Metal Placebo
A naive tiling window manager largely inspired by DWM. It's called metal because it kind of fits into the naming idiology of Rust programs. I't called placebo, because, it just gives you a sense of reassurance that it's a working x11 window manager.
Features
Overview Mode
Overview mode gives a view of all windows, which provides a more intuive interface to find windows of interest.
or even:
Switching by Typing
Navigate windows with dmenu (requires dmenu to be installed). Typing a few characters with the window's class, title or self-defined tag to narrow down search scope.
Experimental Multiscreen Support
Multiple screen support is an experimental feature.
The first N tags are associated with the first N screens. The rest tags are piled on the last screen.
Currently the focus management for multiple screens is not ideal:
- Each workspace shows 1 highlighted window
- Clicking on the highlighted window does not result in a focus switch to the screen
- Dynamic adding / removing screens may not be supported
- Resolution changes do not work
- Only the first screen has a bar. All the screen spaces in other screens will be used for windows
Installation
Building and Running
Simply clone the repo and run
cargo buildIt's recommended that you build with Rust nightly (at least 1.14) since there is some discrepancy in FFI callback syntax.
Put target/debug/rswm in your path.
- For .xinitrc, put exec rswm in your xinitrc.
- If you are using a display manager (DM), put the following code in /usr/share/xsessions/rswm.desktop:
[Desktop Entry]
Encoding=UTF-8
Name=RSWM
Type=Application
Exec=rswm
Comment=A naive tiling window managerTrouble Shotting
By default, the window manager emits log to ~/rswm_error.log. You can modify this in init_logging in main.rs.
Configuration
I aim to provide the interface that you can assemble your window manager on your own. But currently it's working in progress and the functionality is limited. main.rs is what I'm using on my own machine. It's highly personally flavoured but could be a reference point for your configuration.See main.rs how you can modify / tweak it.
Usage
Keys defined in src/config.rs
| Keys | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Mod4 + Q | Quit |
| Mod4 + J | Focus next window |
| Mod4 + K | Focus previous window |
| Mod4 + F4 | Kill window |
| Mod4 + M | Maximize window (only work for non-floating window) |
| Mod4 + Left arrow | Move window left (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Right arrow | Move window right (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Up arrow | Move window up (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Down arrow | Move window down (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Shift + Up | Reduce window height (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Shift + Down | Increase window height (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Shift + Left | Reduce window width (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Shift + Right | Increase window width (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + F2 | Go to overview |
| Mod4 + Return | Bump current window to the 1st in client list. Switch to current window if in overview mode. |
| Mod4 + 1 - 9 | Go to tag 1 - 9 |
| Mod4 + Mouse1 | Move window (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + Mouse3 | Resize window (only work for floating window) |
| Mod4 + E | Toggle floating / tiled state of focused window. |
Keys defined in main.rs
To enjoy full functionality, you should install the corresponding packages.
| Key | Functionality |
|---|---|
| Mod4 + R | spawn dmenu_run |
| Mod4 + T | spawn urxvt |
| Mod4 + Print | spawn scrot for screenshot |
| Mod4 + Alt + Print | spawn scrot for screnshot by allowing selecting regions |
| Mod4 + F | spawn pcmanfm |
| Mod4 + L | spawn i3lock |
| Mod4 + Shift + T | add tag annotation to current workspace |
| Mod4 + Shift + W | add tag annotation to current window |
| Mod4 + W | look for window by typing |
| Mod4 + Y | focus the 1st client in current workspace |
| Mod4 + U | focus the 2nd client in current workspace |
| Mod4 + I | focus the 3rd client in current workspace |
| Mod4 + O | focus the 4th client in current workspace |
| Mod4 + P | focus the last client in current workspace |
| Mod4 + Tab | alters between 2 recent workspaces |
| Mod4 + S | toggles sticky(show in all workspace) windows |
For more information, see KEYS constant in main.rs and config.rs for the list of combination keys and functionality.
Initial Spawning Programs
The window manager spawns a bunch of programs, defined in main.rs. It's highly likely you want to delete / add your own. The defined ones in main.rs are:
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
| xcompmgr | allow transparency |
| fcitx | input method |
| tilda | dropdown terminal |
| polkit agent kde | polkit tool |
Warning and Future Work
This window manager is absolutely in its infancy, meaning it could crash, could leak memory and could blow up your desktop. USE IT AT YOUR OWN RISK!
In the future, I plan to:
- Better multi-screen support.
- Clean up configuration process.
- Introduce more intuitive and cleaner logging.