![VirtualBox Test 15 05 2022 22 36 56](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d1/VirtualBox_Test_15_05_2022_22_36_56.png)
Qvwm is a
window manager
A window manager is system software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. Most window managers are designed to help provide a desktop environment. They work in conjunction ...
,
intended as a reimplementation of the
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufacturin ...
interface for
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...
systems. Released in 1996 under the
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License (GNU GPL or simply GPL) is a series of widely used free software licenses that guarantee end users the Four Freedoms (Free software), four freedoms to run, study, share, and modify the software. The license was th ...
. The project's name comes from wordplay references to Japanese words and Roman numbers. In 2000, ''
Linux Format
''Linux Format'' is the UK's first Linux-specific magazine, and as of 2013 was the best-selling Linux title in the UK. It is also exported to many countries worldwide. It is published by Future plc (which produces a number of other computer magazi ...
'' called Qvwm "an unusually impressive imposter".
Unlike Windows 95's
registry Registry may refer to:
Computing
* Container registry, an operating-system-level virtualization registry
* Domain name registry, a database of top-level internet domain names
* Local Internet registry
* Metadata registry, information system for re ...
, Qvwm uses a textual configuration file. Qvwm includes
virtual desktop
In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical limits of the s ...
s, a feature lacking in Windows 95. One reviewer criticized this practice as "against qvwm's stated purpose." Apart from standard X libraries, the only
software library
In computer science, a library is a collection of non-volatile resources used by computer programs, often for software development. These may include configuration data, documentation, help data, message templates, pre-written code and subr ...
it depends on is
X PixMap
X PixMap (XPM) is an image file format used by the X Window System, created in 1989 by Daniel Dardailler and Colas Nahaboo working at Bull Research Center at Sophia Antipolis, France, and later enhanced by Arnaud Le Hors.
It is intended primaril ...
(libxpm). The developers had intended to develop a full class library called ''libqv'' but this never occurred.
The original author of Qvwm, Kenichi Kourai, no longer maintains it, but in 2006 the project was picked up by Ivan Kurmanov, who applied patches made by the
Debian
Debian (), also known as Debian GNU/Linux, is a Linux distribution composed of free and open-source software, developed by the community-supported Debian Project, which was established by Ian Murdock on August 16, 1993. The first version of D ...
project and added features of his own.
Qvwm was included in Debian since 1999 but was removed in early 2009 because of the lack of updates as well as using deprecated libraries.
In 2020, the source code of Qvwm is available on Github (under the user Asveikau) so this window manager can be compile-install to Linux (BSDs, Minix, etc.) through "configure, make, install" method (or any method similar or better than this).
References
External links
* , project maintainer Ivan Kurmanov
* , original
Free software programmed in C++
Free X window managers
Compatibility layers
1996 software
{{free-software-stub