Scripted Window Actions
Tutorial – Devilspie2
Stop battling your window manager to position things as you like – make scripts do all the hard work!
How many window managers (WMs) and desktop environments can you name? If you've been around the Linux or BSD scene for a while, you can probably come up with 10 or 20 – and there are even more. For new users, this sheer variety may seem perplexing. After all, a WM just lets you shove windows around on the screen, right? Why not just make a single WM to rule them all?
Well, as you know, different WMs and desktop environments target very different types of users. Some prefer minimalistic WMs with tiny window borders, driven primarily by keyboard shortcuts – whereas others want all-singing, all-dancing showcases of beauty and functionality. In any case, they all have limitations, especially in terms of automation.
Now, why would you want to automate a WM? Don't they already do some tasks automatically, like putting new windows in certain places to reduce overlap? Well, yes, but that's about it. Wouldn't it be awesome if you could create custom scripts to move, resize, minimize, or maximize windows automatically when they pop up? Or move them to specific workspaces or virtual desktops? Or even make them sticky across all desktops?
[...]
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
US / Canada
UK / Australia
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you’ve found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
TuxCare Announces Support for AlmaLinux 9.2
Thanks to TuxCare, AlmaLinux 9.2 (and soon version 9.6) now enjoys years of ongoing patching and compliance.
-
Go-Based Botnet Attacking IoT Devices
Using an SSH credential brute-force attack, the Go-based PumaBot is exploiting IoT devices everywhere.
-
Plasma 6.5 Promises Better Memory Optimization
With the stable Plasma 6.4 on the horizon, KDE has a few new tricks up its sleeve for Plasma 6.5.
-
KaOS 2025.05 Officially Qt5 Free
If you're a fan of independent Linux distributions, the team behind KaOS is proud to announce the latest iteration that includes kernel 6.14 and KDE's Plasma 6.3.5.
-
Linux Kernel 6.15 Now Available
The latest Linux kernel is now available with several new features/improvements and the usual bug fixes.
-
Microsoft Makes Surprising WSL Announcement
In a move that might surprise some users, Microsoft has made Windows Subsystem for Linux open source.
-
Red Hat Releases RHEL 10 Early
Red Hat quietly rolled out the official release of RHEL 10.0 a bit early.
-
openSUSE Joins End of 10
openSUSE has decided to not only join the End of 10 movement but it also will no longer support the Deepin Desktop Environment.
-
New Version of Flatpak Released
Flatpak 1.16.1 is now available as the latest, stable version with various improvements.
-
IBM Announces Powerhouse Linux Server
IBM has unleashed a seriously powerful Linux server with the LinuxONE Emperor 5.