EvilWM

EvilWM

Image

A screen shot of EvilWM, showing the Gimp, a terminal, and w3m in a terminal.

URL

http://evilwm.sourceforge.net/

Version

I used 0.99.13, which was available as an RPM. The latest version as of September 2003 is 0.99.15.

Documentation

Not extensive, but appears to be complete. Primarily the man page.

Themes

No.

Discussion

EvilWM is based on aewm code and takes at least its appearance from 9wm: completely unadorned, unframed windows. Key commands are used for nearly everything. There's no menu system, so you really need to remember that Ctrl-Alt-Enter will spawn a new terminal window. Fortunately, you can set which term to spawn on the command line.

As I mentioned already, Ctrl-Alt-Enter spawns a new terminal. Other key commands, so you can get a feel for the WM, are Alt-Tab to change windows, Ctrl-Alt J K H or L moves the focused window in 16 pixel jumps around the screen in the expected vi directions. Nethack players will be amused to find that Ctrl-Alt Y U B or N moves the focused window to one of the four corners of the screen. Ctrl-Alt-Esc closes the current window. Ctrl-Alt 1 2 3 ... 8 changes to the numbered workspace, and Ctrl-Alt left or right arrow cycles desktops. There are a few other key commands (lower, maximize, fix/stick ...) but there aren't many. While I think the keys are very well thought out, I wish there was a way to map your own keys.

There are a few mouse commands, and it appears you have to use the mouse to resize a window (a disappointment given how keyboard oriented this WM is). At that, it's kind of awkward: Alt-click anywhere on a window to drag it, Alt-middle-click to resize.

I was impressed by the simplicity and tiny size of this WM: well thought out key mappings almost make up for the lack of configurability. Overall, quite good.

Pros

Unbelievably small, about 500 kb in memory. Key mappings well thought out.

Cons

Very difficult to use the mouse, should you forget the appropriate keybindings.

Community

None apparent.