In
Unix
Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
, CTWM (Claude's Tab Window Manager) is a
stacking window manager 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 originated as part of Project Athena at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984. The X protocol has been at ...
in the
twm family of window managers. CTWM was created in 1992 by Claude Lecommandeur of
EPFL from the source code for
twm, which he extended to allow for
virtual desktop
In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP (computing), WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical ...
s ("workspaces" in CTWM's terminology), an innovative feature at the time for a window manager; his inspiration was
vuewm, an early Unix
desktop environment
In computing, a desktop environment (DE) is an implementation of the desktop metaphor made of a bundle of programs running on top of a computer operating system that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphi ...
. Later additions and modifications have since changed the original twm codebase significantly, providing for a highly customizable user interface. The project is currently (2024) maintained by Matthew Fuller. CTWM has been the default graphical user interface for
NetBSD
NetBSD is a free and open-source Unix-like operating system based on the Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD). It was the first open-source BSD descendant officially released after 386BSD was fork (software development), forked. It continues to ...
since 2020 (release 9.1), replacing twm.
Features
Features of the CTWM window manager include:
* Stacking windows
* Written in C
* Support for up to 32
virtual desktop
In computing, a virtual desktop is a term used with respect to user interfaces, usually within the WIMP (computing), WIMP paradigm, to describe ways in which the virtual space of a computer's desktop environment is expanded beyond the physical ...
s
* Advanced icon management
* Optional animated icons and backgrounds
* Highly customizable
* 3D titles and borders
* Freely distributable under the MIT License
* Basic
EWMH support (as of 4.0.0)
* Backwards-compatibility with
twm
*
XPM and
JPEG
JPEG ( , short for Joint Photographic Experts Group and sometimes retroactively referred to as JPEG 1) is a commonly used method of lossy compression for digital images, particularly for those images produced by digital photography. The degr ...
images
See also
*
Comparison of X window managers
*
Vtwm (a historically similar project)
References
External links
*
*
Steve's ctwm Secret Stash
{{X desktop environments and window managers
Free X window managers
Software using the MIT license