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