| xmonad | |
|---|---|
 | |
 xmonad in tiling mode | |
| Original authors | Spencer Janssen, Don Stewart, Jason Creighton |
| Initial release | March 6, 2007; 18 years ago (2007-03-06)[1] |
| Stable release | 0.18.0[2]  / 3 February 2024 |
| Written in | Haskell |
| Operating system | POSIX compatible |
| Platform | Cross-platform; requires anX Window System andGHC |
| Size | 56 KB (source code)[3] |
| Available in | English |
| Type | Window manager |
| License | BSD 3-clause |
| Website | xmonad |
| Repository | |
xmonad is adynamic window manager (tiling) for theX Window System, noted for being written in thefunctionalprogramming languageHaskell.[4][5]
Begun in March 2007, version 0.1 was announced[6] in April 2007 as 500lines of Haskell[7] (which have since grown to 2000 lines). xmonad is atiling window manager, akin todwm,larswm, andStumpWM. It arranges windows in a non-overlapping pattern, and enables managing windows without using amouse. xmonad ispackaged and distributed on a wide range ofUnix-likeoperating systems, including manyLinux distributions, andBerkeley Software Distribution (BSD) systems.
While originally aclone of dwm (derivative in areas such as default keybindings), xmonad now supports features unavailable to dwm users[8][9] such as per-workspace layout, tiling reflection, state preservation, layout mirroring,GNOME support and per-screen status bars; it can be customised by modifying an external configuration file and 'reloaded' while running.[10] xmonad features have begun to influence other tilingwindow managers: dwm has borrowed "urgency hooks" from xmonad,[11] has also includedXinerama support (formultihead displays) withrelease 4.8, andpatches exist to reimplement xmonad'sFibonacci spiral layout.[12]
In 2023 theman page stated:
By utilising the expressivity of a modern functional language with a richstatic type system, xmonad provides a complete, featureful window manager [...], with an emphasis on correctness and robustness. Internal properties of the window manager are checked using a combination of static guarantees provided by thetype system, and type-basedautomated testing. A benefit of this is that the code is simple to understand, and easy to modify.[13]
Since xmonad's inception, when its smallsource code size of 500 lines of code was advertised, it has grown to about 2,000 lines as of 2023[update].
Extensions to the core system, including emulation of other window managers, and unusual layout algorithms, such as windowtiling based on theFibonacci spiral—have been implemented by the active community[14] and are available as a library.[15]
Along with obviating the need for a mouse,[16] the xmonad developers make heavy use of semi-formal methods andprogram derivation for improving reliability and enabling a total line of code count less than 1200, as of version 0.7; window manager properties (such as the behavior of window focus) are checked through use ofQuickCheck.[17] This emphasis makes xmonad unusual in a number of ways; besides being the first window manager written in Haskell, it is also the first to use thezipperdata structure for automatically managingfocus, and its core has been proven to be safe with respect topattern matches,[18] contributing further to reliability. The developers write:
xmonad is a tiling window manager for the X Window system, implemented, configured and dynamically extensible in Haskell. This demonstration presents the case that software dominated byside effects can be developed with the precision and efficiency we expect from Haskell by utilising purely functional data structures, an expressivetype system, extended static checking and property-based testing. In addition, we describe the use of Haskell as an application configuration and extension language.[19]
The code is separated into side-effect free code, and a thin wrapper for the side-effects.[20] According to Alejandro Serrano Mena, there are two ways to implementdomain-specific languages for actions in Haskellapplications andlibraries: "developing acombinator library" or "rolling your ownmonad", with xmonad being a successful example of the latter.[21]xmonad was regarded as one of the most well known Haskell projects in a 2013 functional programming book.[5]
Linux Magazine included xmonad in a list of "My Top Resources of 2009".[22] In 2012, How-ToGeek described xmonad as having good, but complex, ability to be configured,[23] and it was included in a 2013 list of eightdesktop environments forLinux.[24]Lifehacker wrote that the basic operations of xmonad's user interface can be taught using a small set of instructions.[25] A high level of customisation and speed were noted byNetwork World,[4] and in MakeUseOf xmonad was reviewed positively compared toOpenbox.[26]
In 2016Ars Technica said xmonad andAwesome had more advanced tiling ability thanCinnamon.[27] In 2017 it was described as powerful, with application as a window manager forbig data,[28] while in an article onopensource.com on the other hand, dwm was chosen over xmonad.[29] ATechRadar review of the "Best Linux desktop of 2018" said "If there's one desktop environment that stands out from all the others we have here, it's this one."[30]
Due to the small number ofsource lines of code of the Xmonad application, the use of thepurely functional programming languageHaskell, and recorded use of a rigoroussoftware testing procedure, it is sometimes used as a baseline application in other research projects. This has included re-implementing xmonad using theRocqproof assistant,[31] a determination xmonad is animperative program,[32] and studies ofpackage management relating to aLinux distributionNixOS that is based on the package managerNix.[33]
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