Fluxbox, FLWM, FVWM, Haze, and Herbstluftwm: 5 Alternative WMs for Linux

Fluxbox, FLWM, FVWM, Haze, and Herbstluftwm: 5 Alternative WMs for Linux

Fluxbox, FLWM, FVWM, Haze, and Herbstluftwm: 5 Alternative WMs for Linux

Today we will continue with our fourth post sabout the Window Managers (Windows Managers - WM, in English), where we will review 5 more of them, from our list of 50 previously discussed.

In order to do so, continue to know important aspects of them, such as, are they or are not active projects, what WM type are they, what are their main features, and how are they installed, in other aspects.

Window Managers: Content

It is worth remembering that the full list of independent Window Managers and dependents a Desktop Environment Specific, it is found in the following related post:

Window Managers: Graphical User Interfaces for GNU / Linux
Related article:
Window Managers: Graphical User Interfaces for GNU / Linux

And in case you want to read our previous related posts With the previous WM reviewed, the following can be clicked links:

  1. 2BWM, 9WM, AEWM, Afterstep and Awesome
  2. BerryWM, Blackbox, BSPWM, Byobu and Compiz
  3. CWM, DWM, Enlightenment, EvilWM and EXWM

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5 alternative WMs for Linux

flux box

Definition

According to its official website, it is described as:

“Fluxbox is a window manager for X based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but still packed with features to make a desktop experience easy and extremely fast. It is built using C ++ and licensed under the MIT license".

Features

  • Active project: Last activity detected around 4 years.
  • Type: Stacking.
  • It offers a powerful application file (apps-file) with which it is possible to set specific parameters of the applications (windows), such as, the dimension, the decoration, the default workspace to open, the stickiness and much more. It allows to manipulate almost all the parameters of any window or application.
  • It has a versatile key file (keys-file) that provides convenience for people who do not have a mouse and makes work more comfortable for all users, since it allows to configure a suitable key file that facilitates controlling almost everything , making it much faster than using a menu with only keys, key combinations and key rings.
  • Provides an excellent tabulation that allows you to tabulate the windows together. And this feature can be combined with the "auto-grouping" feature provided through the applications archive, which allows certain applications to be tabbed together by default.

Installation

This updated WM is usually found in many repositories of different GNU / Linux Distros, under the name of "fluxbox" packageTherefore, depending on the package manager used, graphical or terminal, it can be easily installed. More additional information about this WM can be found in the following link.

FLUM

Definition

According to its official website, it is described as:

"A window manager developed by Bill Spitzak with the intention of combining the best ideas of other existing WMs using the wm2 codebase, created by Chris Cannam".

Features

  • Active project: Last activity detected around 5 years.
  • TypeStacking.
  • It tries to take up as little screen space as possible, and it's really small and fast code.
  • Provides independent maximize buttons for width and height. It has a task bar and a start menu. Allows window switching by means of the «Alt + Tab» keys combination, supports multiple desktops. In addition, the "panel" and the "start menu" are merged into a single pop-up menu that takes up no space when not in use.
  • It is designed to work with very small and overlapping windows, so that programs can finally take advantage of multiple windows, rather than being forced to make a single large "mdi" window. Lastly, it is compatible to some degree with WM from Motif, KDE, and Gnome, and works with SGI programs that assume 4DWM.

Installation

This updated WM is usually found in many repositories of different GNU / Linux Distros, under the name of package "flwm"Therefore, depending on the package manager used, graphical or terminal, it can be easily installed. More additional information about this WM can be found in the following link.

VWF

Definition

According to its official website, it is described as:

"Un virtual window manager for the X window system. It was originally a weak fork of TWM realized by Robert Nation in 1993, which has evolved into the fantastic, fabulous, famous and flexible window manager that it is today".

Features

  • Active project: Last activity detected less than 4 years ago.
  • Type: Stacking.
  • It currently has a stable version (old: 2.6) and a development version (future: 3.0). In addition, it complies with the ICCCM standard and is highly configurable.
  • It allows, from a minimal configuration, to be configured with both internal tools and third-party software to customize most aspects of a desktop. Consequently, when combined with third-party software and custom scripts, it becomes a powerful tool for building a complete desktop environment.
  • Its future version in development is a large virtual desktop window manager, originally derived from TWM. And it is intended to have a small memory footprint and a rich feature set, such as being extremely customizable and extensible, and having a high degree of Motif (MWM) compatibility.

Installation

This updated WM is usually found in many repositories of different GNU / Linux Distros, under the name of package "fvwm"Therefore, depending on the package manager used, graphical or terminal, it can be easily installed. More additional information about this WM can be found in the following link.

HaZe

Definition

According to its official website, it is described as:

“A hacked window manager based on MLVWM (Macintosh Like Virtual Window Manager), the good WM from Takac Hasegawa (hase@rop2.hitachi-cable.co.jp) with the look of MacOS. MLVWM was based on TWM and FVWM".

Features

  • Inactive project: Last activity detected around 5 years.
  • Type: Stacking.
  • It retains much of the characteristic of MLVWM, so it should be very compatible with it. And it is robust, efficient and lightweight.
  • Provides multiple virtual desktops, a configurable Menu Bar, Shaded Windows, Windows governed from the menu bar. All in one little piece of code.
  • A curious feature of HaZe, also inherited from MLVWM and obviously inspired by Mac OS, are the text balloons, which in it are limited to showing information about the window the mouse is pointing at.

Installation

To see the installation steps with each type of procedure enabled click next link. More additional information about this WM can be found in the following link.

herbstluftwm

Definition

According to its official website, it is described as:

"It is a window manager of the Tiling type for X11 using Xlib".

Features

  • Active project: Last activity detected around 2 months.
  • Type: Tiling.
  • It allows easy handling and good configuration while running from the command line, hot (live).
  • It offers an amazing combination of automatic and manual tiling application, making it possible for any user to configure automatic tiling for each application or change any application from automatic tiling to manual tiling.
  • Use a bash script for easy configuration. In different frames (frames), the user can use different designs, and can also customize the designs on the fly according to his own taste. In addition, it also provides multi-monitor support, so you are not usually forced to use a single monitor.

Installation

This updated WM is usually found in many repositories of different GNU / Linux Distros, under the name of "herbstluftwm" packageTherefore, depending on the package manager used, graphical or terminal, it can be easily installed. More additional information about this WM can be found in the following link.

Generic image for article conclusions

Conclusion

We hope this "useful little post" about these next 5 «Gestores de Ventanas», independent of any «Entorno de Escritorio», called Fluxbox, FLWM, FVWM, Haze and Herbstluftwm, is of great interest and utility, for the entire «Comunidad de Software Libre y Código Abierto» and of great contribution to the diffusion of the wonderful, gigantic and growing ecosystem of applications of «GNU/Linux».

And for more information, always do not hesitate to visit any Online library as OpenLibra y jedit to read books (PDFs) on this topic or others knowledge areas. For now, if you liked this «publicación», don't stop sharing it with others, in your Favorite websites, channels, groups, or communities of social networks, preferably free and open as Mastodon, or secure and private like Telegram.

Or simply visit our home page at DesdeLinux or join the official Channel Telegram from DesdeLinux to read and vote for this or other interesting publications on «Software Libre», «Código Abierto», «GNU/Linux» and other topics related to «Informática y la Computación», and the «Actualidad tecnológica».


4 comments, leave yours

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  1.   an unhappy user said

    Finally I decided to enter the entries of this «saga» of alternative desktop managers, and I would like to add one thing: it would be nice if they added a screenshot, either from google, devianart or their respective websites, to give us a vision of what these WM's look like. There are times when text alone is not usually enough to convince

  2.   Linux PostInstall said

    Greetings dear and thank you for your comment. Certainly one image for each WM would have been excellent, but since there are 5 WM for each post that would make the content look more extensive, for these posts that are already longer than usual. However, as you already stated, on most official websites there are screenshots of them, and the links are available by clicking on the name titles of each WM. Perhaps, later on we will make a post about each active WM with its installation and configuration tips with their respective screenshots.

  3.   Matthias M. said

    Excellent "saga" these post. I've been following them since they started. I'm waiting for others 🙂
    I am currently on i3, and it is excellent.

    Regards!

    1.    Linux PostInstall said

      Greetings Matías! Thank you for your positive comment on the articles related to Window Managers (WMs). We have already published the one that contains I3-WM, we would like to include more information but since there are 5 per post, the essentials plus the complementary links are placed. Enjoy it.