wmii
| File:Wmii-logo.png | |
 wmii with both 'floating' and 'managed' windows. | |
| Original author(s) | Anselm R. Garbe |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Kris Maglione |
| Stable release | 3.6
/ November 16, 2007 |
| Preview release | 3.9b1
/ October 22, 2009 |
| Repository | |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Type | Window manager |
| License | MIT License |
| Website | wmii.suckless.org |
wmii (window manager improved 2) is a dynamic window manager for X11. It supports classic and tiling[1] window management with extended keyboard, mouse, and filesystem based remote control. It replaces the workspace paradigm with a new tagging approach.
In its default configuration, wmii's interface is similar to that of the Vi text editor; the windows are controlled with Alt+H,J,K,L and can be combined with Alt+Shift+H,J,K,L. This enables to build dynamic layouts easily in contrast to other window managers with fixed layouts such as Ion. However, the window manager offers extensive configuration through a virtual filesystem similar to that offered by Plan 9 from Bell Labs.[1] Every window, tag, and column is represented in the virtual filesystem, and windows are controlled by manipulating their file objects (in fact, the configuration file is just a script interfacing the virtual files). This RPC system allows many different configuration styles, including those provided in the base distribution in plan9port and bourne shell. The beta release 3.9b1 also includes configurations in Python and Ruby.[2]
Like the similar dwm, wmii is initially configured to use dmenu for program launching, and supports quick access to custom scripts located in a subdirectory of the user's home directory.
In its development tree and in beta release 3.9b1, wmii supports Xinerama and ships its own menu (dropping the dmenu dependency) called wimenu featuring history and programmable completion.[2]
See also
Similar window managers:
- dwm - An alternate wm by the same author as wmii
- awesome
- Ion
- ratpoison
- stumpwm - The successor to ratpoison
- rio - Plan 9 from Bell Labs' windowing system
- WMFS - A very light window manager
- Xmonad - A tiling window manager written in Haskell
- Orion - A window manager written in Scheme (Scsh and Scheme 48) [3]
Related software:
- 9P - the filesystem protocol used to implement wmii's virtual filesystem
- Plan 9 from User Space (aka plan9port)
- ii - an IRC client from the same developer
References
Further reading
- Nico Golde, (March 2006) No wimps. A look at the Wmii Window Mmanager, Linux Magazine, issue 64
- Philipp Klein, (May 2005) Light and speedy. WMI and the reincarnation of the keyboard, Linux Magazine, issue 54 (covers its predecessor)
- Mike Saunders (March 2008) Lightweight window managers, Linux Format, issue 103 (round-up of several similar window managers, including wmii 3.6)