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way-cooler/way-cooler

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Wayland compositor for AwesomeWM

FreeFree tier
Type
Open Source
Visit Website GitHub (38 stars)

About way-cooler/way-cooler

Way Cooler is the compositor component of AwesomeWM for Wayland, designed to bring the popular window manager's functionality to the Wayland display protocol. It is written primarily in C and uses the wlroots library. The compositor requires a patched version of the Awesome client to run properly, as it relies on custom protocols not present in other compositors. The project is now archived and read-only, with the master branch noted as not production-ready. Older versions were written in Rust using the wlc framework, but those were buggy and incomplete. Way Cooler enables tiling window management and Lua scripting (via AwesomeWM) on Wayland.

Key Features

Wayland compositor implementing the AwesomeWM window manager on Wayland
Tiling window management with Lua scripting (via Awesome client)
Built on wlroots library for Wayland compositor support
Written in C for performance
Custom protocols to enable AwesomeWM integration

Pros & Cons

Pros
  • Brings popular AwesomeWM functionality to Wayland
  • Open source with MIT license
  • Lua scripting allows extensive customization
  • Part of the AwesomeWM ecosystem
Cons
  • Project is archived and no longer actively maintained
  • Master branch is not production-ready
  • Requires a patched version of Awesome client to work properly
  • Not usable standalone (must be paired with client)
  • Documentation and community support are minimal due to archival

Best For

Running AwesomeWM as a Wayland compositorTiling window management on Wayland with Lua configurationDevelopment project for experimenting with Wayland compositors and AwesomeWM integration

FAQ

What is Way Cooler?
Way Cooler is the compositor component of AwesomeWM for Wayland. It aims to bring the functionality of the Awesome window manager to the Wayland display protocol.
Is Way Cooler production-ready?
No. The master branch is not usable for production. The repository has been archived and is read-only.
How do I build Way Cooler?
Ensure you have meson and wlroots installed (or use the subprojects directory). Then run 'meson build' and 'ninja -C build'.
How do I run Way Cooler?
Execute 'build/way-cooler/way-cooler' in a TTY or existing window manager. For full functionality, run it with the patched version of the Awesome client: 'way-cooler -c /path/to/patched/awesome'.
What is the license?
Way Cooler is licensed under the MIT license.