CLFSWM

Introduction

CLFSWM is a 100% Common Lisp X11 window manager (based on Tinywm and Stumpwm. Many thanks to them).
It can be driven only with the keyboard or with the mouse.

Description

A display contains a root frame and its children. A child can be a window or another frame. The root frame or its children can be the current root. The current root is fullscreen maximized (no decorations, no buttons, no menus: nothing, just the application fullscreen!).

CLFSWM is highly dynamic. By default there is only one frame (the root frame). Other frames are created/deleted on the fly. A window can be in more than one frame, so it can have multiple views of the same windows.

Using CLFSWM is like walking through a tree of frames and windows. Enter in a child to make it the current root and make it fullscreen maximized. Leave it to make its parent the current root.

Here is the default key binding to navigate through this tree:

• Alt-Tab: circulate through children of the current child.
• Alt-Left/Right: circulate through brother children (ie: this is like workspaces for a more conventional window manager)
• Alt-Up: select the first child of the current frame.
• Alt-Down: select the parent of the current child.
• Alt-Enter: Make the current selected child the current root (ie: maximize it)
• Alt+Shift-Enter: Make the parent of the current root the current root (ie: unmaximize the current root).

So, there is no more need for a pager: you are in the pager!

See this explanations or the tutorial below to have an overview of the CLFSWM mechanism.
You can also find more information on the CLFSWM wiki.

For its binding, CLFSWM has two modes: A main mode with minimal keys and mouse grabbing to avoid conflicts with others applications. And a second mode with more keys and mouse actions. For details of its usage, have a look at the files doc/keys.txt or doc/keys.html.

A lot of functions to manage CLFSWM can be found in the second mode menu. See the files doc/menu.txt or doc/menu.html for an overview.

A frame can be placed anywhere in its parent frame. And can have different layouts to automatically manage its children (tile, tile to left, to bottom, no layout...).

Some actions can be performed by clicking on screen corners.
For example a left click on the bottom right corner give you an OS X Exposé like. A left click on the top right corner show/hide a virtual keyboard . And a right click on the top left corner show/hide a terminal (like a quake console)...
See doc/corner.txt or doc/corner.html for a summary.

CLFSWM can be configured from the built-in Lisp evaluator or with the configuration menu.
Here are the tweakable variables : doc/variables.txt or doc/variables.html.

Download

• clfswm-1212.tar.gz (276.7K) Tarball source code

ChangeLog

Animations as tutorial

• clfswm-every-day-use.ogv (84M): This video shows an every day use with most of CLFSWM features.
• tile-and-layout-example.flv (15M): This video shows different ways to handle windows and frames.
  
  
• tree-organisation.ogv (8.9M): This video shows the tree organisation of CLFSWM and how frames can be manipulated. This is not really shown on the video, but each frame can have multiple windows inside with a different layout.
• layout-example.ogv (13M): Different windows organisation in different frames. This video shows also the bind or jump behaviour.
• managed-windows.ogv (16M): This video shows how windows can be managed by a frame according to there types (normal, transient...).
• new-window-hook.ogv (6.4M): This video shows how CLFSWM can automatically handle new created windows.
• tabbed-links.ogv (13M): This video shows a layout example to add tabs to the links browser.
• live-hack.ogv (21M): This video shows how it's simple to define custom menus and add functionality to CLFSWM. Here: starting the Gimp in its own organized frames.
• rox-filer-example.ogv (9.6M): This video shows a way to use the ROX Filer with CLFSWM.
• present-windows.ogv (7.3M): How clfswm presents windows when you click on bottom corners. It's an (Mac OS X) Exposé like (indeed less eye candy).
  You can present windows on the current root (ie: in the current workspace for more conventional windows managers).
  Or present windows in the root frame (ie: present all windows in all frames).
• raise-lower.ogv (3.4M): How clfswm can raise/lower a child in its frame.
• hide-unhide.ogv (7M): How clfswm can hide/unhide a child in its frame. One can also choose to unhide a child from another frame.
• gimp-layout.ogv (14M): A GIMP layout example.
• focus-policy.ogv (5.8M): This video shows how each frame can have a different focus policy.
• quick-hack.ogv (5.4M): This video shows a quick hack while clfswm is running. The compilation is done on the fly: no need to stop, compile, restart! Even a reload is not needed!

Screenshots

Working screen:
Dual screen setup:

License

CLFSWM is under the GNU General Public License - GPL license.
You can find more information in the files COPYING. or on the Free Software Foundation site.

Mailing Lists

• clfswm-devel
  for developers
• clfswm-cvs
  CVS log feed.
• clfswm-announce
  for announcements.

CLFSWM GitLab

You can follow the CLFSWM development and find more documentation or tips on the CLFSWM GitLab.

GIT repository

You can browse our git repository or clone it if desired.

• git clone git@common-lisp.net:clfswm/clfswm.git
• git clone https://gitlab.common-lisp.net/clfswm/clfswm.git

There is also another GIT repository at repo.or.cz synchronized with the common-lisp.net GIT repository.