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5 <title>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</title>
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45 <h1 style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: 3em;margin-bottom: 0;">i3</h1>
46 <h1 style="font-family: georgia; font-size: 2em;margin-bottom: 0;">improved tiling wm</h1>
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56 <a href="/docs/">Docs</a>
59 <a href="/downloads/">Downloads</a>
62 <a href="/screenshots/">Screens</a>
65 <a href="/bugs">Bugtracker</a>
68 <a href="/contact/">Contact</a>
71 <a href="/impress.html">Impressum</a>
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78 i3 is a tiling window manager, completely written from scratch.
82 i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
83 provide some features we wanted (Xinerama done right, for example), had some
84 bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
85 (source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
86 wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us
91 Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at advanced users and developers.
97 Based upon the experiences we made when wanting to hack/fix wmii, we agreed
98 upon the following goals for i3:
103 Write well readable, well <strong>documented</strong> code. Create additional
104 documentation on how to extend i3 by explaining its internal workings.
106 This includes being modifyable by people who do know how to program but who are
107 not necessarily familiar with all of X11’s internals. That is, document why
108 things happen and when they happen so that the user gets a picture of the whole
109 process a Window Manager is responsible of by just reading the source code.
112 Use xcb as far as possible (it does not provide functions for some features
113 yet, like XKB) instead of Xlib. xcb has a much cleaner API and should be faster
114 in quite a lot of situations.
117 Implement Xinerama correctly, that is by assigning each workspace to a
118 virtual screen. Especially make sure that attaching and detaching new monitors
119 like video projectors works during operation and does the right thing.
122 Use the metaphor of a table for abstraction. You can create horizontal and
123 vertical columns (in wmii, you can only create vertical columns). See the documentation
124 for more information on how this works, it really is an important principle in i3.
125 (TODO: documentation :-))
128 Implement a command mode, like in vim. You can easily combine multiple
129 actions (like focusing, moving, snapping) by using the command mode.
132 Implement XRandR support for flipping monitors.
135 Do <strong>not</strong> use programs such as autoconf/automake for configuration and
136 creating unreadable/broken makefiles. Instead, use a clean makefile which automatically
137 enables/disables features for specific platforms. Also, document the dependencies
138 properly, so that package maintainers have an easy job packaging i3.
141 Provide hooks/callbacks for other programs to integrate. Using this mechanism, one
142 can easily extend i3 in whatever language, without ever touching the C code. Also,
143 to communicate with a running i3 instance, messages can be sent.
145 This approach should be more lightweight than wmii’s usage of the 9P filesystem.
146 Furthermore, core functionality does not depend on a separate program, so that i3
147 runs faster, especially when your system is under load.
153 The usual elitism amongst minimal window managers: Don’t be bloated, don’t be fancy
154 (simple borders are the most decoration we want to have), don’t add support for Xft
157 However, we do not enforce unnecessary limits such as a maximum amount of source lines
158 of code. If it needs to be a bit bigger, it will be.
162 <h3>Special Features</h3>
166 We can bind on Mode_switch (Alt Gr). Other window managers fail to do that because
167 of an X11-bug, which causes the modifier state to not be correctly set in KeyPress-
168 events. We use XKB for making sure to get the correct state.
175 i3 is currently developed at <a href="http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3" title="cgit">
176 http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3</a>. Checkouts of the master branch are intended to
177 be stable and working all the time. Integration of new features happens in a separate branch.
183 Copyright © 2009, Michael Stapelberg
186 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
187 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
189 * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
190 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
192 * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
193 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
194 documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
196 * Neither the name of Michael Stapelberg nor the
197 names of contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
198 derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
200 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Michael Stapelberg ''AS IS'' AND ANY
201 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
202 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
203 DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Michael Stapelberg BE LIABLE FOR ANY
204 DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
205 (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
206 LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
207 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
208 (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
209 SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.