metacity-message

metacity-message [OPTIONS]

--show-about
    Displays the Metacity "About" dialog box.

--set-workspace-name <workspace_num> <name>
    Sets the name for the specified workspace number. The <workspace_num> is 0-indexed.

--set-active-workspace <workspace_num>
    Switches the active workspace to the specified <workspace_num> (0-indexed).

--set-max-workspaces <number>
    Sets the total number of virtual workspaces available.

--sync
    Synchronizes with the Metacity window manager after sending the command.

--display=DISPLAY
    Specifies the X server to connect to. This overrides the DISPLAY environment variable.

The metacity-message command is a deprecated utility designed to send specific commands to the Metacity window manager. Primarily used in the GNOME 2 desktop environment era, it allowed users or scripts to interact with Metacity for tasks such as displaying its "About" dialog, changing workspace names, or switching active workspaces. Its functionality is highly coupled with the Metacity window manager itself, which has largely been replaced by Mutter in modern GNOME versions. Therefore, this command is generally not found or functional on contemporary Linux distributions running standard GNOME. Its purpose was to provide a simple command-line interface for common window manager actions that could be integrated into scripts.

The metacity-message command is largely obsolete. It requires the Metacity window manager to be running, which is no longer the default in modern GNOME (replaced by Mutter). This command is unlikely to be found or work on contemporary Linux systems unless a desktop environment specifically using Metacity (or a derivative like MATE's Marco) is installed. Users seeking similar window management control on modern systems should explore utilities like wmctrl or xdotool.

This command was primarily useful for shell scripting to automate desktop tasks, such as switching between workspaces based on specific triggers or naming workspaces dynamically. It was a low-level interface to Metacity's internal messaging system.

metacity-message was an integral part of the GNOME 2 desktop environment's window management capabilities. It was developed to provide a programmatic interface to Metacity, allowing scripts and other applications to control window manager behavior. With the transition to GNOME 3, Metacity was largely superseded by Mutter (a composite window manager and display server), leading to the deprecation and eventual removal of metacity-message from common distributions. Its functionality has been absorbed or replaced by other mechanisms in newer desktop environments.

wmctrl(1), xdotool(1), metacity(1)