What is this?
Eww (ElKowars Wacky Widgets) is a standalone widget system written in Rust that lets you build your own custom desktop widgets, like bars or system trackers, for any window manager.
Eww (ElKowars Wacky Widgets) is a standalone widget system written in Rust that lets you build your own custom desktop widgets, like bars or system trackers, for any window manager.Is this a GTK app I configure, or a Rust library I write code against?It's a standalone application (built on GTK) that you configure rather than a library you program in Rust; you write widget configs and run the eww binary, not Rust code.
It's a standalone application (built on GTK) that you configure rather than a library you program in Rust; you write widget configs and run the eww binary, not Rust code.How do I get eww running?The README doesn't give install commands directly; it points to a separate documentation site for install instructions, and since the whole codebase is Rust, you'd build it with Cargo.
The README doesn't give install commands directly; it points to a separate documentation site for install instructions, and since the whole codebase is Rust, you'd build it with Cargo.Do I need GTK installed first?Yes, eww is built on GTK3 through gtk-rs, so you need a working GTK3 setup on your Linux machine before running or building it.
Yes, eww is built on GTK3 through gtk-rs, so you need a working GTK3 setup on your Linux machine before running or building it.Will the example configs shown in the README just work?Not necessarily. The README itself warns that several of the showcased community setups still use eww's old configuration syntax, so copying them as-is may break on current versions.
Not necessarily. The README itself warns that several of the showcased community setups still use eww's old configuration syntax, so copying them as-is may break on current versions.Does it only work with tiling window managers like i3?No, eww is designed to be window-manager agnostic and work in any window manager, though many of the showcased example setups come from i3 and similar tiling WM users.
No, eww is designed to be window-manager agnostic and work in any window manager, though many of the showcased example setups come from i3 and similar tiling WM users.What is Yolk, the other project mentioned by the author?Yolk is the author's separate dotfile management tool, notable for templating dotfiles without needing dedicated template files. It's unrelated to eww itself, just a project by the same developer.
Yolk is the author's separate dotfile management tool, notable for templating dotfiles without needing dedicated template files. It's unrelated to eww itself, just a project by the same developer.What kinds of widgets have people actually built with eww?The README links to community examples including basic and vertical status bars, an i3-bar replacement, and even a joke 'Activate Linux' watermark widget.
The README links to community examples including basic and vertical status bars, an i3-bar replacement, and even a joke 'Activate Linux' watermark widget.What are similar projects?Waybar, glazewm, polybar, dots-hyprland, shell, rofi, Bruteon, omarchy-pods
Waybar, glazewm, polybar, dots-hyprland, shell, rofi, Bruteon, omarchy-podsWhich topics is it in?unixporn, i3wm, status-bar, gtk, ricing, rust-lang, linux-desktop, widget, dotfiles, configuration, customization, hacktoberfest
unixporn, i3wm, status-bar, gtk, ricing, rust-lang, linux-desktop, widget, dotfiles, configuration, customization, hacktoberfest