index.md (9456B)
1  2 3 dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and 4 floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the 5 environment for the application in use and the task performed. 6 7 In tiled layout windows are managed in a master and stacking area. The master 8 area contains the window which currently needs most attention, whereas the 9 stacking area contains all other windows. In monocle layout all windows are 10 maximised to the screen size. In floating layout windows can be resized and 11 moved freely. Dialog windows are always managed floating, regardless of the 12 layout applied. 13 14 Windows are grouped by tags. Each window can be tagged with one or multiple 15 tags. Selecting certain tags displays all windows with these tags. 16 17 Each screen contains a small status bar which displays all available tags, the 18 layout, the number of visible windows, the title of the focused window, and the 19 text read from the root window name property, if the screen is focused. A 20 floating window is indicated with an empty square and a maximised floating 21 window is indicated with a filled square before the windows title. The selected 22 tags are indicated with a different color. The tags of the focused window are 23 indicated with a filled square in the top left corner. The tags which are 24 applied to one or more windows are indicated with an empty square in the top 25 left corner. 26 27 dwm draws a small customizable border around windows to indicate the focus 28 state. 29 30 [](screenshots/dwm-20100318.png) 31 32 Differences 33 ----------- 34 In contrast to ion, larswm, and wmii, dwm is much smaller, faster and simpler. 35 36 * dwm has no Lua integration, no 9P support, no shell-based configuration, no 37 remote control, and comes without any additional tools, such as for printing 38 the selection or warping the mouse. 39 * dwm is only a single binary, and its source code is intended to be kept small. 40 * dwm doesn't distinguish between layers: there is no floating or tiled layer. 41 Whether or not the clients of currently selected tag(s) are in tiled layout, 42 you can rearrange them on the fly. Popup and fixed-size windows are always 43 floating, however. 44 * dwm is customized through editing its source code, which makes it extremely 45 fast and secure - it does not process any input data which isn't known at 46 compile time, except window titles and status text read from the root window's 47 name. You don't have to learn Lua/sh/ruby or some weird configuration file 48 format (like X resource files), beside C, to customize it for your needs: you 49 only have to learn C (at least in order to edit the header file). 50 * Because dwm is customized through editing its source code, it's pointless to 51 make binary packages of it. This keeps its userbase small and elitist. No 52 novices asking stupid questions. There are some distributions that provide 53 binary packages though. 54 * dwm reads from the root window's name to print arbitrary status text (like 55 the date, load, battery charge). That's much simpler than larsremote, wmiir and 56 what not... 57 * dwm creates a view for each Xinerama screen. 58 59 Links 60 ----- 61 * Mailing List: `dev+subscribe@suckless.org` 62 ([Archives](//lists.suckless.org/dev/)) 63 ([Old Archives](//lists.suckless.org/dwm/)) (see 64 [community](//suckless.org/community/) for details) 65 * IRC channel: #suckless at irc.oftc.net 66 67 Download 68 -------- 69 * [dwm 6.5](//dl.suckless.org/dwm/dwm-6.5.tar.gz) (26kb) (2024-03-19) 70 * [MIT/X Consortium license](//git.suckless.org/dwm/plain/LICENSE) 71 * See also [dmenu](//tools.suckless.org/dmenu) 72 73 Support 74 ------- 75 See the [faq](//dwm.suckless.org/faq) for the frequent questions that are 76 asked. The next step is to look at the source-code and the config.h for obvious 77 names, which could be related to the problem that arose. If that does not help 78 to fix the problem, then there is the #suckless IRC channel and the 79 mailinglist. 80 81 If it is your first time using dwm, start with reading the 82 [tutorial](//dwm.suckless.org/tutorial). 83 84 Development 85 ----------- 86 You can [browse](//git.suckless.org/dwm) its source code repository or get a copy using git with the following command: 87 88 git clone https://git.suckless.org/dwm 89 90 Miscellaneous 91 ------------- 92 * Optionally you can install [dmenu](//tools.suckless.org/dmenu) to extend dwm 93 with a wmii-like menu. 94 * Wikipedia [article about dwm](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwm) 95 96 Related discussion 97 ------------------ 98 * [https://www.ghcif.de/tag/dynamic-window-manager/](https://www.ghcif.de/tag/dynamic-window-manager/) (German) 99 * [dwm blog post in Persian](http://efazati.blog.ir/post/DWM-%D8%B1%D8%A7%D9%87%DA%A9%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D9%85%D9%86%D8%A7%D8%B3%D8%A8%DB%8C-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%AF%DB%8C%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%AA-%D9%BE%D9%86%D8%AC%D8%B1%D9%87-%D9%87%D8%A7-%D8%AF%D8%B1-%D9%84%DB%8C%D9%86%D9%88%DA%A9%D8%B3) 100 * [http://www.gambaru.de/blog/2011/12/10/elitare-fenstermanager-sind-vielleicht-doch-einfacher-zu-bedienen-als-gedacht/](http://www.gambaru.de/blog/2011/12/10/elitare-fenstermanager-sind-vielleicht-doch-einfacher-zu-bedienen-als-gedacht/) 101 * [http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/going-fast-dwm](http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/going-fast-dwm) 102 * [http://www.linuxgoodies.com/review_dwm.html](http://www.linuxgoodies.com/review_dwm.html) 103 * [http://www.iyiz.com/20-most-simple-and-cool-x-window-managers-for-linux/](http://www.iyiz.com/20-most-simple-and-cool-x-window-managers-for-linux/) 104 * [http://lbolla.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/dwm-restart/](http://lbolla.wordpress.com/2010/01/08/dwm-restart/) 105 * [http://danielkaes.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/adding-a-pidgin-trayicon-to-dwm/](http://danielkaes.wordpress.com/2009/12/03/adding-a-pidgin-trayicon-to-dwm/) 106 * [http://openmindlifestyle.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/howto-compile-and-configure-dwm-tiling-window-manager-on-ubuntu/](http://openmindlifestyle.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/howto-compile-and-configure-dwm-tiling-window-manager-on-ubuntu/) 107 * [http://lsetc.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/gno-more-gnome/](http://lsetc.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/gno-more-gnome/) 108 * [http://houst0n.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/dwm-the-dynamic-window-manager-for-solaris/](http://houst0n.wordpress.com/2009/12/20/dwm-the-dynamic-window-manager-for-solaris/) 109 * [http://the-monkeymind.blogspot.com/2007/03/dwm-dynamic-window-manager-home-page-at.html](http://the-monkeymind.blogspot.com/2007/03/dwm-dynamic-window-manager-home-page-at.html) 110 * [http://tonytraductor.livejournal.com/120674.html](http://tonytraductor.livejournal.com/120674.html) 111 * [http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=65110](http://forums.debian.net/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=65110) 112 * [http://wongdev.com/blog/dwm-tags-are-not-workspaces/](http://wongdev.com/blog/dwm-tags-are-not-workspaces/) ([archive](https://archive.is/Fw0Mk)) 113 * [dwm usage and configuration page (french)](http://yeuxdelibad.net/Logiciel-libre/Suckless/dwm/index.html) 114 * [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5s6T25jCc](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ5s6T25jCc) 115 * [https://srobb.net/dwm.html](https://srobb.net/dwm.html) 116 * [http://rhunter.org/blog/2012/04/17/dwm-a-tutorial-for-beginners/](http://rhunter.org/blog/2012/04/17/dwm-a-tutorial-for-beginners/) 117 * [https://cannibalcandy.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/installing-and-configuring-dwm-under-ubuntu/](https://cannibalcandy.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/installing-and-configuring-dwm-under-ubuntu/) 118 * [http://blog.yjl.im/2011/07/two-weeks-with-dwm.html](http://blog.yjl.im/2011/07/two-weeks-with-dwm.html) 119 * [http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=258224](http://www.murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=258224) 120 * [http://opensourceforu.com/2012/03/tiling-window-managers-getting-started-with-dwm/](http://opensourceforu.com/2012/03/tiling-window-managers-getting-started-with-dwm/) 121 122 related projects 123 ---------------- 124 * [awesome](https://awesomewm.org) -- dwm fork with XCB, EWMH, Lua script, Xft, D-Bus, multihead.. support 125 * [awm](https://github.com/Alpt/awm/blob/master/README) -- (old) modified dwm with workspaces and /proc like interface 126 * [bwm](//lists.suckless.org/dwm/0708/3085.html) -- (old) modified dwm with extensive mouse support 127 * [cons-wm](http://github.com/dharmatech/psilab/tree/master/cons-wm) -- minimalist wm in scheme (not tiled) 128 * [bug.n](https://github.com/fuhsjr00/bug.n) -- dwm for Windows written in AutoHotkey 129 * [dvtm](http://www.brain-dump.org/projects/dvtm/) -- virtual terminal manager (dwm on the console) 130 * [dwl](https://github.com/djpohly/dwl) -- hackable dwm for Wayland 131 * [dwm-gtx](http://s01.de/~gottox/index.cgi/proj_dwm) -- dwm branch with Xinerama support, pointer movement, different layout 132 * [dwm-sprinkles](http://0mark.unserver.de/dwm-sprinkles/) -- dwm with colorfull bar, transparency, pre-configured pertag and more 133 * [dwm-win32](http://www.brain-dump.org/projects/dwm-win32/) -- dwm ported to windows 134 * [echinus](http://www.rootshell.be/~polachok/code/) -- dwm fork with EWMH, Xft support 135 * [i3](http://i3.zekjur.net/) -- wmii fork with XCB, multihead, vertical column, command mode 136 * [qtile](http://www.qtile.org/) -- pure python wm, used ideas from dwm 137 * [scrotwm](http://www.peereboom.us/scrotwm/html/scrotwm.html) -- dwm clone with multihead, config file, restart.. support 138 * [TAL/wm](http://talwm.sourceforge.net/) -- minimal tiled wm based on dwm (discontinued) 139 * [teslawm](http://teslawm.org/) -- dwm fork with multihead, mouse, stdin commands support (was dwm-rfigura) 140 * [xmonad](http://www.xmonad.org/) -- dwm clone in haskell