# Install twm with Homebrew, apk, apt, MacPorts, Nix, zypper Tab Window Manager for X Window System. Version 1.0.13.1 via Homebrew; verified from local package data. ## Install ```sh sudo av install brew:twm ``` Additional install commands: ### macOS - Homebrew (100%): ```sh brew install twm ``` Evidence: local Homebrew formula metadata - MacPorts (94%): ```sh sudo port install twm ``` Evidence: MacPorts ports tree: x11/twm/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ### Linux - apk (92%): ```sh sudo apk add twm ``` Evidence: Alpine Linux edge package indexes: twm from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz - Debian apt (92%): ```sh sudo apt install twm ``` Evidence: Debian stable package indexes: twm from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz - Nix (92%): ```sh nix profile install nixpkgs#twm ``` Evidence: nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tw/twm/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - zypper (92%): ```sh sudo zypper install twm ``` Evidence: openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: twm from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst ## Package facts - **Package key:** brew:twm - **Package manager:** Homebrew - **Package manager page:** - **Version:** 1.0.13.1 - **Source summary:** Tab Window Manager for X Window System - **Homepage:** - **Repository:** - **Upstream docs:** - **License:** X11 - **Source archive:** - **Generated:** 2026-07-08T07:18:31+00:00 ## Executables - twm (cli) - twm (alias) ## Dependencies - libice - libsm - libx11 - libxext - libxmu - libxrandr - libxt ## Build dependencies - pkgconf ## Install behavior - Post-install hook: not defined - Bottle: available on arm64_linux, arm64_sequoia, arm64_sonoma, arm64_tahoe, arm64_ventura, sonoma, ventura, x86_64_linux ## Freshness - Page generated: 2026-07-08 - Package-manager version: 1.0.13.1 - Local data: ok - Upstream repository: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/twm - info: No package-manager update timestamp was available. - info: Release/tag comparison is only available for GitHub repositories. ## Project history and usage twm is the Tab Window Manager for the X Window System, historically also associated with Tom LaStrange's original Tom's Window Manager. It is one of the classic X11 window managers and a long-lived baseline package in Unix graphical environments. ### Project history The X.Org user documentation summarizes twm as the standard window manager for the X Window System from X11R4 onward, created by Tom LaStrange, and describes it as a reparenting window manager with title bars, shaped windows, icon management, and extensive configurability. The official man page documents the mature twm interface: title bars, icon managers, user-defined macro functions, click-to-type and pointer-driven focus, key and pointer bindings, and `.twmrc` startup files. This reflects the X11 design in which the window manager is a replaceable client, configured with text files and started by session scripts. ### Adoption history twm's adoption came from being part of the core X11 distribution rather than from modern app-store-style discovery. It became the default or sample window manager users saw when starting a minimal X session, especially before full desktop environments became the norm. Although later window managers and desktop environments largely superseded it for everyday use, twm remained packaged across Unix-like systems as a small, understandable, historically important X11 component. ### How it is used Typical use is starting `twm` from an X session manager or startup script, often as the final foreground client in a minimal `xinit` or `xdm` session. Users configure behavior through `.twmrc`, including menus, bindings, focus model, colors, icon handling, and title-button actions. In package-manager practice, installing twm is often about having a minimal X11 window manager available for testing, rescue sessions, old-school environments, or demonstrations of core X behavior without a larger desktop stack. ### Why package nerds care twm matters to package nerds because it is a fossil that still builds and ships: a small X.Org application that shows how much of the Unix desktop was once assembled from separate packages, text configuration, and replaceable clients. It also provides a reference point for X11 window-manager packaging. If xterm, xclock, and twm are present, a minimal graphical Unix session can still be brought up, inspected, and debugged without a full desktop environment. ### Timeline - 1980s: Tom LaStrange creates the original twm. - 1989: X11R4 era adopts twm as the standard X Window System window manager. - 1990s-2000s: Larger window managers and desktop environments supersede twm for most daily desktop use. - 2020s: twm remains maintained as an X.Org app and packaged by Unix-like distributions and Homebrew. ### Related projects - uwm was the earlier X window manager that twm historically replaced in the standard X distribution. - X.Org, X11, xinit, xdm, and xterm are part of the same minimal graphical Unix environment. - Later X11 window managers inherited ideas from twm's configurable, text-file-driven model. ### Sources - Official X.Org repository: https://gitlab.freedesktop.org/xorg/app/twm - Official twm man page: https://xorg.freedesktop.org/archive/X11R6.8.2/doc/twm.1.html - X.Org user documentation: https://www.x.org/UserDocumentation/GettingStarted/ ## Security Notes narrow executable package without higher-risk signals. - **Geiger risk:** green / low - narrow executable package without higher-risk signals ## Configuration and credential file locations These source-backed paths show where this package keeps local settings or durable credentials. Automic Vault can use them as review targets for secret scanning, migration, and command approval. ## Configuration files - Unix: ~/.twmrc.screennumber, ~/.twmrc, __datadir__/X11/twm/system.twmrc ## Source Database Details - **Source Database:** Homebrew formula API - **Tap:** homebrew/core - **Full Name:** twm - **Version Scheme:** 0 - **Revision:** 0 - **Bottle Stable Root URL:** - **Deprecated:** no - **Disabled:** no - **Keg Only:** no - **URL Keys:** stable ## Other Package-Manager Records - Debian apt - twm - 1:1.0.10-1+b1: normalized package name match | Debian stable package indexes: twm from https://deb.debian.org/debian/dists/stable/main/binary-amd64/Packages.xz | Tab window manager - Nix - twm: normalized package name match | nixpkgs package indexes: pkgs/by-name/tw/twm/package.nix from https://api.github.com/repos/NixOS/nixpkgs/git/trees/master?recursive=1 - Ubuntu apt - twm - 1:1.0.10-1build2: normalized package name match | Ubuntu 24.04 LTS package indexes: twm from https://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/noble/universe/binary-amd64/Packages.gz | Tab window manager - apk - twm - 1.0.13.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: twm from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tom's or Tab Window Manager for the X Window System | https://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.1/doc/twm.1.html - apk - twm-doc - 1.0.13.1-r0: normalized package name match | Alpine Linux edge package indexes: twm-doc from https://dl-cdn.alpinelinux.org/alpine/edge/community/x86_64/APKINDEX.tar.gz | Tom's or Tab Window Manager for the X Window System (documentation) | https://www.x.org/archive/X11R6.8.1/doc/twm.1.html - zypper - twm - 1.0.13.1-1.4: normalized package name match | openSUSE Tumbleweed package metadata: twm from https://download.opensuse.org/tumbleweed/repo/oss/repodata/be8d3611d25469107f32075a1697e69ec57a2b850b42348a658cc671ad5ec2b50760d02c3e59524d50da9a11d5be799bdaffba2e166e8ca8858512e3c0bd665d-primary.xml.zst | Tab Window Manager for the X Window System | http://xorg.freedesktop.org/ - MacPorts - twm: normalized package name match | MacPorts ports tree: x11/twm/Portfile from https://api.github.com/repos/macports/macports-ports/git/trees/master?recursive=1 ## Related links - [Terminal utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/terminal-utilities/) - Matched terminal and command-line workflow metadata. - [Networking and protocol packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/networking-protocol-tools/) - Matched network, protocol, or remote-service metadata. - [Homebrew utility packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew-utility-packages/) - Matched Homebrew package provider. - [Secret-risk packages](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/secret-risk-packages/) - Matched curated package taxonomy and local package facts. - [pkgconf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/pkgconf/) - Build dependency declared by Homebrew. - [quartz-wm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/quartz-wm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, window-manager, x11, xorg. - [xcursorgen](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xcursorgen/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system, x11, xorg. - [gkrellm](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/gkrellm/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system. - [wallpaper](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/wallpaper/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system. - [xdotool](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xdotool/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system, x11. - [xeyes](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/xeyes/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, gui, system, x11, xorg. - [bdftopcf](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/bdftopcf/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, system, x11, xorg. - [libnotify](https://www.automicvault.com/pkg/brew/libnotify/) - Shares av.db curated category or tags: cli, desktop, system. ## Combined YAML source View the package source record on GitHub. [combined/twm.yml](https://github.com/automic-vault/db/blob/main/combined/twm.yml) ## Sources - Nucleus package database - Geiger risk classifier - package-page enrichment - curated configuration and credential file locations - curated package history - package version freshness - av.db category and tag curation - package relationship graph - external package-manager database matches - cross-ecosystem install command graph