Desktop environments and Window managers: Difference between revisions

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The desktop environment '''in Alpine has no official desktops. Older versions had Xfce4, but now, all GUI and graphical interfaces are community contributed'''. Environments such as LXDE, Mate, etc are available, but are not fully supported due to some bloated integration.
Do not add any content about specific desktop environment or window manager in this page. Please add all the content to the respective wiki pages. If wiki page does not exist for the specific window manage, please create and add the content.


Please, if you find something hard to understand about the integration of the variety of programs, consider further reading until the end of this page to understand important notes about the [[Alpine_newbie_desktops#Behavior_of_Desktop_Environments_in_Linux|Behavior of Desktop Environments in Linux]]
This page lists only the window managers and desktop environments for which packages are available in Alpine Linux. Do not add unsupported software here.
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'''So you can choose from those options or follow the next suggested [[Alpine Newbies Openbox Window Manager|Alpine Newbies: Xorg and Openbox]]''' page.
'''Alpine Linux''' has no official desktop and setting up a graphical environment is not even part of [[Installation]]. All window managers and desktop environments that are available in Alpine Linux are listed in this page. Quick installation using [[Alpine_setup_scripts#setup-desktop|setup-desktop]] script is available for few [[Setup-desktop|desktops]].  


= Alpine Desktops: Complete Desktops =
{{Tip|For servers consider using [[Alpine_Configuration_Framework_Design|Alpine Configuration Framework(ACF)]] for security reasons.}}


Alpine is not a graphics-focused system, so there are only two complete desktops available: [[Alpine Newbies XFCE Desktop Environment|XFCE Desktop Environment]] and [[Alpine Newbies LXDE Desktop Environment|LXDE Desktop]], utilizing [[Alpine Newbies Openbox Window Manager|Openbox Window Manager]].
== Desktop environments ==


# [[Alpine Newbies XFCE Desktop Environment]]
Desktop environment (DE) is made of a bundle of programs that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers desktop widgets and might also provide drag and drop.
# [[Alpine Newbies LXDE Desktop Environment]]
* [[Xfce]]
# [[Alpine Newbies Openbox Window Manager]]
* [[LXQt]]
* [[KDE|KDE Plasma]]
* [[GNOME]]
* [[MATE]]


= Alpine Desktops: Community Contributions =
== Window managers ==


There are some contributions that will periodically be complete desktops available using the Community Repository Packages, like the [[Alpine Newbies MATE Desktop Environment|MATE Desktop environment]]; others need Wayland, causing some compatibility problems:
A window manager is software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. In case of [[Wayland]], these are called  compositors because they additionally perform the task of a compositing window manager.


# [[Alpine Newbies MATE Desktop Environment]]
Almost all components of a desktop needs to be added manually by the user. A [[Alpine_Linux:Glossary#S|stacking]] a.k.a. floating or [[Alpine_Linux:Glossary#T|tiling]] a.k.a. dynamic layout is commonly used for window management.
# [[Awesome(wm)_Setup|Awesome Window Manager]]


= Alpine Desktops: Upstream and external ones =
{|class="wikitable sortable" align="center" style="width:100%; border:1px #0771a6 solid; background:#f9f9f9; text-align:left; border-collapse:collapse;"
 
! WM Name !! Protocol!! Style !! Toolkit!!class="unsortable"|Inspiration
All of the original upstream desktops can be installed using the traditional Unix-like method of downloading and compiling them:
|-
 
| [[AwesomeWM|Awesome]] ||X11  || Tiling || Lua ||
# [[Dwm|Dynamic Window Manager for X]]
|-
# [[Alpine LXQT Desktop Environment]]
| {{Pkg|berry|arch=}} || X11 || Stacking || C ||
 
|-
= Alpine Desktops: Multimedia =
| {{Pkg|bspwm|arch=}} || X11 || Tiling || C ||
 
|-
After getting your preferred desktop, you can also improve your desktop with:
|  {{Pkg|cage |arch=}} || Wayland || Kiosk || C/wlroots || ratpoison
 
|-
* [[Alpine multimedia for users]] (Audio and video multimedia related software and setup)
| {{Pkg|cagebreak|arch=}} || Wayland || Tiling ||C/wlroots || ratpoison and cage
* [[Alpine multimedia for editing and amateurs]] (Amateur related such editing and converting tools)
|-
 
| {{Pkg|cwm|arch=}} || X11 || Stacking || C ||
= Alpine Desktops: emulation and gaming =
|-
 
| {{Pkg|dwl|arch=}}  || Wayland || Tiling || C/wlroots||[[dwm]]
Alpine is capable of providing a good platform to play games and enjoy:
|-
 
| [[dwm]] || X11 || Tiling || C ||
* [[Alpine games packages and options]]
|-
* [[Alpine emulators packages and options]]
| [[Fluxbox]] || X11 || Stacking || C++ ||Blackbox
* [[Alpine games from upstreams sources]]
|-
* [[Alpine emulators from upstreams sources]]
| {{Pkg|herbstluftwm|arch=}} || X11 || Tiling || C++ ||
 
|-
= Tutorial series =
| [[Hyprland]] || Wayland || Tiling || C++ ||
 
|-
{| class="wikitable"
| [[I3wm|i3]] || X11 || Tiling || C ||
|-
| {{Pkg|jwm|arch=}} || X11 || Stacking || C ||
|-
| [[LabWC]] || Wayland || Stacking || C/wlroots||[[Openbox]]
|-
| {{Pkg|mwm|arch=}} || X11 || Stacking || C ||
|-
| [[Openbox]] || X11 || Stacking || C ||
|-
| [[Qtile]] || Both || Tiling || Python ||
|-
| {{Pkg|ratpoison|arch=}}  || X11 || Kiosk || C ||
|-
| [[River]] || Wayland || Tiling || Zig || [[dwm]] and xmonad
|-
| {{Pkg|spectrwm |arch=}}  || X11 || Tiling || C||xmonad and [[dwm]]
|-
| [[Sway]] || Wayland || Tiling || C/wlroots || [[I3wm|i3]]
|-
| [[twm]] || X11 || Tiling || C ||
|-
|-
! Previous required  !! What's next to read
| {{Pkg|wayfire|arch=}} || Wayland || Stacking || C++/wlroots || Compiz
|-
|-
| [[Alpine newbie apk packages]] || [[Alpine Newbies Openbox Window Manager|Alpine Newbies: Xorg and Openbox]]
| [[Weston]] || Wayland || Stacking ||  C ||
|}
|}


= See Also =
== See also ==
 
* [[Installation#Post-Installation|Post Installation]]
* [[Fonts|Fonts configuration and settings in alpine]]
* [[Wayland]]
* [[Alpine newbie]]
* [[Xorg]]
* [[Alpine newbie install manual]]
* [[Display manager]]
* [[Alpine newbie apk packages]]
* [https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Desktop_environment Desktop environment - Archwiki]
* [[Alpine newbie developer]]
* [https://wiki.gentoo.org/wiki/Desktop_environment Desktop environment - Gentoo Wiki]
* [[Alpine newbie lammers]]


[[Category:Desktop]]
[[Category:Desktop]]
[[Category:Multimedia]]
[[Category:Desktop Environments]]
[[Category:Newbie]]
[[Category:Window Managers]]
[[Category:Compositor]]

Latest revision as of 10:38, 10 March 2025

Alpine Linux has no official desktop and setting up a graphical environment is not even part of Installation. All window managers and desktop environments that are available in Alpine Linux are listed in this page. Quick installation using setup-desktop script is available for few desktops.

Tip: For servers consider using Alpine Configuration Framework(ACF) for security reasons.

Desktop environments

Desktop environment (DE) is made of a bundle of programs that share a common graphical user interface (GUI), sometimes described as a graphical shell. A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers desktop widgets and might also provide drag and drop.

Window managers

A window manager is software that controls the placement and appearance of windows within a windowing system in a graphical user interface. In case of Wayland, these are called compositors because they additionally perform the task of a compositing window manager.

Almost all components of a desktop needs to be added manually by the user. A stacking a.k.a. floating or tiling a.k.a. dynamic layout is commonly used for window management.

WM Name Protocol Style Toolkit Inspiration
Awesome X11 Tiling Lua
berry X11 Stacking C
bspwm X11 Tiling C
cage Wayland Kiosk C/wlroots ratpoison
cagebreak Wayland Tiling C/wlroots ratpoison and cage
cwm X11 Stacking C
dwl Wayland Tiling C/wlroots dwm
dwm X11 Tiling C
Fluxbox X11 Stacking C++ Blackbox
herbstluftwm X11 Tiling C++
Hyprland Wayland Tiling C++
i3 X11 Tiling C
jwm X11 Stacking C
LabWC Wayland Stacking C/wlroots Openbox
mwm X11 Stacking C
Openbox X11 Stacking C
Qtile Both Tiling Python
ratpoison X11 Kiosk C
River Wayland Tiling Zig dwm and xmonad
spectrwm X11 Tiling C xmonad and dwm
Sway Wayland Tiling C/wlroots i3
twm X11 Tiling C
wayfire Wayland Stacking C++/wlroots Compiz
Weston Wayland Stacking C

See also

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