Actual Window Manager [extra Quality]

Your text editor draws to a hidden buffer. Your browser draws to another. The compositor steals both, layers them, and presents a photograph of windows to the display. When you drag a window, you are not moving the window—you are moving the photograph of a window, then asking the application to redraw its hidden canvas, then taking a new photograph.

Physically, your monitor is a grid of pixels—millions of tiny lights turning on and off. The graphics card sends a frame buffer: a rectangular array of RGB values. That buffer has no concept of a "window." It has no concept of a "taskbar," a "close button," or a "border." actual window manager

The "actual window manager" is not a thing. It is a relationship—between hardware, kernel, compositor, and your hand on the mouse. And like all relationships, it works best when you stop analyzing it and simply trust the deception. Your text editor draws to a hidden buffer

These are not technical constraints. They are . And policies reflect values. When you drag a window, you are not