Alternative window system
D1392245294
Aa
#The graphics system in Plan 9 is very different than folks familiar
#with other systems are used to. The graphics rendering is handled by
#the draw(3) device driver, while the control of those windows is
#managed by another program, rio(1).
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#Rio provides a very clean, minimal interface, with very little
#window decoration and only two very small menus. It does, however,
#embody a very particular set of ideas about how to deal with
#windows, with no real configurability. For some users, or in some
#circumstances, this isn't ideal. Here are a few ideas for
#alternatives.
#
# *	More "traditional"
#
#For some, rio represents a barrier to entry--complaints that it is
#hard to use or ugly have frequently appeared. It would be nice to
#have an alternative window manager for those people who don't like
#rio, perhaps something with more traditional title bars,
#minimize/maximize/close buttons, etc.
#
# *	Grid-style window layout
#
#Rio is based on the common model of overlapping windows. Plan 9 also
#has acme(1), which could be thought of as a text-only windowing
#system, which is more of a heirarchical grid. While acme itself
#doesn't handle graphical programs, it's inspired (directly or
#indirectly) various X11 window manager with a tabular view of
#graphical windows, such as dwm and wmii. It would be interesting to
#bring those ideas home to Plan 9 in the form of a rio replacement.
#Done on its own, this would likely be a relatively easy and isolated
#set of internal changes in rio.
#
# *	More keyboard-driven
#
#Some users are very much allergic to mouse-driven interfaces, for
#whatever reason. It wouldn't be hard to modify rio to interpret some
#keyboard input. Basic window operations like new and hide would be
#trivial; more interesting would be a clever model for placement and
#resizing. This could be combined with one (or more?) of the above
#ideas (dwm, from the X11 world, offers a particularly interesting
#combination of this with a grid-based layout).
#
# *	Different physical interface
#
#Rio is built assuming a system with a keyboard and 3-button mouse.
#That is increasingly not a great assumption. Genuine 3-button mice
#have been uncommon for a long time; we generally get two real
#buttons and a scroll wheel. Then there's the gaming mice with some
#higher number of buttons. There are other, more esoteric input
#devices, like the Shuttle Xpress/Pro. Rio either ignores these or
#pushes them into the 3-button mouse model, with only the smallest
#concessions. It would be interesting to explore what else could be
#done here with the variety of optinos available. This could be a
#very small set of extensions, up through something much more
#ambitious.
#
#Then, of course, there's touchscreens, including multi-touch
#devices. Pushing those into a 3-button mouse model gets really
#painful, and seriously limits the effectiveness of Plan 9 in those
#environments. An alternative really is called for here. This would
#involve a lot more careful thought and planning up front to determin
#the most effective model, and then some work on how to get access to
#the inputs, before addressing things in the rio replacement itself.
#
#------------------------------------------------------ 
#Contrib on sources contains a number of smaller hacks that folks
#have done to rio to push the boundaries a little. It's worth taking
#a look before getting started on something new. See the [contrib
#index] itself.
#
#We'll shortly add a summary of some of the more interesting
#modifications below.
#