[xmonad] ANNOUNCE: xmonad 0.5: a tiling window manager

[Don Stewart]

The xmonad dev team is pleased to announce the 0.5 release of xmonad! 

                           http://xmonad.org

xmonad is a tiling window manager for X. Windows are arranged
automatically to tile the screen without gaps or overlap, maximising
screen use. Window manager features are accessible from the keyboard: a
mouse is optional. xmonad is extensible in Haskell, allowing for
powerful customisation. Custom layout algorithms, key bindings and other
extensions may be written by the user in config files. Layouts are
applied dynamically, and different layouts may be used on each
workspace. Xinerama is fully supported, allowing windows to be tiled on
several physical screens.

Features:

    * Very stable, fast, small and simple.
    * Automatic window tiling and management
    * First class keyboard support: a mouse is unnecessary
    * Full support for tiling windows on multi-head displays
    * Full support for floating windows
    * XRandR support to rotate, add or remove monitors
    * Per-workspace layout algorithms
    * Per-screens custom status bars
    * Easy, powerful customisation and reconfiguration in Haskell
    * Large extension library
    * Extensive documentation and support for hacking

Get it!

    More information, screenshots, documentation, tutorials and community
    resources are available from the xmonad home page:

        http://xmonad.org

    The 0.5 release, and its dependencies, are available from
    hackage.haskell.org, here:

        http://hackage.haskell.org/cgi-bin/hackage-scripts/package/xmonad

**The headlines**

xmonad 0.5 is a major new release of xmonad, allowing, for the first
time, dynamic extension in Haskell without requiring recompilation.

Extension and configuration of xmonad is now faster, simpler, and more
flexible.

All configuration is done via the ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs file.
Example config files and screenshots are available on the wiki:

    http://haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Config_archive

This marks the final break from its dwm origins. As a result, xmonad is
now also much easier to package, distribute and extend, as recompilation
of xmonad is not required to extend it.


New features:

    * xmonad is now a library, as is the collection of xmonad extensions
    * xmonad is configured by editing ~/.xmonad/xmonad.hs
    * simpler layout hooks type and interface
    * small EDSL for writing window management rules
    * support for ghc 6.8.x
    * xmonad now requires Cabal 1.2 or newer
    * small bug fixes


Extensions:

    xmonad comes with a huge library of extensions (now more than 5
    times the size of xmonad), contributed by viewers like you.

    Extensions enable pretty much arbitrary window manager behaviour to
    be implemented by users, in Haskell, in the config files. Examples
    include:

        * ion-like window tabs
        * status bar support
        * X property and hints support
        * altnerative layout algorithms
    
    For more information on using and writing extensions see the webpage.
    The library of extensions is available from hackage:

        http://hackage.haskell.org/cgi-bin/hackage-scripts/package/xmonad-contrib

Brought to you by the xmonad team:

    Spencer Janssen
    Don Stewart
    Jason Creighton
    Andrea Rossato
    David Roundy
    Brent Yorgey

with code contributions from:

    Brandon Allbery        Chris Mears
    Shachaf Ben-Kiki       Eric Mertens
    Alec Berryman          Neil Mitchell
    Gwern Branwen          Devin Mullins
    Joachim Breitner       Daniel Neri
    Alexandre Buisse       Stefan O'Rear
    Nick Burlett           Simon Peyton Jones
    Peter De Wachter       Hans Philipp Annen
    Aaron Denney           Karsten Schoelzel
    Nelson Elhage          Michael Sloan
    Shae Erisson           Ivan Tarasov
    Joachim Fasting        Alex Tarkovsky
    Michael Fellinger      Christian Thiemann
    David Glasser          Joe Thornber
    Kai Grossjohann        Matsuyama Tomohiro
    Dave Harrison          Daniel Wagner
    Juraj Hercek           Ferenc Wagner
    Sam Hughes             Jamie Webb
    Miikka Koskinen        Klaus Weidner
    David Lazar            nornagon
    Lucas Mai              timthelion
    Robert Marlow          Valery V. Vorotyntsev 
    Dougal Stanton         Joel Suovaniemi
    Mats Jansborg          Dmitry Kurochkin
    Clemens Fruhwirth

As well as the support of many others on the #xmonad and #haskell IRC
channels, and the wider Haskell and window manager communities.

Thanks to everyone for their support!