mirror of
https://codeberg.org/dwl/dwl.git
synced 2025-10-31 03:54:15 +00:00
116 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
116 lines
5.0 KiB
Markdown
# dwl - dwm for Wayland
|
|
|
|
dwl is a compact, hackable compositor for Wayland based on
|
|
[wlroots](https://github.com/swaywm/wlroots). It is intended to fill the same
|
|
space in the Wayland world that dwm does in X11, primarily in terms of
|
|
philosophy, and secondarily in terms of functionality. Like dwm, dwl is:
|
|
|
|
- Easy to understand, hack on, and extend with patches
|
|
- One C source file (or a very small number) configurable via `config.h`
|
|
- Limited to a maximum number of SLOC (to be determined)
|
|
- Tied to as few external dependencies as possible
|
|
|
|
|
|
dwl is not meant to provide every feature under the sun. Instead, like dwm, it
|
|
sticks to features which are necessary, simple, and straightforward to
|
|
implement given the base on which it is built. Since wlroots provides a number
|
|
of features that are more complicated to accomplish with Xlib and select
|
|
extensions, dwl can be in some ways more featureful than dwm *while remaining
|
|
just as simple.* Intended default features are:
|
|
|
|
- Any features provided by dwm/Xlib: simple window borders, tags, keybindings,
|
|
client rules, mouse move/resize (see below for why the built-in status bar is
|
|
a possible exception)
|
|
- Configurable multi-monitor layout support, including position and rotation
|
|
- Configurable HiDPI/multi-DPI support
|
|
- Wayland protocols needed for daily life in the tiling world: at a minimum,
|
|
xdg-shell and layer-shell (for bars/menus). Protocols trivially provided by
|
|
wlroots may also be added.
|
|
- Basic yes/no damage tracking to avoid needless redraws (if it can be done
|
|
simply and has an impact on power consumption)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Other features under consideration are:
|
|
|
|
- Additional Wayland compositor protocols which are trivially provided by
|
|
wlroots or can be conditionally included via `config.h` settings: xwayland,
|
|
screen capture, etc.
|
|
- External bar support instead of a built-in status bar, to avoid taking a
|
|
dependency on FreeType or Pango
|
|
- Buffering of input when spawning a client so you don't have to wait for the
|
|
window (use `wl_client_get_credentials` to get the PID) - would this require
|
|
passing through something like dmenu? Extension protocol?
|
|
- More in-depth damage region tracking
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Building dwl
|
|
|
|
dwl has only two dependencies: wlroots (git version currently required) and wayland-protocols. Simply install these and run `make`.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Configuration
|
|
|
|
All configuration is done by editing `config.h` and recompiling, in the same
|
|
manner as dwm. There is no way to separately restart the window manager in
|
|
Wayland without restarting the entire display server, so any changes will take
|
|
effect the next time dwl is executed.
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Running dwl
|
|
|
|
dwl can be run as-is, with no arguments. In an existing Wayland or X11 session,
|
|
this will open a window to act as a virtual display. When run from a TTY, the
|
|
Wayland server will take over the entire virtual terminal. Clients started by
|
|
dwl will have `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` set in their environment, and other clients can be
|
|
started from outside the session by setting this variable accordingly.
|
|
|
|
You can also specify a startup program using the `-s` option. The argument to
|
|
this option will be run at startup as a shell command (using `sh -c`) and can
|
|
serve a similar function to `.xinitrc`: starting a service manager or other
|
|
startup applications. Unlike `.xinitrc`, the display server will not shut down
|
|
when this process terminates. Instead, as dwl is shutting down, it will send
|
|
this process a SIGTERM and wait for it to terminate (if it hasn't already).
|
|
This makes it ideal not only for initialization but also for execing into a
|
|
user-level service manager like s6 or `systemd --user`.
|
|
|
|
More/less verbose output can be requested with flags as well:
|
|
|
|
* `-q`: quiet (log level WLR_SILENT)
|
|
* `-v`: verbose (log level WLR_INFO)
|
|
* `-d`: debug (log level WLR_DEBUG)
|
|
|
|
Note: Wayland requires a valid `XDG_RUNTIME_DIR`, which is usually set up by a
|
|
session manager such as `elogind` or `systemd-logind`. If your system doesn't
|
|
do this automatically, you will need to configure it prior to launching `dwl`,
|
|
e.g.:
|
|
|
|
export XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=/tmp/xdg-runtime-$(id -u)
|
|
mkdir -p $XDG_RUNTIME_DIR
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Known limitations and issues
|
|
|
|
dwl is a work in progress, and it has not yet reached its feature goals in a
|
|
number of ways:
|
|
|
|
- A window's texture is scaled for its "home" monitor only (noticeable when
|
|
window sits across a monitor boundary)
|
|
- Urgent/attention/focus-request ([not yet supported](https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/wayland/wayland-protocols/-/merge_requests/9)
|
|
by xdg-shell protocol)
|
|
- Normal/selected/urgent border colors
|
|
- Statusbar support (built-in or external)
|
|
- layer-shell
|
|
- export-dmabuf
|
|
- Damage tracking
|
|
- Fullscreen/fixed windows (or whatever the Wayland analogues are)
|
|
- XWayland
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Acknowledgements
|
|
|
|
dwl began by extending the TinyWL example provided (CC0) by the sway/wlroots
|
|
developers. This was made possible in many cases by looking at how sway
|
|
accomplished something, then trying to do the same in as suckless a way as
|
|
possible. Speaking of which, many thanks to suckless.org and the dwm
|
|
developers and community for the inspiration.
|