F? Virtual Window Manager
Fvwm is a virtual window manager for the X windows system. It was originally a feeble fork of TWM by Robert Nation in 1993 (fvwm history), and has evolved into the fantastic, fabulous, famous, flexible, and so on, window manager we have today.
Fvwm is ICCCM-compliant and highly configurable. Starting from the default configuration, Fvwm can be configured with both internal tools and third party software to customize most aspects of a desktop.
This site is an archive of documentation for Fvwm version 2.6.x, which is the current frozen release. For information about the development of Fvwm version 3, check out fvwmorg/fvwm3 on GitHub.
Need Help?
Looking for help configuring, using, or developing Fvwm, check out the following options:
Getting Fvwm
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The stable frozen release is Fvwm2 version 2.7.0:
- Many operating systems provide fvwm packages to install Fvwm2.
- Only newer versions (2.6.7 or newer) are supported.
- OpenBSD users can install a newer version from ports.
- The source for Fvwm2 is on github.
- This version is in a feature freeze and only receives serious bugfixes.
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Fvwm3 version 1.0.6a:
- Users wanted to use, test, and report bugs for Fvwm3.
- Use the current master branch of Fvwm3 on github to build and install.
- Report bugs using the github issue tracker.
Configuring Fvwm
Fvwm starts from a minimal configuration and allows users to configure as much or little of their desktop as desired. Starting with Fvwm 2.6.7 a default configuration is provided to give users a starting point that can be edited instead of configuring from scratch.
When coupled with third party software and custom scripts, Fvwm becomes a powerful tool to build a full desktop environment from. If you want a preconfigured desktop environment using Fvwm, check out the following:
Fvwm Crystal
Fvwm-Crystal aims to create an easy to use, eye-candy but also powerful desktop environment for Linux or other Unix-like operating systems built using Fvwm.
NsCDE
The Not so Common Desktop Environment (NsCDE) is a retro looking UNIX desktop environment which resembles CDE look (and partially feel) built using Fvwm.
Fvwm Nightshade
This project aims to be a lightweight but feature rich and good looking configuration of Fvwm.