Suckless.org
Suckless.org is a free software community that builds small, fast, and simple programs. They emphasize minimalism, clarity, and frugality, following the Unix idea of “do one thing well.” Their projects include dwm and wmii window managers, the surf browser, tabbed, and other tools. The group also adheres to the “Worse is better” idea and the Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) principle.
Founded in 2006 by Anselm R. Garbe, suckless.org argues that software in the industry often becomes overly complex and slow. They believe programmers should be judged by good design, not by the number of lines of code they write. Garbe registered suckless.org in October 2006 to replace earlier sites like 10kloc.org and wmii.de. In 2007 he talked about a lean, ready-to-use setup for C programmers and Plan 9 fans, joking about a name like 9ubuntu.
Milestones and activities
- Projects: dwm, wmii, surf, tabbed, stali (static Linux), and other tools that follow suckless principles
- 2013: annual SLCon conferences and hackathons to discuss technical topics and connect with the community
- 2015: the legal entity suckless.org e.V. was founded to support the projects and open-source work
Suckless.org continues to develop focused, reliable software that stays true to its minimalism and practical approach.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 17:05 (CET).