the evilwm session

evil is the minimal floating window-manager par excellence! no panel, no menu, no window decorations except for a 1px border, no shortcuts except for a terminal with [Ctrl+Alt+Return] keybind, nothing to disrupt the work ... as they said in the main page: "'Minimalist' here doesn't mean it's too bare to be usable - it just means it omits a lot of the stuff that make other window managers unusable."

startup

evilwm is launched from the ~/bin/start.evil_start.sh script.
to modify startup applications, simply edit this file: vim bin/start/evil_start.sh or from the evil menu:section config:evilwm:edit startup script

components

minimal evilwm session includes:

• fbpanel: with a menu and the systray. available from top-left corner.
• conky: in-line config to stay out-of-your-work, editable from its configuration file ~/.conky/conkyrc_evil vim .conky/conkyrc_evil or from the evilwm menu:section config:evil:conky

configuration

evil accepts a configuration file (optionnal, livarp doesn't use it) but works with options passed as arguments:

how livarp launches evilwm

while true; do
    evilwm -snap 10 -term urxvtcd -nosoliddrag 2> ~/.evilwm.log
done

meaning: launch evilwm in a loop with errors passed to a log file, terminal by default is urxvtc, snap distance=10px, and no solid drag window to preserve resources.

evilwm options

• -dis­play string : specifies the X display to run on
• -term terminal_name : specifies an alternative program to run when spawning a new terminal
• -fn font­name : specify a font to use when resizing or displaying window titles.
• -fg #RRGGBB : frame colour of currently active window.
• -fc #RRGGBB : frame colour of active fixed windows.
• -bg #RRGGBB : frame colour of inactive windows.
• -bw n_in_pixel : width of window borders in pixels.
• -snap n_in_pixel- : enable snap-to-border support. num gives the proximity in pixels to snap to.
• -mask1 modi­fiers* : [Ctrl][Alt] by default
• -mask2 modi­fiers* : [Alt] by default
• -alt­mask modi­fier* : [Shift] by default
• -app name/class : match an application by instance name and class (for help in finding these, use the xprop tool to extract the WM_CLASS property). Subsequent -geometry, -dock, -vdesk and -fixed options will apply to this match.
• -g geo­me­try : apply a geometry (using a standard X geometry string) to applications matching the last -app.
• -v vdesk : specify a default virtual desktop for applications matching the last -app.
• -f : specify that application is to start with a fixed client window (-s is also accepted to be compatible with previous versions).
• -noso­lid­drag : draw a window outline while moving or resizing.
• -V : evilwm version

*override the default keyboard modifiers used to grab keys for window manager functionality. mask1 is used for most keyboard controls (default: control+alt), and mask2 is used for mousebutton controls and cycling windows (default: alt). altmask is used to modify the behaviour of certain controls (default: shift). Modifiers may be separated with + signs. Valid modifiers are shift, lock, control, alt, mod1, mod2, mod3, mod4, mod5.

utilisation

evilwm is very simple:

• follow focus: focus follow pointer
• raise on clic: click to raise windows
• floating wm: window are displayed free, or you have to specify properties with the -app options (see options section)

evilwm is fully driven by keyboard:

modifier            key/button   fouctions
[Alt]               clic gauche     Move window raise window
                    clic central    resize window
                    clic droit      lower window
                    [Tab]           cycle through windows on screen.
[Ctrl][Alt]         return          Spawn new xterm
                    i               Show information about current window
                    =               Maximise current window vertically (toggle).
                    x               Maximise current window (toggle).
                    d               Toggle visible state of docks (e.g., pagers and launch bars).
                    f               Fix or unfix current window.
                    1-8             Switch virtual desktop.
                    left,right      Previous/Next virtual desktop.
                    a               va/revient au/du précédent bureau
                    s               switch/permute les écrans
                    escape          Delete current window
                    insert          Lower current window
                    h,j,k,l         Move window left, down, up or right (16 pixels).
                                    Holding Shift resizes the window instead
                    y,u,b,n         Move window to top-left, top-right, bottom-left or bottom-right of screen.