ratpoison is a

tiling window manager In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more common approach (used by stacking window managers) of coordinate-based stacking of overlap ...

for the

X Window System The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...

primarily developed by Shawn Betts. ratpoison is written in C; Betts'

StumpWM StumpWM is a tiling window manager that was created when developer Shawn Betts found ratpoison growing increasingly large and " lispy". Intended as a successor to ratpoison, StumpWM is released under the terms of the GPL-2.0-or-later license. A ...

re-implements a similar window manager in Common Lisp. The

user interface In the industrial design field of human–computer interaction, a user interface (UI) is the space where interactions between humans and machines occur. The goal of this interaction is to allow effective operation and control of the machine fr ...

and much of their functionality are inspired by the

GNU Screen GNU Screen is a terminal multiplexer, a software application that can be used to multiplex several virtual consoles, allowing a user to access multiple separate login sessions inside a single terminal window, or detach and reattach sessions ...

terminal multiplexer A terminal multiplexer is a software application that can be used to multiplex several separate pseudoterminal-based login sessions inside a single terminal display, terminal emulator window, PC/workstation system console, or remote login session ...

Overview

The name "ratpoison" reflects its major design goal: it lets the user manage application windows without using a

mouse A mouse ( : mice) is a small rodent. Characteristically, mice are known to have a pointed snout, small rounded ears, a body-length scaly tail, and a high breeding rate. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse (''Mus musculus'' ...

. Unlike other tiling window managers like

Ion An ion () is an atom or molecule with a net electrical charge. The charge of an electron is considered to be negative by convention and this charge is equal and opposite to the charge of a proton, which is considered to be positive by conv ...

, ratpoison completely ignores the mouse (or "rat"),. and avoids

window decoration In computing, a window is a graphical control element. It consists of a visual area containing some of the graphical user interface of the program it belongs to and is framed by a window decoration. It usually has a rectangular shape that can ov ...

s as much as possible.. The default

keybinding computing, a keyboard shortcut also known as hotkey is a series of one or several keys to quickly invoke a software program or perform a preprogrammed action. This action may be part of the standard functionality of the operating system or ...

s are specifically designed to not conflict with

Emacs Emacs , originally named EMACS (an acronym for "Editor MACroS"), is a family of text editors that are characterized by their extensibility. The manual for the most widely used variant, GNU Emacs, describes it as "the extensible, customizable, se ...

Reception

Mark Pilgrim Mark Pilgrim is a software developer, writer, and advocate of free software. He authored a popular blog, and has written several books, including ''Dive into Python'', a guide to the Python programming language published under the GNU Free Docu ...

, a frequent user, praised it for being "minimalist" and "configurable".. Jeff Covey found it "lightning fast and perfectly stable". Peter Seebach remarked that "the convenience and performance are impressive; the learning curve, however, daunts many users." Similarly, Brian Proffitt observes that "the key commands are well explained in this window manager's man pages, and whatever you do, read these first. The keyboard commands do make sense after some use but initially the learning curve is pretty steep." In the same vein,

Bruce Byfield Bruce Byfield (born May 13, 1958) is a Canadian journalist who specializes in writing about free and open source software. He has been a contributing editor at Linux.com, and his articles have appeared on the Datamation, LWN, Linux Developer Net ...

found it (and

stumpwm StumpWM is a tiling window manager that was created when developer Shawn Betts found ratpoison growing increasingly large and " lispy". Intended as a successor to ratpoison, StumpWM is released under the terms of the GPL-2.0-or-later license. A ...

) "virtually unusable until you read the documentation".. Penguin Pete highlighted its suitability for Emacs users, calling it "not so much a window manager as a

frame A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (co ...

manager," but found it difficult to work with

GIMP GIMP ( ; GNU Image Manipulation Program) is a free and open-source raster graphics editor used for image manipulation (retouching) and image editing, free-form drawing, transcoding between different image file formats, and more specialized task ...

References

External links

*Ratpoison: an
wiki
*StumpWM: an
wikiComparison of extensible window managers
– Comparison of

Sawfish Sawfish, also known as carpenter sharks, are a family of rays characterized by a long, narrow, flattened rostrum, or nose extension, lined with sharp transverse teeth, arranged in a way that resembles a saw. They are among the largest fish wi ...

, Awesome,

Qtile In computing, a tiling window manager is a window manager with an organization of the screen into mutually non-overlapping frames, as opposed to the more common approach (used by stacking window managers) of coordinate-based stacking of overlap ...

and so on.
The Internet Archive: The StumpWM Experience
– A video demonstrating use of StumpWM {{X desktop environments and window managers Free software programmed in C Free X window managers Tiling window managers X window managers extensible by scripting

Overview

Reception

See also

References

External links