Show HN: A Tiling Window Manager for Windows, Written in Janet

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

Overall reception

  • Very positive response to a tiling window manager for Windows written in Janet.
  • Praised as “cool”, “awesome”, and exciting especially for people who like WMs, Lisp, or need to use Windows reluctantly.
  • Several plan to adopt it as a daily driver or at least “take it for a spin.”

Community and ecosystem

  • The Windows tiling WM scene (e.g., this project, komorebi, GlazeWM) is described as unusually friendly and collaborative, with authors openly praising each other.
  • Some compare this favorably to, or on par with, the long-standing Linux WM ecosystem (StumpWM, i3, dwm, ratpoison, EXWM).

Janet and Lisp-specific advantages

  • Multiple comments highlight Janet as practical, small, fast, and inspired by Clojure and Lua while feeling “better” in practice.
  • The REPL and image-based, interactive development are cited as key reasons to use a Lisp for a long-running, stateful service like a window manager.
  • Structural editing plus a live REPL are framed as Lisp’s “killer features,” turning development into rapid, low-friction experimentation.
  • Some deep side discussion: Common Lisp’s condition/restart system, images vs files, undo/audit trails, and Smalltalk/Guile comparisons.
  • Tooling for Janet is seen as weaker than ideal but improving (e.g., LSP work).

Design and behavior of Jwno

  • Main differences to komorebi:
    • Manual tiling by default vs dynamic tiling.
    • Uses native Windows virtual desktops instead of its own workspaces.
    • Self-contained rather than IPC/CLI-driven.
  • Internal model: Root → Virtual Desktops → Monitors → Frames → Windows. All monitors switch together when changing Windows desktops.
  • Cookbook shows how to adapt layouts for ultrawide monitors or reserve space (e.g., for on-screen keyboards / accessibility).
  • Can call Win32 APIs from scripts for low-level control.

UI hinting and accessibility

  • UI-hint / “walk the UI tree” feature gets special praise as a powerful keyboard-accessible mechanism.
  • One user reports issues with AltGr-based keybindings and labels obscuring targets; the author investigates and suggests workarounds and configuration options.

Tiling WMs, Windows, and nostalgia

  • Many lament weak built-in window management on Windows, though some defend Win+Arrow and PowerToys’ FancyZones.
  • Nostalgic thread about alternative Windows shells (bb4win, litestep, etc.) and their role in customization rather than lasting “innovation.”
  • Some discussion of modal dialogs and floating windows; others note modern tiling WMs offer floating “groups” as a workaround.