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Update the readme for general consumption
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jhgarner committed Oct 5, 2019
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# Xest Window Manager

Check out the Wiki for a lot of information in addition to the Readme.

## What is it?

Xest in a window manager for Xorg inspired by projects like XMonad or i3. Xest is extremely incomplete in it's current state and not suitable for actual use.
Xest in a window manager for Xorg inspired by projects like XMonad and i3. Xest is currently being tested and could be used for real work although be warned that if something crashes, you will probably lose anything you had open.

Xest aims to improve upon other window managers by allowing the arbitrary nesting of different Tilers. A Tiler is a way of organizing windows. For example, a Tiler might organize windows horizontally, vertically, or as workspaces.
This project aims to improve upon other window managers by allowing the arbitrary nesting of different Tilers. A Tiler is a way of organizing windows. For example, a Tiler might organize windows horizontally, vertically, or as workspaces. The wiki has more information.

Xest also features Vim-like modes. In the default config, pressing Alt brings you to Normal mode and pressing Escape brings you to Insert mode. Sometimes though, you only want to enter a couple of commands in the new mode. To make that easier, you can hold down the mode change key to temporarily enter the new mode. Temporarily entering a mode is extremely similar to how pretty much every program except Vim works.
Xest also features Vim-like modes. In the default config, pressing Super brings you to Normal mode and pressing Escape brings you to Insert mode. Sometimes though, you only want to enter a couple of commands in the new mode. To make that easier, you can hold down the mode change key to temporarily enter the new mode. Temporarily entering a mode is extremely similar to how pretty much every program except Vim works. Temporarily entering a mode might be broken in the current release so you'll have to press the escape key pretty often.

## How does it work?

Xest is based on parsing a stream of Actions. Each Action represents either an event, like a key being pressed, or a command, like changing the layout. When executing an Action, Xest may return additional Actions to be appended onto the end of the stream. For example, a key event might returns actions bound to that key press. In the config file, a subset of Actions can be bound to keys or mode changes.

Xest also features a Tiler called the Controller Input which moves in and out of the Tiler tree keeping track of nesting.

## How to Test

Note that these commands are in the `fish terminal`.

Use `Xephyr -br -ac -noreset -screen 800x600 :99` to start up a little X server on Display :99.

Now start the window manager with DISPLAY:=99.
Check out the Wiki or the source code. Note that the quality of the code varies
drastically between functions and files. In the future, I would love to add more
documentation and reorganize a bit.

This can be done easily in fish with
`env DISPLAY=:99 stack exec neXtWM-exe`.
or in other shells with
`export DISPLAY=:99; stack exec neXtWM-exe`.
The wiki has installation instructions and binary files can be found under
releases.

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