muffin-window-demo

muffin-window-demo [OPTION...]

--help
    Displays a help message, providing usage information and a list of available command-line options.

--version
    Outputs the version information of the muffin-window-demo application and often the associated Muffin window manager.

--display=DISPLAY
    Specifies the X display to use. This is a common option for X Window System applications when not running on the default display.

--screen=SCREEN
    Specifies the X screen to use on the given display. Useful in multi-screen X configurations.

The muffin-window-demo command is a specialized utility designed to showcase the visual effects and window management capabilities of the Muffin window manager, which is an integral part of the Cinnamon desktop environment. It typically launches one or more windows and applies various operations like minimizing, maximizing, closing, or resizing, often demonstrating animations, transparency, or other graphical features implemented within Muffin. This tool is not intended for general user interaction or daily system administration, but rather serves as a diagnostic, development, or showcasing aid for developers, testers, or users interested in Muffin's graphical prowess. Its primary function is to provide a quick, repeatable way to observe Muffin's rendering and effect handling.

The muffin-window-demo command is highly specific to the Cinnamon desktop environment and its underlying Muffin window manager. It will only function correctly and demonstrate its intended effects within an active Cinnamon session where Muffin is running. It is not a standard Linux utility found on all distributions or desktop environments. Users not running Cinnamon or Muffin will likely find the command unavailable or non-functional. It's primarily a developer tool and not part of the standard user toolkit for daily tasks.

This command serves a niche but important role in the development and maintenance of the Muffin window manager. It provides a consistent and automated way to trigger and observe various window animations and visual behaviors that Muffin is responsible for. For end-users, it offers a glimpse into the underlying mechanisms of their desktop's visual experience, but it's not a tool for customizing or managing windows in a practical sense.

muffin-window-demo is typically included as part of the Muffin or Cinnamon development packages (e.g., muffin-common or cinnamon-common on Debian/Ubuntu-based systems). It may not be installed by default on minimal Cinnamon installations or other distributions unless development tools for Cinnamon are explicitly requested.

Muffin, and by extension muffin-window-demo, traces its lineage back to the Mutter window manager, which is used by GNOME Shell. Mutter itself was a composite window manager built upon the foundations of Metacity, GNOME's previous default window manager. When the Linux Mint team decided to create the Cinnamon desktop environment as an alternative to GNOME Shell, they forked Mutter to create Muffin, adapting it to Cinnamon's specific needs and design philosophy. The muffin-window-demo utility was developed as part of the Muffin project to facilitate the testing, debugging, and showcasing of Muffin's evolving window effects and composite capabilities, becoming an internal tool for the Cinnamon development process.

muffin(1), cinnamon(1), wmctrl(1), xprop(1), xwininfo(1)