#fvwm3 — Public Fediverse posts

#fvwm #cow #wayland

More from me!

This time, icons...

With this change, icons are now more of a first-class citizen in CoW.

It's possible to assign icons (either SVG or PNG) to windows, via the `decor` command.

The cow(!) man page has a dedicated icon section so you can see how to do that.

By default, cow ships with an icon which mimics what MWM has.

Icons can now be moved around the desktop, and windows remember their icon position.

The new icon-reset command will put icons back to their default position, which is managed by cow. This is similar to the `PlaceAgain icon` command from #fvwm and #fvwm3

Enjoy!

#fvwm #cow #wayland

More from me!

This time, icons...

With this change, icons are now more of a first-class citizen in CoW.

It's possible to assign icons (either SVG or PNG) to windows, via the `decor` command.

The cow(!) man page has a dedicated icon section so you can see how to do that.

By default, cow ships with an icon which mimics what MWM has.

Icons can now be moved around the desktop, and windows remember their icon position.

The new icon-reset command will put icons back to their default position, which is managed by cow. This is similar to the `PlaceAgain icon` command from #fvwm and #fvwm3

Enjoy!

#fvwm #fvwm3

Hello all,

fvwm3-1.1.5 has been released.

See:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.5

This is mostly a bug-fix release. FvwmPrompt has been simplified which I hope eases issues with downstream maintainers.

FvwmConsole has now gone -- use FvwmCommand or FvwmPrompt.

Enjoy!

#fvwm #fvwm3

Hello all,

fvwm3-1.1.5 has been released.

See:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.5

This is mostly a bug-fix release. FvwmPrompt has been simplified which I hope eases issues with downstream maintainers.

FvwmConsole has now gone -- use FvwmCommand or FvwmPrompt.

Enjoy!

#cow #fvwm #wayland

CoW has now gained a new "module" -- cowident.

The image below shows what it does. When you run it, it will force you to select a window to then report properties on.

It's analogous to FvwmIdent from #fvwm3

Not the sexiest thing in the world, I know, but maybe useful both for those tweaking their config, and for diagnostic purposes.

That's why #FvwmIdent was created -- to allow for diagnostics.

#cow #fvwm #wayland

CoW has now gained a new "module" -- cowident.

The image below shows what it does. When you run it, it will force you to select a window to then report properties on.

It's analogous to FvwmIdent from #fvwm3

Not the sexiest thing in the world, I know, but maybe useful both for those tweaking their config, and for diagnostic purposes.

That's why #FvwmIdent was created -- to allow for diagnostics.

#fvwm #x11 #wm

In case anyone's wondering, even though I'm working on #cow-wayland, I'm still working on, and fixing, #fvwm3 -- I don't see this changing anytime soon.

#fvwm #x11 #wm

In case anyone's wondering, even though I'm working on #cow-wayland, I'm still working on, and fixing, #fvwm3 -- I don't see this changing anytime soon.

#fvwm #fvwm3 #wayland

Let's play spot the difference!

One, both, or none of two screenshots are from fvwm3.

Can you guess which?

If not, could you maybe guess is one of the screenshots is based on wayland? ;)

In all seriousness, I'm trying to emulate the fvwm/mwm look in #hikari -- and I think the results are impressive, especially if you can't tell which image is from which #wm.

#fvwm #fvwm3 #wayland

Let's play spot the difference!

One, both, or none of two screenshots are from fvwm3.

Can you guess which?

If not, could you maybe guess is one of the screenshots is based on wayland? ;)

In all seriousness, I'm trying to emulate the fvwm/mwm look in #hikari -- and I think the results are impressive, especially if you can't tell which image is from which #wm.

Throwing this out there, I guess: anyone have a suggestion for a Fvwm3 replacement in Wayland? I’m having trouble finding a comparatively minimal Wayland compositor with the same kind of low-level flexibility—and, as stupid as it is, the capability to look like a hybrid between CDE and Window Maker. #fvwm #fvwm3 #wayland #linux

Throwing this out there, I guess: anyone have a suggestion for a Fvwm3 replacement in Wayland? I’m having trouble finding a comparatively minimal Wayland compositor with the same kind of low-level flexibility—and, as stupid as it is, the capability to look like a hybrid between CDE and Window Maker. #fvwm #fvwm3 #wayland #linux

@trashheap For reasons I have long forgotten, #FVWM3. It floats my boat and drowns the bloat.

@trashheap For reasons I have long forgotten, #FVWM3. It floats my boat and drowns the bloat.

@kerravonsen @LovesTha Yes, fvwm isn't a tiling window manager, but in #fvwm3, we've put some interesting changes into FvwmRearrange which you might find interesting.

Furthermore, there's always been this:

Maximize grow grow

Which you bound to a key, for instance, would maximise the given window to fill the available space. In this way you can quickly "tile" windows.

@kerravonsen @LovesTha Yes, fvwm isn't a tiling window manager, but in #fvwm3, we've put some interesting changes into FvwmRearrange which you might find interesting.

Furthermore, there's always been this:

Maximize grow grow

Which you bound to a key, for instance, would maximise the given window to fill the available space. In this way you can quickly "tile" windows.

#fvwm3 #fvwm

I've released fvwm3 version 1.1.4

Changelog/release is here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.4

Not too much to write home about, other than a few improvements to RandR, as well as a change to make FvwmForm more UTF8-aware.

Thanks to everyone who helped contribute to this release, it's appreciated!

Enjoy!

#fvwm3 #fvwm

I've released fvwm3 version 1.1.4

Changelog/release is here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.4

Not too much to write home about, other than a few improvements to RandR, as well as a change to make FvwmForm more UTF8-aware.

Thanks to everyone who helped contribute to this release, it's appreciated!

Enjoy!

@seatek Out of interest, with a monitor such as yours, does that allow itself to two independent monitors?

If not, you can use xrandr(1) to split the screen up however you like -- is that something you've be interested in doing? If so, #fvwm3 supports this just fine...

@seatek Out of interest, with a monitor such as yours, does that allow itself to two independent monitors?

If not, you can use xrandr(1) to split the screen up however you like -- is that something you've be interested in doing? If so, #fvwm3 supports this just fine...

I’m sick of fighting just to get even simple automated window geometries to work consistently and sanely with #Wayland.

So I went back to the roots and discovered there is actually an #FVWM3 now!

Perfect geometries. Everything under control. Lightning fast and light. And even sound is way better directly through ALSA.

Funny how it feels amazing for my computer to work for me again, instead of me trying in vain to work with it.

#linux

I’m sick of fighting just to get even simple automated window geometries to work consistently and sanely with #Wayland.

So I went back to the roots and discovered there is actually an #FVWM3 now!

Perfect geometries. Everything under control. Lightning fast and light. And even sound is way better directly through ALSA.

Funny how it feels amazing for my computer to work for me again, instead of me trying in vain to work with it.

#linux

#fvwm3 #fvwm #wm #archaicsoftware

Hey everyone.

I've just released fvwm3-1.1.3, the details of which you can find here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.3

Not many features or changes in this release other than the usual bout of bug-fixes.

However, as I've bleated on about before, this release is significant in that autotools has been removed, and meson has replaced it.

This means you have to use meson or muon to build fvwm3.

The release notes mention this, but I know some will miss it. Again though, more information here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

Let me know if you run into any issues.

#fvwm3 #fvwm #wm #archaicsoftware

Hey everyone.

I've just released fvwm3-1.1.3, the details of which you can find here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.3

Not many features or changes in this release other than the usual bout of bug-fixes.

However, as I've bleated on about before, this release is significant in that autotools has been removed, and meson has replaced it.

This means you have to use meson or muon to build fvwm3.

The release notes mention this, but I know some will miss it. Again though, more information here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

Let me know if you run into any issues.

I had the fun of #fvwm3 segfaulting on my config… not quite sure what it was barfing on because even `fvwm3 -v` just segfaulted without any meaningful logs given… but I think it was related to a `PipeRead` judging from the `gdb` backtrace of the `core` file.

The config I have is based on what was an example config from FVWM2 circa 2009 when I was tuning it on an old Pentium II 300MHz laptop (which I now have #NetBSD on)

So I started afresh, and brought over the settings I specifically cared about, my key bindings. I managed to bring the window decorations across too.

Not hugely big on the permanent side-bar… I had a Logo,Z key sequence to hide/show it on the old config so I could use a near full screen… but we'll see how it goes.

I had the fun of #fvwm3 segfaulting on my config… not quite sure what it was barfing on because even `fvwm3 -v` just segfaulted without any meaningful logs given… but I think it was related to a `PipeRead` judging from the `gdb` backtrace of the `core` file.

The config I have is based on what was an example config from FVWM2 circa 2009 when I was tuning it on an old Pentium II 300MHz laptop (which I now have #NetBSD on)

So I started afresh, and brought over the settings I specifically cared about, my key bindings. I managed to bring the window decorations across too.

Not hugely big on the permanent side-bar… I had a Logo,Z key sequence to hide/show it on the old config so I could use a near full screen… but we'll see how it goes.

#fvwm3 #autotools #meson #buildsystems

A little over six months ago, I said the following:

https://bsd.network/web/@thomasadam/113340194570527011

Since six months has passed, I've now pushed to `main` a PR which does just that -- removes autotools from #fvwm3 and replaces it with meson:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/pull/1191

So this has been your warning.

When I release fvwm3-1.1.3, it will be using meson only.

Any questions, please do let me know. I hope downstream packagers have made the transition. :)

#fvwm3 #autotools #meson #buildsystems

A little over six months ago, I said the following:

https://bsd.network/web/@thomasadam/113340194570527011

Since six months has passed, I've now pushed to `main` a PR which does just that -- removes autotools from #fvwm3 and replaces it with meson:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/pull/1191

So this has been your warning.

When I release fvwm3-1.1.3, it will be using meson only.

Any questions, please do let me know. I hope downstream packagers have made the transition. :)

#fvwm3

Hey all. For the small number of you who might be affected, the 1.1.2 release was, umm, accidentally removed by me on GitHub yesterday.

For those of you who've already packaged this, it should not be an issue. Where it might affect things are with rolling-release Linux distros, such as ArchLinux (I maintain the fvwm3 package in the AUR).

What happened was, I've been testing some automation CI workflows, and neglected to refresh my browser, thus, what I thought was me removing a test release, actually ended up removing the legitimate 1.1.2 release.

Apologies -- I'm going to try and rectify this ASAP -- but it's entirely possible the SHA256 sum of the 1.1.2 tarball might change.

#fvwm3

Hey all. For the small number of you who might be affected, the 1.1.2 release was, umm, accidentally removed by me on GitHub yesterday.

For those of you who've already packaged this, it should not be an issue. Where it might affect things are with rolling-release Linux distros, such as ArchLinux (I maintain the fvwm3 package in the AUR).

What happened was, I've been testing some automation CI workflows, and neglected to refresh my browser, thus, what I thought was me removing a test release, actually ended up removing the legitimate 1.1.2 release.

Apologies -- I'm going to try and rectify this ASAP -- but it's entirely possible the SHA256 sum of the 1.1.2 tarball might change.

@Moosader this is why I really used to love the #FVWM window manager back in the day. It let's you configure every aspect of the desktop UI.

In particular, it seemed especially stupid to put the Windows close button on the upper right corner where one might accidentally click it while attempting to resize the window. So I just reordered the corner buttons so maximize was in the corner. That mistake is not so catastrophic.

I'm not sure how good #FVWM3 is but here's https://www.fvwm.org/

@Moosader this is why I really used to love the #FVWM window manager back in the day. It let's you configure every aspect of the desktop UI.

In particular, it seemed especially stupid to put the Windows close button on the upper right corner where one might accidentally click it while attempting to resize the window. So I just reordered the corner buttons so maximize was in the corner. That mistake is not so catastrophic.

I'm not sure how good #FVWM3 is but here's https://www.fvwm.org/

Recently switched from #dwm to #fvwm3 mostly out of just wanting to tinker/change the look/feel of my desktop. Not 100% sure I'm gonna stick with it and open to other options. What cool #WindowManagers are #x11 #linux folks using these days?

Recently switched from #dwm to #fvwm3 mostly out of just wanting to tinker/change the look/feel of my desktop. Not 100% sure I'm gonna stick with it and open to other options. What cool #WindowManagers are #x11 #linux folks using these days?

#fvwm #fvwm3 version 1.1.2 has been released

For the full changelog, and release tarball, see here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.2

There are some breaking changes which are listed.

Style lines can now match some window properties:

Style (Name Foo, Class XTerm) Sticky

Would only make that window sticky if the window name matches "Foo", and the Class is "XTerm". All are case-sensitive.

There's been a few options added to existing commands' the "CursorMove" command can now take a screen name to move the cursor there.

Plus other bits-and-pieces; the changelog has more details.

If you have any issues, file a bug report on Github.

Enjoy!

#fvwm #fvwm3 version 1.1.2 has been released

For the full changelog, and release tarball, see here:

https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.2

There are some breaking changes which are listed.

Style lines can now match some window properties:

Style (Name Foo, Class XTerm) Sticky

Would only make that window sticky if the window name matches "Foo", and the Class is "XTerm". All are case-sensitive.

There's been a few options added to existing commands' the "CursorMove" command can now take a screen name to move the cursor there.

Plus other bits-and-pieces; the changelog has more details.

If you have any issues, file a bug report on Github.

Enjoy!

#fvwm #fvwm3

fvwm3-1.1.1 has been released!

See: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.1

Note that this release represents a good nine months worth of work. In that time, there's been five new contributors (thanks to you!).

This release is notable for a few things:

1. There is a new buildsystem -- meson is replacing autotools. As from this date (2024-NOV-30), there is now a six-month timer on autools support in fvwm3. On Friday 30th May 2025, I will be removing autotools from the fvwm3 repository. meson will be the default at that point.

See: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

2. FvwmRearrange has been completely overhauled, and has a number of nifty options to control placement. Do please take a look at some of the options and examples in `man FvwmRearrange`.

3. FvwmPager has received some further updates for `is_shared` mode.

4. Moving windows and maximizing them has now gained some further options:

Moving windows can now honour window boundaries (see the `all_windows` and `both_sides` options to the `Move` command).

You can now maximize a window to honour the window below to make another window the same size: `Maximize both_sides True grow grow`.

There's also been a bunch of other changes too numerous to list here. See the release notes for more information.

Special thanks for this release has to go to Matt Jolly for all his hard work on getting meson working with fvwm.

Also, to Jaimos Skriletz for his hard work on FvwmPager, FvwmRearrange, and other areas/bug-fixes.

Let the numerous other bugs introduced with this release haunt us all!

Enjoy!

#fvwm #fvwm3

fvwm3-1.1.1 has been released!

See: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/releases/tag/1.1.1

Note that this release represents a good nine months worth of work. In that time, there's been five new contributors (thanks to you!).

This release is notable for a few things:

1. There is a new buildsystem -- meson is replacing autotools. As from this date (2024-NOV-30), there is now a six-month timer on autools support in fvwm3. On Friday 30th May 2025, I will be removing autotools from the fvwm3 repository. meson will be the default at that point.

See: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

2. FvwmRearrange has been completely overhauled, and has a number of nifty options to control placement. Do please take a look at some of the options and examples in `man FvwmRearrange`.

3. FvwmPager has received some further updates for `is_shared` mode.

4. Moving windows and maximizing them has now gained some further options:

Moving windows can now honour window boundaries (see the `all_windows` and `both_sides` options to the `Move` command).

You can now maximize a window to honour the window below to make another window the same size: `Maximize both_sides True grow grow`.

There's also been a bunch of other changes too numerous to list here. See the release notes for more information.

Special thanks for this release has to go to Matt Jolly for all his hard work on getting meson working with fvwm.

Also, to Jaimos Skriletz for his hard work on FvwmPager, FvwmRearrange, and other areas/bug-fixes.

Let the numerous other bugs introduced with this release haunt us all!

Enjoy!

Hmm. I’m sure this seemed like a good idea at the time.

I’m going to be adding another two monitors. Hence it’ll be six monitors overall. I’m sure this’ll be fine. No doubt I can claim fvwm randr testing.

#fvwm #fvwm3

Hmm. I’m sure this seemed like a good idea at the time.

I’m going to be adding another two monitors. Hence it’ll be six monitors overall. I’m sure this’ll be fine. No doubt I can claim fvwm randr testing.

#fvwm #fvwm3

#fvwm3 #fvwm #forkbomb

What's that? You want to wait for the OOM-killer to come along, and you're using #fvwm?

Sure, no problem:

```
Style * PositionPlacement UnderMouse, InitialMapCommand ForkBomb

DestroyFunc ForkBomb
AddToFunc ForkBomb
+ I Exec exec xterm

DestroyModuleConfig FEF: *
*FEF: focus_change ForkBomb

Module FvwmEvent FEF
```

:)

#fvwm3 #fvwm #forkbomb

What's that? You want to wait for the OOM-killer to come along, and you're using #fvwm?

Sure, no problem:

```
Style * PositionPlacement UnderMouse, InitialMapCommand ForkBomb

DestroyFunc ForkBomb
AddToFunc ForkBomb
+ I Exec exec xterm

DestroyModuleConfig FEF: *
*FEF: focus_change ForkBomb

Module FvwmEvent FEF
```

:)

#fvwm3 #autotools #meson #muon #buildsystem

Hey all! Please note that although fvwm3-1.1.1 is close to being relesaed, there's still a few more things left to do.

Before that point, I'd like to take the opportunity to mention that as of fvwm3-1.1.1 fvwm3 is officially using meson/muon as the buildsystem of choice.

Autotools has been a tremendous help over the years. Heck, fvwm as a project started long before autotools existed.

But as technology changes, newer buildsystem alternatives have come along making better use of hardware, compilation speeds, etc.

Indeed, because of fvwm's age -- there's a tonne of custom m4 macros -- some of which are to work around issues long since gone. With autotools recently deprecating many of these, maintaining this was becoming difficult. Hence the change.

A six-month window exists once fvwm3-1.1.1 is released for downstream packagers to make the move from autotools to meson.

The `main` branch in the fvwm3 repository contains both buildsystems. Please give meson some testing!

A huge thanks goes to Kanjie (Matt Jolly) -- without whom none of this work would have been possible. Thanks, Matt!

For more specific details. please see: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

Questions? I'm here...

#fvwm3 #autotools #meson #muon #buildsystem

Hey all! Please note that although fvwm3-1.1.1 is close to being relesaed, there's still a few more things left to do.

Before that point, I'd like to take the opportunity to mention that as of fvwm3-1.1.1 fvwm3 is officially using meson/muon as the buildsystem of choice.

Autotools has been a tremendous help over the years. Heck, fvwm as a project started long before autotools existed.

But as technology changes, newer buildsystem alternatives have come along making better use of hardware, compilation speeds, etc.

Indeed, because of fvwm's age -- there's a tonne of custom m4 macros -- some of which are to work around issues long since gone. With autotools recently deprecating many of these, maintaining this was becoming difficult. Hence the change.

A six-month window exists once fvwm3-1.1.1 is released for downstream packagers to make the move from autotools to meson.

The `main` branch in the fvwm3 repository contains both buildsystems. Please give meson some testing!

A huge thanks goes to Kanjie (Matt Jolly) -- without whom none of this work would have been possible. Thanks, Matt!

For more specific details. please see: https://github.com/fvwmorg/fvwm3/discussions/1068

Questions? I'm here...

Deep down the #X11 (#xcb) rabbit hole now.

I decided to add a tray icon. I want it optional, with configurable behavior (minimize-to-tray, close-to-tray, no-tray).

Adding this thing was super simple with Qt. Getting anything other than the default behavior ... not so much. Doing lots of things with plain #xcb now.

I'm stuck at hiding the tool from a taskbar. #EWMH has _NET_WM_STATE_SKIP_TASKBAR. In #fvwm (#fvwm3), this works when setting it before the window gets mapped. Sending it as a "client message" when the window is already mapped seems to be just ignored 😠

I then tried #KDE (#kwin). Hm well, doesn't even honor the _NET_WM_STATE property set on the window before mapping it, IOW, it's *always* shown in the taskbar.

WTF? 😖❓

#qxmoji #emoji #keyboard

Deep down the #X11 (#xcb) rabbit hole now.

I decided to add a tray icon. I want it optional, with configurable behavior (minimize-to-tray, close-to-tray, no-tray).

Adding this thing was super simple with Qt. Getting anything other than the default behavior ... not so much. Doing lots of things with plain #xcb now.

I'm stuck at hiding the tool from a taskbar. #EWMH has _NET_WM_STATE_SKIP_TASKBAR. In #fvwm (#fvwm3), this works when setting it before the window gets mapped. Sending it as a "client message" when the window is already mapped seems to be just ignored 😠

I then tried #KDE (#kwin). Hm well, doesn't even honor the _NET_WM_STATE property set on the window before mapping it, IOW, it's *always* shown in the taskbar.

WTF? 😖❓

#qxmoji #emoji #keyboard

Deep down the #X11 (#xcb) rabbit hole now.

I decided to add a tray icon. I want it optional, with configurable behavior (minimize-to-tray, close-to-tray, no-tray).

Adding this thing was super simple with Qt. Getting anything other than the default behavior ... not so much. Doing lots of things with plain #xcb now.

I'm stuck at hiding the tool from a taskbar. #EWMH has _NET_WM_STATE_SKIP_TASKBAR. In #fvwm (#fvwm3), this works when setting it before the window gets mapped. Sending it as a "client message" when the window is already mapped seems to be just ignored 😠

I then tried #KDE (#kwin). Hm well, doesn't even honor the _NET_WM_STATE property set on the window before mapping it, IOW, it's *always* shown in the taskbar.

WTF? 😖❓

#qxmoji #emoji #keyboard

Deep down the #X11 (#xcb) rabbit hole now.

I decided to add a tray icon. I want it optional, with configurable behavior (minimize-to-tray, close-to-tray, no-tray).

Adding this thing was super simple with Qt. Getting anything other than the default behavior ... not so much. Doing lots of things with plain #xcb now.

I'm stuck at hiding the tool from a taskbar. #EWMH has _NET_WM_STATE_SKIP_TASKBAR. In #fvwm (#fvwm3), this works when setting it before the window gets mapped. Sending it as a "client message" when the window is already mapped seems to be just ignored 😠

I then tried #KDE (#kwin). Hm well, doesn't even honor the _NET_WM_STATE property set on the window before mapping it, IOW, it's *always* shown in the taskbar.

WTF? 😖❓

#qxmoji #emoji #keyboard

Deep down the #X11 (#xcb) rabbit hole now.

I decided to add a tray icon. I want it optional, with configurable behavior (minimize-to-tray, close-to-tray, no-tray).

Adding this thing was super simple with Qt. Getting anything other than the default behavior ... not so much. Doing lots of things with plain #xcb now.

I'm stuck at hiding the tool from a taskbar. #EWMH has _NET_WM_STATE_SKIP_TASKBAR. In #fvwm (#fvwm3), this works when setting it before the window gets mapped. Sending it as a "client message" when the window is already mapped seems to be just ignored 😠

I then tried #KDE (#kwin). Hm well, doesn't even honor the _NET_WM_STATE property set on the window before mapping it, IOW, it's *always* shown in the taskbar.

WTF? 😖❓

#qxmoji #emoji #keyboard

#x11cp #X11 #archaic application time!

#xzoom is a magnifier for X11, allowing for portions of windows or the desktop to be magnified.

#xzoom was originally written May 30th 1996, by Itai Nahshon.

Version 0.3 only supported 8-bit colour displays, but version 0.4 onward is maintained, and this supports upto 24-bit displays, and it's this version which most Linux distributions, and *BSD still ship to this day.

I've been using this program for years, and I find it really useful debugging window decorations in #fvwm3, as I can zoom in at detail to see how the rendering looks pixel-by-pixel.