</p>
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<h2>Goals</h2>
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<p>
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Based upon the experiences we made when wanting to hack/fix wmii, we agreed
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upon the following goals for i3:
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</p>
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<ol>
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<li>
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Write well readable, well <strong>documented</strong> code. Create additional
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documentation on how to extend i3 by explaining its internal workings.
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<br />
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This includes being modifyable by people who do know how to program but who are
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not necessarily familiar with all of X11’s internals. That is, document why
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things happen and when they happen so that the user gets a picture of the whole
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process a Window Manager is responsible of by just reading the source code.
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</li>
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<li>
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Use xcb as far as possible (it does not provide functions for some features
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yet, like XKB) instead of Xlib. xcb has a much cleaner API and should be faster
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in quite a lot of situations.
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</li>
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<li>
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Implement Xinerama correctly, that is by assigning each workspace to a
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virtual screen. Especially make sure that attaching and detaching new monitors
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like video projectors works during operation and does the right thing.
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</li>
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<li>
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Use the metaphor of a table for abstraction. You can create horizontal and
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vertical columns (in wmii, you can only create vertical columns). See the documentation
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for more information on how this works, it really is an important principle in i3.
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(TODO: documentation :-))
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</li>
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<li>
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Implement a command mode, like in vim. You can easily combine multiple
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actions (like focusing, moving, snapping) by using the command mode.
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</li>
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<li>
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Implement XRandR support for flipping monitors.
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</li>
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<li>
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Do <strong>not</strong> use programs such as autoconf/automake for configuration and
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creating unreadable/broken makefiles. Instead, use a clean makefile which automatically
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enables/disables features for specific platforms. Also, document the dependencies
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properly, so that package maintainers have an easy job packaging i3.
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</li>
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<li>
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Provide hooks/callbacks for other programs to integrate. Using this mechanism, one
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can easily extend i3 in whatever language, without ever touching the C code. Also,
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to communicate with a running i3 instance, messages can be sent.
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<br />
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This approach should be more lightweight than wmii’s usage of the 9P filesystem.
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Furthermore, core functionality does not depend on a separate program, so that i3
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runs faster, especially when your system is under load.
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</li>
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<li>
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Be UTF-8 clean.
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</li>
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<li>
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The usual elitism amongst minimal window managers: Don’t be bloated, don’t be fancy
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(simple borders are the most decoration we want to have), don’t add support for Xft
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and blurred fonts.
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<br />
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However, we do not enforce unnecessary limits such as a maximum amount of source lines
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of code. If it needs to be a bit bigger, it will be.
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</li>
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</ol>
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<h3>Special Features</h3>
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<ul>
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<li>
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We can bind on Mode_switch (Alt Gr). Other window managers fail to do that because
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of an X11-bug, which causes the modifier state to not be correctly set in KeyPress-
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events. We use XKB for making sure to get the correct state.
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</li>
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</ul>
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<h2>Development</h2>
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<p>
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i3 is currently developed at <a href="http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3" title="cgit">
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http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3</a>. Checkouts of the master branch are intended to
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be stable and working all the time. Integration of new features happens in a separate branch.
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2009-02-19 18:04:16 +01:00
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</p>
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<h2>Contact</h2>
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<p>
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2009-02-23 04:22:40 +01:00
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Contact us at <a href="irc://irc.twice-irc.de/i3" title="#i3 on irc.twice-irc.de">
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irc://irc.twice-irc.de/i3</a> (or, #i3 on irc.twice-irc.de, for those without proper URL
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handling setup). Feel free to ask questions, please don’t ask to ask and please
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think before you ask :-).
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</p>
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2009-02-23 04:22:40 +01:00
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<h2>License</h2>
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<pre>
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Copyright © 2009, Michael Stapelberg
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All rights reserved.
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Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
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modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
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* Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
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notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
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* Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
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notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
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documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
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* Neither the name of Michael Stapelberg nor the
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names of contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
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derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
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THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Michael Stapelberg ''AS IS'' AND ANY
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EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
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WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
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DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Michael Stapelberg BE LIABLE FOR ANY
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DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
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(INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
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LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
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ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
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(INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
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SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
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</pre>
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2009-02-19 18:04:16 +01:00
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</body>
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</html>
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