4 ms·

I have a simple tiling window manager I wrote for OSX. Does this project support tiling? I am guessing no: "Slate is a keyboard-driven window management program

• jrajav 14y ago
  How does your WM work? I was under the impression that a true tiling WM was impossible on OS X, and that programs like Slate were the best compromise. Edit: Details please.
  • mej10 14y ago
    By using the Accessibility APIs. I imagine the core is implemented pretty similarly to Slate as I think there are only a couple ways to implement window management features. It is pretty hacky in parts. For example, some windows have an absolute minimum size that they can't be resized beyond, so I have some logic that figures that out and deals with it. The hiding/showing of windows is also not as robust as I would like, but it works. There are a lot of other examples where I have added things based on observation, rather than documentation.
  • rjzzleep 14y ago
    it's not impossible the problem is that the real wm is just a stub and the main windowmanager is written into one of the core libraries. Last I remember you could compile code and link it to an existing library, or increase one of the sections and add loader code for your own binary, but I don't however know if this is still possible with code signing in the newer osx's. The main problem is that you'd have to disassemble everything since it's completely undocumented terrain. Although on the otherhand if it's objc assembly you might just be lucky, since that reads pretty much like a text book.
• JoelMcCracken 14y ago
  because it supports native osx apps, not x11 apps
  • mej10 14y ago
    My WM supports only native OSX apps. I have never tried it with any X11 applications. Also, I noticed below you said someone should do this in MacRuby. My WM is written in MacRuby. Maybe I should release it.
    • trishume 14y ago
      You should. I'm still going to stick with Slate though because I use it as so much more than a window manager.
    • gridaphobe 14y ago
      I'd be very interested to see/try it. The lack of a decent WM in OSX is one of the main things that keeps ArchLinux on my MBA.
    • JoelMcCracken 14y ago
      Oh, I see, I misread your first comment. Yes, you should release it. I'll certainly use it and probably contribute to it.
• numbnuts 14y ago
  Because there aren't many dynamic tiling WMs on OSX. The only one I know of is TylerWM and last I heard it didn't work very well.