Stumpwm
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| StumpWM | |
 CVS version of Stumpwm (c. December 2006) |
|
| Developer: | Shawn Betts |
|---|---|
| Latest release: | Alpha (.0.0.6) / CVS |
| OS: | Unix-like |
| Use: | Window Manager |
| License: | GPL |
| Website: | http://www.nongnu.org/stumpwm/ |
In Unix (and others including GNU/Linux) computing, Stumpwm is a window manager for the X Window System which is written in the Lisp dialect Common Lisp; its use of Common Lisp allows complete reprogramming and customization instantly, without reboots. It accomplishes this by actually running in an interactive Common Lisp system like SBCL or Clisp or CMUCL (which generally compile down to machine code). In essence, it is a series of functions layered on top of the CLX interface (modernized and rewritten to provide bindings for Common Lisp[1]) to Xlib, which eventually provides a higher-level interface for writing a tiling window manager with the same basic paradigm as ratpoison, although far more malleable and rewritable:
- "Stumpwm attempts to be customizable yet visually minimal. There are no window decorations, no icons, and no buttons. It does have various hooks to attach your personal customizations, and variables to tweak." [1]
Like ratpoison, it allows rebinding of keys to other commands, writing commands, access to the shell for scripting; it supports virtual desktops like ratpoison, but unlike ratpoison does include a mode-line much like the one GNU Screen has (both Stumpwm and ratpoison emulate screen in many respects).
As the Debian page describes it:
- "It attempts to be highly customizable while relying entirely on the keyboard for input. You will not find buttons, icons, title bars, tool bars, or any of the other conventional GUI widgets." [2]
It is intended to replace ratpoison[3], although it is generally regarded as not yet as mature and suitable for end-users as ratpoison[4], part because not all of ratpoison's features (there is no input tab completion, for example; further, actually getting stumpwm to run is non-trivial[2]).
[edit] Reference
- ^ Stumpwm homepage -(accessed 6 October 2006)
- ^ "Package: stumpwm" -(accessed 6 October 2006)
- ^ "StumpWM grew out of the authors' frustration with writing ratpoison in C. Very quickly we realized we were building into ratpoison lispy-emacs style paradigms. We had a REPL hanging off 'C-t :', hooks, and a growing subset of Common Lisp in the implementation.
It was clear what we REALLY wanted was a window manager written in Lisp from the ground up with lots of room for customizing and real-time hacking." "Background" from the Stumpwm wiki - ^ Bug#356948 from the Debian bugtracker
