Beyond Linux® From Scratch (System V Edition) - Version 12.0

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.

This package is known to build and work properly using an LFS 12.0 platform.

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

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 sddm-0.20.0.

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