View source for Twm

{{Short description|Window manager for the X Window System}}
{{other uses}}
{{lowercase title|title=twm}}
{{Infobox software
| name                   = twm
| logo                   =
| screenshot             = File:Debian TWM Maroon.png
| caption                = TWM with a classic maroon color scheme, running in [[Debian]]
| collapsible            =
| author                 = Tom LaStrange
| developer              =
| released               = 1987
| latest release version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q292990|P348|P548=Q2804309}}
| latest release date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q292990|P348|P548=Q2804309|P577}}
| latest preview version = {{wikidata|property|preferred|references|edit|Q292990|P348|P548=Q51930650}}
| latest preview date    = {{wikidata|qualifier|preferred|single|Q292990|P348|P548=Q51930650|P577}}
| programming language   = [[C (programming language)|C]]
| platform               =
| size                   =
| language               =
| genre                  = [[X window manager|Window manager]]
| license                = [[MIT License|MIT-open-group]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT-open-group.html|title=MIT Open Group variant}}</ref><br />MIT-CMU<ref>{{cite web|url=https://spdx.org/licenses/MIT-CMU.html|title=CMU License}}</ref><br />XFree86-1.0<ref>{{cite web|url=https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/twm/-/raw/master/COPYING|title=COPYING}}</ref>
| website                =
}}
'''twm''' ('''Tab Window Manager''')<ref>{{cite newsgroup |newsgroup=comp.windows.x |url=http://linux-distributions.org/docs/xfaq/comp.windows.x_Frequently_Asked_Questions_[FAQ]_1_5.txt |at=Subject:  18)! What are all these different window managers? |author=David B. Lewis |title=comp.windows.x Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) 1/5 |date=August 18, 1993 |accessdate=February 16, 2022}}</ref> is a [[X window manager|window manager]] for the [[X Window System]]. Started in 1987 by Tom LaStrange, it has been the standard window manager for the X Window System since version X11R4. The name originally stood for '''Tom's Window Manager''', but the software was renamed Tab Window Manager by the [[X Consortium]] when they adopted it in 1989. twm is a [[stacking window manager]] that provides title bars, shaped windows and icon management. It is highly configurable and extensible.

twm was a breakthrough achievement in the early years, but has been superseded by other window managers which, unlike twm, use a [[widget toolkit]] rather than a combination of the [[X Toolkit Intrinsics]] and [[XRandR]].

Various other window managers, such as [[vtwm]], [[tvtwm]], [[CTWM]], and [[FVWM]], were derived from twm's [[source code]].

twm is still standard with [[X.Org Server]], and is available as part of many [[X Window System]] implementations.

==Usage==
[[Image:twm-screenshot-20050401.png|frame|twm with [[X.Org Foundation#Fields of activity|xcalc]] and [[xterm]], the xterm window being in [[focus (computing)|focus]]. [[X.Org Foundation#Fields of activity|xclock]] is iconified.]]
[[Image:twm menu.png|thumb|twm menu]]
[[File:TWM without configuration.ogv|thumb|Twm Xsession running on [[Debian]] 7 [[Linux]]]]

twm's interface is different from modern common X window managers and [[desktop environment]]s, many of which tend to work similarly to the [[Apple Macintosh]] or [[Microsoft Windows]] user interfaces. New users often find twm difficult without reading the [[Man page|manual]] page.<ref name="manpage">[http://www.x.org/releases/X11R7.6/doc/man/man1/twm.1.xhtml twm&nbsp;— Tab Window Manager for the X Window System]&nbsp;— [[UNIX manual|man]] page, X11 release 7.6 ([[X.Org Foundation|X.org]])</ref>

In the default configuration of twm, the title bar has two buttons:
*''Resize button'' (nested squares): the user clicks here, drags the mouse pointer to the edge to be moved, then releases when the window is the desired size.
*''Iconify button'' (circle): reduces the window to an icon.

There is no title bar button to close a window. A left click on the desktop brings up a menu, which includes an option to delete (close) a window. Window close functionality for the titlebar can be configured in the <code>.twmrc</code> file:
:See {{Wikibooks-inline|Guide to X11/Window Managers|twm#Closing program windows in twm|Closing program windows in twm}}.

A ''left click'' on the title bar brings the window to the top of the window stack; a ''middle click'' moves the window; a ''right click'' sends the window to the bottom of the window stack.

Window [[focus (computing)|focus]] follows the [[Mouse (computing)|mouse]] pointer (point-to-focus), rather than being on whichever window was clicked last ([[click-to-focus]]).

When a new window is created, a 3×3 grid is displayed following the mouse pointer, waiting for the user to click where the window should appear&nbsp;— left-click to appear in that position with that size, middle-click to resize the window before its creation, right-click to appear at that position but long enough vertically to reach the bottom of the screen.

Note that any of the above may be changed with appropriate changes to the configuration file. (The system file is typically {{mono|/etc/X11/twm/system.twmrc}} and the user file is typically {{mono|~/.twmrc}} .)<ref name="manpage"/>

==History==
twm was written as a replacement for the [[Ultrix Window Manager|uwm]] window manager by Tom LaStrange while he was working at [[Evans & Sutherland]], which was part of the X Consortium: "I sat down at my monochrome [[Sun-3|Sun 3/50]] and typed <code>[[Vi (text editor)|vi]] twm.c</code> and then opened the X11 documentation. twm was my first X program. About six months later, I convinced my manager to let me send a copy to the comp.windows.x newsgroup for testing."<ref>"[http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/3000/2/ From the Desktop: Tom LaStrange Speaks!] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190306145723/http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/3000/2/ |date=2019-03-06 }}" ''LinuxPlanet''. February 6, 2001.</ref> A version for X11R1 was published on the [[Usenet]] newsgroup {{mono|comp.unix.sources}} on June 13, 1988.<ref>for open comment and review. [http://ftp.isc.org/usenet/comp.sources.unix/volume15/twm/ Original files as posted to comp.unix.sources] (isc.org)</ref>

Months later, Jim Fulton of the X Consortium (which was at the time part of [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology|MIT]]) approached Evans and Sutherland and asked them to turn over the code maintenance to the [[X Window System#The MIT X Consortium and the X Consortium.2C Inc.|X Consortium]] and Fulton then made it compliant with the nascent [[Inter-Client Communication Conventions Manual]]. Subsequently, twm was released as the standard sample window manager for X11R4, replacing [[Ultrix Window Manager|uwm]].

According to Fulton, the word "tab" was picked because it conveniently started with 'T' and it put the emphasis on the squeezing feature window title bars, which made them look like folders with tabs.

==Authors==

twm was originally written by Tom LaStrange.  Later contributors include Jim Fulton, [[Keith Packard]] and Dave Sternlicht, all of whom were employees of the X Consortium.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Twm}}
{{Wikibooks|1=Guide to X11|2=Window Managers/twm|3=twm}}
* [http://www.xwinman.org/vtwm.php Tab Window Manager] (xwinman)
* [http://www.lastrange.com/work/twm.pdf An Overview of twm (Tom's Window Manager)] ([[Portable Document Format|PDF]])&nbsp;— Tom LaStrange, Xhibition '89 Conference Proceedings&nbsp;— concerning pre-ICCCM versions of twm
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604214931/http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/3000/2/ From the Desktop: Tom LaStrange Speaks!: Talking with a Man Named Tom] (Brian Proffitt, ''LinuxPlanet'', Tuesday 6 February 2001)

{{X desktop environments and window managers}}
{{XWinSys}}

[[Category:1987 software]]
[[Category:Articles containing video clips]]
[[Category:Free software programmed in C]]
[[Category:Free X window managers]]
[[Category:Software using the MIT license]]