Beyond Linux® From Scratch (systemd Edition) - Version r11.3-489

Chapter 27. Window Managers

sawfish-1.13.0

Introduction to sawfish

The sawfish package contains a window manager. This is useful for organizing and displaying windows where all window decorations are configurable and all user-interface policy is controlled through the extension language.

[Note]

Note

Development versions of BLFS may not build or run some packages properly if dependencies have been updated since the most recent stable versions of the book.

Package Information

sawfish Dependencies

Required

gdk-pixbuf-xlib-2.40.2, rep-gtk-0.90.8.3, and Which-2.21

Optional

libnsl-2.0.0

User Notes: https://wiki.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/wiki/sawfish

Installation of sawfish

Install sawfish by running the following commands: 

./configure --prefix=/usr --with-pango  &&
make

This package does not come with a test suite.

Now, as the root user: 

make install

This package creates six .desktop files in the /usr/share/xsessions/ directory. All but one are needed in a BLFS system, so prevent the extra files showing up as options in a display manager. As the root user: 

rm -v /usr/share/xsessions/sawfish-*.desktop

Configuring sawfish

Configuration Information

Be sure to backup your current .xinitrc before proceeding. 

cat >> ~/.xinitrc << "EOF"
exec sawfish
EOF

Optionally, you can use a Display Manager, such as lxdm-0.5.3.

From the developers: “The default menu binding is somewhat obscure; you must middle-click on the background to bring up the menus. (If you have a two-button mouse, try clicking both buttons simultaneously)”. You can find this at sawfish's FAQ.

Contents

Installed Programs: sawfish, sawfish-about, sawfish-client, sawfish-config, sawfish-kde4-session, sawfish-kde5-session, sawfish-lumina-session, sawfish-mate-session, and sawfish-xfce-session
Installed Libraries: Several internal modules under /usr/lib/sawfish tree
Installed Directory: /usr/include/sawfish, /usr/lib/sawfish, /usr/lib/rep/sawfish, and /usr/share/sawfish

Short Descriptions

sawfish

is the extensible window manager using a Lisp-based scripting language

sawfish-about

is the sawfish about window

sawfish-client

allows you to connect to a window manager process and evaluate arbitrary Lisp forms

sawfish-config

is the sawfish configuration manager

sawfish-kde4-session

is a script to run KDE4 using sawfish

sawfish-kde5-session

is a script to run Plasma 5 using sawfish

sawfish-mate-session

is a script to run mate using sawfish

sawfish-lumina-session

is a script to run Lumina using sawfish

sawfish-xfce-session

is a script to run xfce using sawfish