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5 <title>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</title>
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30 <h1>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</h1>
37 <a href="/docs/">Documentation</a>
40 <a href="/downloads/">Downloads</a>
43 <a href="/screenshots/">Screenshots</a>
46 <a href="/contact/">Contact</a>
49 <a href="/impress.html">Impressum/Imprint</a>
54 i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
55 provide some features we wanted (Xinerama done right, for example), had some
56 bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
57 (source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
58 wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us
63 Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
69 Based upon the experiences we made when wanting to hack/fix wmii, we agreed
70 upon the following goals for i3:
75 Write well readable, well <strong>documented</strong> code. Create additional
76 documentation on how to extend i3 by explaining its internal workings.
78 This includes being modifyable by people who do know how to program but who are
79 not necessarily familiar with all of X11’s internals. That is, document why
80 things happen and when they happen so that the user gets a picture of the whole
81 process a Window Manager is responsible of by just reading the source code.
84 Use xcb as far as possible (it does not provide functions for some features
85 yet, like XKB) instead of Xlib. xcb has a much cleaner API and should be faster
86 in quite a lot of situations.
89 Implement Xinerama correctly, that is by assigning each workspace to a
90 virtual screen. Especially make sure that attaching and detaching new monitors
91 like video projectors works during operation and does the right thing.
94 Use the metaphor of a table for abstraction. You can create horizontal and
95 vertical columns (in wmii, you can only create vertical columns). See the documentation
96 for more information on how this works, it really is an important principle in i3.
97 (TODO: documentation :-))
100 Implement a command mode, like in vim. You can easily combine multiple
101 actions (like focusing, moving, snapping) by using the command mode.
104 Implement XRandR support for flipping monitors.
107 Do <strong>not</strong> use programs such as autoconf/automake for configuration and
108 creating unreadable/broken makefiles. Instead, use a clean makefile which automatically
109 enables/disables features for specific platforms. Also, document the dependencies
110 properly, so that package maintainers have an easy job packaging i3.
113 Provide hooks/callbacks for other programs to integrate. Using this mechanism, one
114 can easily extend i3 in whatever language, without ever touching the C code. Also,
115 to communicate with a running i3 instance, messages can be sent.
117 This approach should be more lightweight than wmii’s usage of the 9P filesystem.
118 Furthermore, core functionality does not depend on a separate program, so that i3
119 runs faster, especially when your system is under load.
125 The usual elitism amongst minimal window managers: Don’t be bloated, don’t be fancy
126 (simple borders are the most decoration we want to have), don’t add support for Xft
129 However, we do not enforce unnecessary limits such as a maximum amount of source lines
130 of code. If it needs to be a bit bigger, it will be.
134 <h3>Special Features</h3>
138 We can bind on Mode_switch (Alt Gr). Other window managers fail to do that because
139 of an X11-bug, which causes the modifier state to not be correctly set in KeyPress-
140 events. We use XKB for making sure to get the correct state.
147 i3 is currently developed at <a href="http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3" title="cgit">
148 http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3</a>. Checkouts of the master branch are intended to
149 be stable and working all the time. Integration of new features happens in a separate branch.
155 Copyright © 2009, Michael Stapelberg
158 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
159 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
161 * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
162 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
164 * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
165 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
166 documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
168 * Neither the name of Michael Stapelberg nor the
169 names of contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
170 derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
172 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Michael Stapelberg ''AS IS'' AND ANY
173 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
174 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
175 DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Michael Stapelberg BE LIABLE FOR ANY
176 DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
177 (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
178 LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
179 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
180 (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
181 SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.