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5 <title>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</title>
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20 <h1>i3 - an improved dynamic tiling window manager</h1>
23 i3 was created because wmii, our favorite window manager at the time, didn’t
24 provide some features we wanted (Xinerama done right, for example), had some
25 bugs, didn’t progress since quite some time and wasn’t easy to hack at all
26 (source code comments/documentation completely lacking). Still, we think the
27 wmii developers and contributors did a great job. Thank you for inspiring us
32 Please be aware that i3 is primarily targeted at computer geeks.
38 Based upon the experiences we made when wanting to hack/fix wmii, we agreed
39 upon the following goals for i3:
44 Write well readable, well <strong>documented</strong> code. Create additional
45 documentation on how to extend i3 by explaining its internal workings.
47 This includes being modifyable by people who do know how to program but who are
48 not necessarily familiar with all of X11’s internals. That is, document why
49 things happen and when they happen so that the user gets a picture of the whole
50 process a Window Manager is responsible of by just reading the source code.
53 Use xcb as far as possible (it does not provide functions for some features
54 yet, like XKB) instead of Xlib. xcb has a much cleaner API and should be faster
55 in quite a lot of situations.
58 Implement Xinerama correctly, that is by assigning each workspace to a
59 virtual screen. Especially make sure that attaching and detaching new monitors
60 like beamers works during operation and does the right thing.
63 Use the metaphor of a table for abstraction. You can create horizontal and
64 vertical columns (in wmii, you can only create vertical columns). See the documentation
65 for more information on how this works, it really is an important principle in i3.
66 (TODO: documentation :-))
69 Implement a command mode, like in vim. You can easily combine multiple
70 actions (like focusing, moving, snapping) by using the command mode.
73 Implement XRandR support for flipping monitors.
76 Do <strong>not</strong> use programs such as autoconf/automake for configuration and
77 creating unreadable/broken makefiles. Instead, use a clean makefile which automatically
78 enables/disables features for specific platforms. Also, document the dependencies
79 properly, so that package maintainers have an easy job packaging i3.
82 Provide hooks/callbacks for other programs to integrate. Using this mechanism, one
83 can easily extend i3 in whatever language, without ever touching the C code. Also,
84 to communicate with a running i3 instance, messages can be sent.
86 This approach should be more lightweight than wmii’s usage of the 9P filesystem.
87 Furthermore, core functionality does not depend on a separate program, so that i3
88 runs faster, especially when your system is under load.
94 The usual elitism amongst minimal window managers: Don’t be bloated, don’t be fancy
95 (simple borders are the most decoration we want to have), don’t add support for Xft
98 However, we do not enforce unnecessary limits such as a maximum amount of source lines
99 of code. If it needs to be a bit bigger, it will be.
103 <h3>Special Features</h3>
107 We can bind on Mode_switch (Alt Gr). Other window managers fail to do that because
108 of an X11-bug, which causes the modifier state to not be correctly set in KeyPress-
109 events. We use XKB for making sure to get the correct state.
116 i3 is currently developed at <a href="http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3" title="cgit">
117 http://code.stapelberg.de/git/i3</a>. Checkouts of the master branch are intended to
118 be stable and working all the time. Integration of new features happens in a separate branch.
124 Contact us at <a href="irc://irc.twice-irc.de/i3" title="#i3 on irc.twice-irc.de">
125 irc://irc.twice-irc.de/i3</a> (or, #i3 on irc.twice-irc.de, for those without proper URL
126 handling setup). Feel free to ask questions, please don’t ask to ask and please
127 think before you ask :-).
133 Copyright © 2009, Michael Stapelberg
136 Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
137 modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
139 * Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright
140 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
142 * Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
143 notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
144 documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
146 * Neither the name of Michael Stapelberg nor the
147 names of contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
148 derived from this software without specific prior written permission.
150 THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY Michael Stapelberg ''AS IS'' AND ANY
151 EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
152 WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
153 DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL Michael Stapelberg BE LIABLE FOR ANY
154 DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
155 (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
156 LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND
157 ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
158 (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
159 SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.