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https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak

Cagebreak: A Wayland Tiling Compositor Inspired by Ratpoison
https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak

cage compositor ratpoison tiling-window-manager wayland wlroots

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Cagebreak: A Wayland Tiling Compositor Inspired by Ratpoison

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README 

        
# Cagebreak: A Tiling Wayland Compositor



[![CII Best Practices](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/6532/badge)](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/projects/6532) [![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/tiny-repos/cagebreak.svg)](https://repology.org/project/cagebreak/versions) [![AUR package](https://repology.org/badge/version-for-repo/aur/cagebreak.svg?minversion=2.3.1)](https://repology.org/project/cagebreak/versions)



[![Contact](img/mail.svg)](SECURITY.md) [![Manuals](img/manuals.svg)](manuals.md) [![FAQ](img/faq.svg)](FAQ.md) [![CONTRIBUTING](img/contributing.svg)](CONTRIBUTING.md) [![ArchWiki](img/archwiki.svg)](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Cagebreak) [![AUR](img/aur.svg)](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages?O=0&K=cagebreak)



## Introduction



Cagebreak provides a [ratpoison](https://www.nongnu.org/ratpoison/)-inspired, [cage](https://github.com/Hjdskes/cage)-based, tiling [Wayland](https://wayland.freedesktop.org/) compositor.



  * Bugs, Contact Information and New Features:

    * [Open an issue](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/issues/new).

    * Write an e-mail (See [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md)).

    * The Roadmap below outlines our plans.

  * Compatibility & Development Distribution:

    * Cagebreak supports [Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/) and uses the library

      versions from extra and core at the time of release.

      Most other setups work with a [bit of luck](https://repology.org/project/cagebreak/versions).

  * Quick Installation (on ArchLinux, more [here (ArchWiki)](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Cagebreak)):

    1. Use the [cagebreak PKGBUILD](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cagebreak).

    2. Add an example config such as [config](examples/config) to `$USER/.config/cagebreak/config`

    3. Execute cagebreak like any other binary.

  * Documentation:

    * [man pages](manuals.md)

    * [README](README.md), [FAQ](FAQ.md) & [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md)

  * What's new?: [Changelog](Changelog.md)

  * Uninstallation: `pacman -R cagebreak`

  * Contributing:

    * [Open an issue](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/issues/new) and state your idea.

      We will get back to you.

    * Ask before you open a pull request. We might not accept your code and

      it would be sad to waste the effort.

    * Respect the [Code of Conduct](CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md) (To date, we've never

      had to intervene. - Keep it that way!)

  * Name: Cagebreak breaks the kiosk of [Cage](https://github.com/Hjdskes/cage) into tiles, hence the name.



## Installation



On [Arch Linux](https://archlinux.org/), use the [AUR](https://aur.archlinux.org/) [PKGBUILDs](https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/PKGBUILD):



  * Using [cagebreak](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cagebreak), Cagebreak is

    built on the target system (since release 1.3.0)

  * Using [cagebreak-bin](https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cagebreak-bin),

    pre-built binaries are extracted

    to the target system (since release 1.3.2)



See [cagebreak-pkgbuild](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak-pkgbuild) for details.



You may check out other distros here:



[![Packaging status](https://repology.org/badge/vertical-allrepos/cagebreak.svg)](https://repology.org/project/cagebreak/versions)



### Obtaining Source Code



There are different ways to obtain cagebreak source:



  * [git clone](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak) (for all releases)

  * [download release asset tarballs](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/releases) (starting at release 1.2.1)



#### Verifying Source Code



There are ways to verify that you obtained the correct source (See `keys/`

and [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md)):



  * signature for the tarball of release assets starting at release 1.2.1

  * signed tags for releases in the git history



## Building Cagebreak



Cagebreak uses the [meson](https://mesonbuild.com/) build system.



Cagebreak is developed against the latest tag of wlroots, so as not to constantly

chase breaking changes.



Execute the following commands to build Cagebreak:



```

$ meson setup build -Dxwayland=true -Dman-pages=true --buildtype=release

$ ninja -C build

```



### Man Pages



Remove `-Dman-pages=true` to disable man page generation.



To generate man pages, make sure that you have [scdoc](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/scdoc/) installed.



### Release Build



To obtain a debug build, remove `--buildtype=release`.



The release build is reproducible under conditions outlined in [CONTRIBUTING](CONTRIBUTING.md).



### Xwayland Support



To build Cagebreak without XWayland support, remove `-Dxwayland=true`.



To use XWayland make sure that your version of wlroots is compiled with

XWayland support.



You'll need to have [XWayland](https://archlinux.org/packages/extra/x86_64/xorg-xwayland/) installed for XWayland support to work.



## Running Cagebreak



```

$ ./build/cagebreak

```



If you run Cagebreak within an existing X11 or Wayland session, it will

open in a virtual output as a window in your existing session.



If you run it in a TTY, it'll run with the KMS+DRM backend.



Note that a configuration file is required. For more configuration options, see the [man pages](manuals.md).



Please see `example_scripts/` for a basis to customize from.



### Usage Philosophy



Cagebreak was built to suit the needs of its creators. This outlines

how we intended some parts of cagebreak and might ease learning how to use cagebreak a

little bit. Please note that this does not replace the [man pages](manuals.md) or the [FAQ](FAQ.md).

Also, this is not intended as a guide on how cagebreak must be used but

as a source of inspiration and explanation for certain particularities.



1. Cagebreak is keyboard-based. Everything regarding cagebreak can be done

   through the keyboard and it is our view that it should be. This does not mean

   that pointers, touchpads and such are not available for the few applications

   that do require them.



2. Cagebreak is a tiling compositor. Every view takes up as much screen space

   as possible. We believe this is useful, as only very few programs are typically

   necessary to complete a task. To manage multiple tasks concurrently, we use

   workspaces.



3. Each task deserves its own workspace. Any given task (the sort of thing you

   might find in your calendar or on your todo list) probably requires very few

   views and ideally, these take up as much of the screen as possible.



> Combining 2. and 3. might look like this in practice:



>  * Task 1: Edit introduction section for paper on X

>  * Task 2: Coordinate event with person Y



>  * split screen vertically

>  * open web browser or pdf viewer to read literature

>  * focus next

>  * open editor

>  * change to a different workspace

>  * split screen vertically

>  * open calendar application

>  * focus next

>  * open chat application



> Now each task has its own workspace and switching between tasks is possible

> by switching between workspaces.



> Note that, for example by using the socket, more advanced setups are

> possible. But the user is warned that excessive tweaking eats into the work

> to be done.



4. Use keybindings and terminal emulators for the right purpose. Given the

   philosophy outlined above you probably launch the same few programs very

   often and others are very rarely used. We believe that commonly

   used programs should have their own keybindings together with the most

   important cagebreak commands. All the rarely used programs should be launched

   from a terminal emulator as they probably require special flags, environment

   variables and file paths anyway.



> In practice this means thinking about the applications and cagebreak commands

> you use and taking your keyboard layout into account when defining keybindings for

> your individual needs.



5. Cagebreak can't do everything, but with scripting you can do most things.

   Through the socket and with a bit of scripting, you can use the internal state

   of cagebreak in combination with cagebreak commands and the full power of

   a scripting language of your choice to do almost whatever you want.



> Example scripts can be found in the repository under `example_scripts/`.



## Roadmap



Cagebreak plans to do or keep doing the following things

in the future:



  * React to all issues.

  * Add or modify features, which the authors find convenient or important.

  * Improve the [OpenSSF Best Practices Badge Program](https://bestpractices.coreinfrastructure.org/en) level.



## Governance



Cagebreak is managed by project-repo.



Consider project-repo a single benevolent dictator for life that happens

to occupy at least two brains.



Project-repo is a pseudonym of at least two individuals acting

as benevolent dictators for the project by the others mutual consent.



The individuals comprising project-repo are not otherwise associated

by payment from any organisation or grant.



### Governance Issues



Use [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md) to contact project-repo.



### Roles



There are members of project-repo and those who are not.



There are no specific roles forced unto anyone.



### Bus Factor



The current bus factor for Cagebreak is: 1



The Bus Factor is a measure of how many people have to be

incapacitated for a project to be unable to continue.



Project-repo could react to issues (even confidential

e-mails) and fix easier issues if any one individual were

incapacitated.



However, not all aspects of the code or release engineering

are fully resilient to the loss of any one individual.



We strive to increase the bus factor to at least 2 in all

aspects.



## Accessibility



  * We use text input/output to interact with the user whenever possible. For

    example, sending text-based commands to the cagebreak sockets allows

    one to change every configurable feature of cagebreak.

  * Color is displayed but never a vital part to operating cagebreak.

  * Text size can be increased and background color adjusted using text commands.

  * There is no screen reader support per se but using a screen reader on socket output

    would work and cagebreak does not preclude the use of a screen reader

    for any software run with it.



## Bugs



[Open an issue](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/issues/new) is you find something.



See [SECURITY.md](SECURITY.md) for other means of contacting the Cagebreak authors and security issues.



Fixed bugs are assigned a number and summarized in [Bugs.md](Bugs.md) for future reference.



## Contributors



  * Aisha Tammy

    * [make man pages optional](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/pull/4), released

      in 1.6.0 with slight modifications

  * Oliver Friedmann

    * [Add output scaling](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/pull/34), released

      in 2.0.0 with slight modifications

    * [Fix: calibration matrix](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/pull/49),

      released in 2.2.1 with slight modifications

  * Tom Greig

    * Fix bug in merge_output_configs in 2.1.2

  * sodface

    * Add a screenshot example script in 2.3.0

  * Luca Kennedy (unsigned-enby)

    * [Add option to configure the anchor position of messages](https://github.com/project-repo/cagebreak/pull/61) in 2.3.0



## License



Copyright (c) 2020-2024 The Cagebreak authors

Copyright (c) 2018-2020 Jente Hidskes

Copyright (c) 2019 The Sway authors



Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of

this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in

the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to

use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies

of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do

so, subject to the following conditions:



The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all

copies or substantial portions of the Software.



THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR

IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,

FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE

AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER

LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,

OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE

SOFTWARE.