# wm2tj

> wm2tj is a minimal window manager for X11 (Linux), based on Chris Cannam's wm2 (1997). Every window gets a glossy vertical tab on its left edge and a thin black frame. It keeps wm2's lightness and adds only what it takes to use an old or low-powered laptop every day: UTF-8 / Japanese titles, maximise and minimise, EWMH, virtual desktops, a searchable root menu and a matching top bar. MIT (X11) licence. Beta 0.1.0.

Website: https://wm2tj.kaie-net.com/ (English and Japanese on one page)
Source: https://github.com/wm2tj/wm2tj
Original: wm2 by Chris Cannam, https://github.com/cannam/wm2 — wm2tj is an independent fork, not affiliated with or endorsed by the original author.
Author: tetsu, Kaie-net (Betsukai, Hokkaido, Japan), https://biz.kaie-net.com/
Pronunciation / name: "wm2tj" = wm2 + t (tetsu) + j (Japan).

## Facts

- Platform: Linux with X11 (Xorg). Not a Wayland compositor.
- Components: `wm2tj` (the window manager, C++, fork of wm2-4) and `wm2tj-bar` (top bar, C + Xlib, separate process, talks to the WM only through EWMH).
- Window look: a vertical tab on the left edge of each window showing the title; a thin black frame; no title bar.
- Added over wm2: UTF-8 and Japanese window titles (Xft), maximise and minimise, EWMH / NetWM, virtual desktops, a root menu with favourites and application folders built from .desktop files, type-to-search over apps and open windows (Japanese kana can be searched in romaji; input methods work), restart / log out / shut down entries, configuration file.
- Top bar (wm2tj-bar): left menu button drawn like a wm2 tab, running applications, then virtual desktops, CPU, memory, system tray, Wi-Fi (NetworkManager), input method indicator, Bluetooth, volume (PipeWire / PulseAudio), battery and clock, each with a menu. Also handles brightness and volume keys and power-saving toggles. Replaces xfce4-panel and xfce4-power-manager.
- Settings GUIs: `wm2tj-settings`, `wm2tj-favorites`, `wm2tj-bar-settings`.
- Target hardware: old and low-powered laptops. The author uses wm2tj daily on an NEC LAVIE NM350 and a 12-inch Apple MacBook, both running Xubuntu.
- Tested: daily use on Xubuntu-based systems (GCC, X11 with picom); builds warning-free with -Wall -Wextra on Debian stable, Ubuntu 24.04, Fedora, Arch and Alpine (musl, GCC and clang); fcitx5 and IBus input methods.
- Not yet: WPA-Enterprise Wi-Fi, StatusNotifierItem tray, multiple screens, Latin-1 WM_NAME from very old applications.
- Install: Debian / Ubuntu .deb packages (`wm2tj`, `wm2tj-bar`) from GitHub Releases, or `git clone https://github.com/wm2tj/wm2tj.git && cd wm2tj && make && sudo make install`. Registers as an `x-window-manager` alternative and as a login session.
- Licence: MIT (X11 variant), same as wm2. The original copyright notice is kept in every copy.

## 日本語の要約

wm2tj (ダブリューエムツー・ティージェー) は、Chris Cannam さんの wm2 (1997 年) をもとにした X11 (Linux) 用のミニマルなウィンドウマネージャーです。ウィンドウの左に光沢のある縦のタブ、まわりに細い黒い枠。wm2 の軽さはそのままに、日本語のタイトル、最大化と最小化、EWMH、仮想デスクトップ、検索できるメニュー、同じ見た目のトップバー (wm2tj-bar: アプリ一覧・仮想デスクトップ・CPU・メモリ・トレイ・Wi-Fi・IME・Bluetooth・音量・電池・時計) を足しました。低スペックのノート PC を毎日の道具にするのが目的で、作者は NEC LAVIE NM350 と Apple MacBook 12 インチに Xubuntu と wm2tj を入れて毎日使っています。ライセンスは MIT (X11 版)、ベータ版 0.1.0。開発者はカイエネット (北海道別海町) の tetsu。Debian / Ubuntu の .deb か、`make && sudo make install` で入れられます。原作者とは関係がなく、公認を受けたものでもありません。

## Links

- [Website (EN/JA)](https://wm2tj.kaie-net.com/): screenshots, features, install, keyboard reference, configuration, status
- [Source and releases](https://github.com/wm2tj/wm2tj): README, Makefile, debian/ packaging, man pages wm2tj(1) and wm2tj-bar(1)
- [wm2 (original)](https://github.com/cannam/wm2)
- [Developer](https://biz.kaie-net.com/): Kaie-net, Betsukai, Hokkaido