102 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
102 lines
4.4 KiB
Markdown
# dwl - dwm for Wayland
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dwl is a compact, hackable compositor for Wayland based on
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[wlroots](https://github.com/swaywm/wlroots). It is intended to fill the same
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space in the Wayland world that dwm does in X11, primarily in terms of
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philosophy, and secondarily in terms of functionality. Like dwm, dwl is:
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- Easy to understand, hack on, and extend with patches
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- One C source file (or a very small number) configurable via `config.h`
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- Limited to a maximum number of SLOC (to be determined)
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- Tied to as few external dependencies as possible
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dwl is not meant to provide every feature under the sun. Instead, like dwm, it
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sticks to features which are necessary, simple, and straightforward to
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implement given the base on which it is built. Since wlroots provides a number
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of features that are more complicated to accomplish with Xlib and select
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extensions, dwl can be in some ways more featureful than dwm *while remaining
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just as simple.* Intended default features are:
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- Any features provided by dwm/Xlib: simple window borders, tags, keybindings,
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client rules, mouse move/resize (see below for why the built-in status bar is
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a possible exception)
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- Configurable multi-monitor layout support, including position and rotation
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- Configurable HiDPI/multi-DPI support
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- Wayland protocols needed for daily life in the tiling world: at a minimum,
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xdg-shell and layer-shell (for bars/menus). Protocols trivially provided by
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wlroots may also be added.
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- Basic yes/no damage tracking to avoid needless redraws (if it can be done
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simply and has an impact on power consumption)
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Other features under consideration are:
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- Additional Wayland compositor protocols which are trivially provided by
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wlroots or can be conditionally included via `config.h` settings: xwayland,
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screen capture, etc.
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- External bar support instead of a built-in status bar, to avoid taking a
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dependency on FreeType or Pango
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- Buffering of input when spawning a client so you don't have to wait for the
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window (use `wl_client_get_credentials` to get the PID) - would this require
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passing through something like dmenu? Extension protocol?
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- More in-depth damage region tracking
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## Building dwl
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dwl has only two dependencies: wlroots and wayland-protocols. Simply install
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these and run `make`.
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## Configuration
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All configuration is done by editing `config.h` and recompiling, in the same
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manner as dwm. There is no way to separately restart the window manager in
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Wayland without restarting the entire display server, so any changes will take
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effect the next time dwl is executed.
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## Running dwl
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dwl can be run as-is, with no arguments. In an existing Wayland or X11 session,
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this will open a window to act as a virtual display. When run from a TTY, the
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Wayland server will take over the entire virtual terminal. Clients started by
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dwl will have `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` set in their environment, and other clients can be
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started from outside the session by setting this variable accordingly.
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You can also specify a startup program using the `-s` option. The argument to
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this option will be run at startup as a shell command (using `sh -c`) and can
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serve a similar function to `.xinitrc`: starting a service manager or other
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startup applications. Unlike `.xinitrc`, the display server will not shut down
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when this process terminates. Instead, as dwl is shutting down, it will send
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this process a SIGTERM and wait for it to terminate (if it hasn't already).
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This makes it ideal not only for initialization but also for execing into a
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user-level service manager like s6 or `systemd --user`.
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## Known limitations and issues
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dwl is a work in progress, and it has not yet reached its feature goals in a
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number of ways:
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- A window's texture is scaled for its "home" monitor only (noticeable when
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window sits across a monitor boundary)
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- Urgent/attention/focus-request ([not yet supported](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/wayland-protocols/-/merge_requests/9)
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by xdg-shell protocol)
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- Normal/selected/urgent border colors
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- Statusbar support (built-in or external)
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- layer-shell
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- Damage tracking
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- Fullscreen/fixed windows (or whatever the Wayland analogues are)
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- XWayland
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## Acknowledgements
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dwl began by extending the TinyWL example provided (CC0) by the sway/wlroots
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developers. This was made possible in many cases by looking at how sway
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accomplished something, then trying to do the same in as suckless a way as
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possible. Speaking of which, many thanks to suckless.org and the dwm
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developers and community for the inspiration.
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