[2024-feb-29] Sad news: Eric Layton aka Nocturnal Slacker aka vtel57 passed away on Feb 26th, shortly after hospitalization. He was one of our Wiki's most prominent admins. He will be missed.

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Ratpoison Window Manager

Ratpoison a simple window manager that mimics the functionality of terminal multiplexers like GNU Screen and Tmux. Ratpoison has few dependencies, and does not require any that are not already contained within a full install of Slackware. There are no fancy graphics or other decorative gimmicks in Ratpoison. Window management in done entirely with key shortcuts. Ratpoison makes use of prefix maps which proceed every other binding which is bound to Ctrl+T by default.

Installation

Ratpoison is available from the SlackBuilds repository. You can download the SlackBuild and source code here. For information on how to use SlackBuilds refer to SlackBuild Usage HOWTO. After installation you will need to run Slackware's xwmconfig command line utility in your shell to select the appriopriate xinitrc script. Use the arrows keys to select xinitrc.ratpoison and then press Return. Now ratpoison will start when you run the startx command. Do not worry about your compositors and wallpapers; those goodies can be launched via Ratpoison's configuration.

Configuration

Configuration of Ratpoison is done using the ~/.ratpoisonrc file in the users home directory or alternatively /etc/ratpoison.

Usage

Sdorfehs

Sdorfehs(presumably pronounced starfish) is a updated fork that extends the functionality of Ratpoison and provides eye candies such as: window frame gaps, virtual screens, and more. There is also the inclusion of a named pipe which accepts input that can be directed into the window manager bar. Many of the configuration options and functionality discussed above about Ratpoison are also applicable to Sdorfehs. Be sure to read the Sdorfehs man page for the options and features that differ. There is currently not a SlackBuild available for Sdorfehs but it can be found here along with build instructions: Sdorfehs Repoistory.

Sources

 howtos:window_managers:ratpoison_window_manager ()