Devin J. Pohly
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README.md
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README.md
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# dwl
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# dwl - dwm for Wayland
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This is the "minimum viable product" Wayland compositor based on wlroots. It
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dwl is a compact, hackable compositor for Wayland based on
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aims to implement a Wayland compositor in the fewest lines of code possible,
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[wlroots](https://github.com/swaywm/wlroots). It is intended to fill the same
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while still supporting a reasonable set of features. Reading this code is the
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space in the Wayland world that dwm does in X11, primarily in terms of
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best starting point for anyone looking to build their own Wayland compositor
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philosophy, and secondarily in terms of functionality. Like dwm, dwl is:
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based on wlroots.
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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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xdg-portal, 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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- More in-depth damage region tracking
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## Building dwl
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## Building dwl
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dwl is disconnected from the main wlroots build system, in order to make it
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dwl has only two dependencies: wlroots and wayland-protocols. Simply install
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easier to understand the build requirements for your own Wayland compositors.
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these and run `make`.
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Simply install the dependencies:
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- wlroots
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- wayland-protocols
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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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## Running dwl
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You can run dwl with `./dwl`. In an existing Wayland or X11 session,
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dwl can be run as-is, with no arguments. In an existing Wayland or X11 session,
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dwl will open a Wayland or X11 window respectively to act as a virtual
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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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display. You can then open Wayland windows by setting `WAYLAND_DISPLAY` to the
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Wayland server will take over the entire virtual terminal. Clients started by
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value shown in the logs. You can also run `./dwl` from a TTY.
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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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In either case, you will likely want to specify `-s [cmd]` to run a command at
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You can also specify a startup program using the `-s` option. The argument to
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startup, such as a terminal emulator. This will be necessary to start any new
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this option will be run at startup as a shell command (using `sh -c`) and can
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programs from within the compositor, as dwl does not support any custom
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serve a similar function to `.xinitrc`: starting a service manager or other
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keybindings. dwl supports the following keybindings:
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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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- `Alt+Escape`: Terminate the compositor
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this process a SIGTERM and wait for it to terminate (if it hasn't already).
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- `Alt+F1`: Cycle between windows
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This make 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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## Limitations
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## Known limitations and issues
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Notable omissions from dwl:
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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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- HiDPI support
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- Urgent/attention/focus-request not yet implemented
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- Any kind of configuration, e.g. output layout
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- Borders and selected/normal/urgent colors not implemented
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- Any protocol other than xdg-shell (e.g. layer-shell, for
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- No support for layer-shell yet
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panels/taskbars/etc; or Xwayland, for proxied X11 windows)
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- HiDPI works, but multi-DPI is not as nice as sway, depending on the scale
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- Optional protocols, e.g. screen capture, primary selection, virtual
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factors involved. Perhaps scaling filters are needed?
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keyboard, etc. Most of these are plug-and-play with wlroots, but they're
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- Monitor rotation/transform is not working yet
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omitted for brevity.
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- Mouse resize is not precise
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- Damage tracking, which tracks which parts of the screen are changing and
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- No statusbar
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minimizes redraws accordingly.
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- No damage tracking
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- No handling of fullscreen/fixed windows (or whatever the Wayland analogues
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are)
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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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