This video introduces and reviews SXWM, a new, lightweight, C-based tiling window manager for the X window system, created by a 16-year-old developer. It is positioned as a more accessible and user-friendly alternative to the popular Suckless DWM. The core advantage of SXWM is its configuration method; instead of requiring users to patch the C source code and recompile, SXWM is configured via a simple text file (sxswmrc) that can be hot-reloaded without losing the current session. The video demonstrates this ease of use by live-editing colors and keybindings. While SXWM includes modern features like window gaps out-of-the-box, it is contrasted with DWM, which, despite its higher technical barrier to entry, benefits from a vast ecosystem of user-created patches for deep customization. The video also compares their functional differences, such as SXWM's traditional workspaces versus DWM's more flexible "tags," and notes SXWM's smaller, more monolithic codebase. Ultimately, SXWM is celebrated as a promising and impressive project that champions the minimalist software philosophy.
SXWM vs. DWM: A Look at a New Minimalist Window Manager
0:00:02 Introduction to SXWM: The video introduces SXWM, a new C-based window manager created by a 16-year-old developer, presenting it as an alternative to the well-known Suckless DWM.
0:00:23 The Appeal of Customization: SXWM is praised for being easier to customize than DWM. This ease of customization is a major reason users choose minimalist window managers over full desktop environments like GNOME or KDE.
0:01:40 The "Suckless" Barrier: The video highlights the main drawback of Suckless tools like DWM: they must be configured by directly patching the C source code and recompiling, which presents a significant technical hurdle for many users.
0:02:49 Hot-Reloading Configuration: SXWM's key feature is its configuration via a text file (sxswmrc). Changes can be applied instantly through a "hot-reload" command (mod key + R by default), which avoids the need to recompile and restart the window manager, thus preserving your session.
0:05:55 Workspaces vs. Tags: A fundamental difference in functionality is explained. SXWM uses traditional "workspaces," where each window is bound to a single workspace. DWM uses "tags," which are more flexible, allowing a window to belong to multiple tags and multiple tags to be viewed at once.
0:06:54 Built-in Features: SXWM comes with features like adjustable gaps between windows out-of-the-box. In contrast, adding such features to a vanilla DWM setup requires finding and applying a patch.
0:07:54 DWM's Strength in Patches: While harder to configure initially, DWM's long history means it has a massive library of user-created patches, allowing for extensive customization if you are comfortable with the process.
0:09:03 A Project in Development: The video notes that SXWM is maintained by a single student, which could impact its development pace. However, its open-source nature invites community contributions.
0:09:50 Codebase Comparison: SXWM has a smaller and more monolithic codebase, with most of its logic in a single sxswm.c file (~1700 lines). DWM's code, while larger (~2200 lines), is broken up into multiple files for better organization.
0:12:37 A Promising Future: The presenter concludes that SXWM is a very cool and impressive project, praising the young developer for contributing to the "fight against bloat" in software.