Mutter (software)
GNOME window manager and display server
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mutter is a display server and window manager for the Wayland protocol ("compositor"). It is the default window manager for GNOME.
| Mutter | |
|---|---|
| Developer | GNOME Project |
| Initial release | April 2011 |
| Stable release | |
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | Unix-like |
| Size | 40.2 kB (amd64 .deb package)[2] |
| Type | |
| License | GPL-2.0-or-later[3] |
| Website | mutter |
| Repository | gitlab |
Mutter was initially a compositing window manager designed and implemented for the X Window System, but then evolved to be a Wayland compositor. It became the default window manager in GNOME 3, replacing Metacity[4] which used GTK for rendering. The name "Mutter" is a combination of "Metacity" and "Clutter".
Window management
Mutter can function as a standalone window manager for GNOME-like desktops, and serves as the primary window manager for the GNOME Shell,[5] which is an integral part of GNOME since version 3. Mutter is extensible with plug-ins, and supports numerous visual effects. GNOME Shell is written as a plug-in to Mutter.
Release history
- In version 3.13.3 (June 24, 2014) the server side bits of
wl_touch_interfacewere implemented by Carlos Garnacho.[8][9][10][11] - Support for X11 was disabled at compile-time in GNOME 49 and officially dropped with the X11 session code removed GNOME 50, rendering Mutter exclusively a Wayland compositor. GNOME 49 and later can still run most X11 apps on the Wayland session via XWayland.
Forks
Muffin
Muffin is a fork of Mutter by the Linux Mint team for their Cinnamon desktop environment. Cinnamon's shell, a fork of GNOME Shell, is written as a plugin for Muffin.[12]