<s>
In	O
Unix	B-Application
computing	O
,	O
Ion	O
is	O
a	O
tiling	O
and	O
tabbing	O
window	B-Application
manager	I-Application
for	O
the	O
X	B-Operating_System
Window	I-Operating_System
System	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
designed	O
such	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
possible	O
to	O
manage	O
windows	B-Application
using	O
only	O
a	O
keyboard	B-Device
,	O
without	O
needing	O
a	O
mouse	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
the	O
successor	O
of	O
PWM	B-Application
and	O
is	O
written	O
by	O
the	O
same	O
author	O
,	O
Tuomo	O
Valkonen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
the	O
first	O
release	O
of	O
Ion	O
in	O
the	O
summer	O
2000	O
,	O
similar	O
alternative	O
window	B-Application
management	I-Application
ideas	O
have	O
begun	O
to	O
show	O
in	O
other	O
new	O
window	B-Application
managers	I-Application
:	O
Larswm	O
,	O
ratpoison	B-Language
,	O
StumpWM	B-Language
,	O
wmii	B-Language
,	O
xmonad	B-Device
and	O
dwm	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
First	O
versions	O
of	O
Ion	O
were	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
Artistic	B-License
License	I-License
,	O
Ion2	O
and	O
the	O
development	O
versions	O
of	O
Ion3	B-Application
were	O
released	O
under	O
the	O
GNU	B-Application
Lesser	I-Application
General	I-Application
Public	I-Application
License	I-Application
(	O
LGPL	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
the	O
first	O
release	O
candidate	O
of	O
Ion3	B-Application
included	O
a	O
license	O
change	O
to	O
a	O
custom	O
license	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
LGPL	B-Application
(	O
specifically	O
modified	O
versions	O
must	O
not	O
use	O
the	O
name	O
ion	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
version	O
2	O
,	O
Ion	O
has	O
been	O
scriptable	O
in	O
Lua	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Notion	O
(	O
Not-ion	O
)	O
fork	O
is	O
actively	O
maintained	O
with	O
packages	O
available	O
for	O
the	O
Linux	B-Application
distributions	O
gentoo	O
,	O
Debian	O
,	O
Arch	O
,	O
SUSE	O
and	O
Fedora	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
NetBSD	B-Device
and	O
Solaris	O
(	O
Solaris	O
10	O
,	O
OpenSolaris	O
and	O
OpenIndiana	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Window	B-Application
managers	I-Application
similar	O
to	O
ion	O
include	O
awesome	B-Language
,	O
dwm	B-Language
,	O
i3	B-Language
,	O
larswm	O
,	O
and	O
xmonad	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Tuomo	O
Valkonen	O
,	O
the	O
author	O
of	O
Ion	O
,	O
has	O
been	O
at	O
the	O
center	O
of	O
several	O
controversies	O
concerning	O
the	O
licensing	O
and	O
distribution	O
of	O
his	O
software	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
the	O
proclivity	O
of	O
major	O
Linux	B-Application
and	O
BSD	B-Operating_System
distributions	O
of	O
making	O
outdated	O
development	O
versions	O
of	O
Ion3	B-Application
(	O
the	O
current	O
unstable	O
development	O
branch	O
)	O
available	O
as	O
part	O
of	O
"	O
frozen	O
"	O
software	O
repositories	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Often	O
,	O
such	O
versions	O
will	O
include	O
patches	O
,	O
such	O
as	O
for	O
Xinerama	B-Device
or	O
Xft	B-Application
support	O
,	O
both	O
of	O
which	O
Valkonen	O
disapproves	O
on	O
professional	O
and	O
personal	O
grounds	O
and	O
has	O
had	O
removed	O
from	O
the	O
main	O
source	O
tree	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Yet	O
,	O
such	O
distribution	O
would	O
seem	O
to	O
imply	O
that	O
the	O
patched	O
version	O
is	O
the	O
official	O
Ion3	B-Application
package	O
maintained	O
by	O
Valkonen	O
himself	O
,	O
which	O
he	O
sees	O
as	O
unacceptable	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Valkonen	O
has	O
even	O
recently	O
become	O
an	O
outspoken	O
critic	O
of	O
the	O
entire	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
and	O
open-source	B-Application
movement	O
(	O
the	O
"	O
FOSS	O
herd	O
"	O
,	O
as	O
he	O
refers	O
to	O
it	O
)	O
due	O
to	O
his	O
perceived	O
mistreatment	O
at	O
the	O
hands	O
of	O
several	O
major	O
distributions	O
,	O
including	O
Arch	O
Linux	B-Application
,	O
Debian	O
,	O
pkgsrc	B-Application
(	O
NetBSD	B-Device
,	O
DragonflyBSD	B-Application
)	O
,	O
and	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
April	O
28	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
Valkonen	O
warned	O
the	O
Arch	O
Linux	B-Application
maintainers	O
of	O
possible	O
legal	O
action	O
because	O
the	O
(	O
unofficial	O
)	O
Arch	O
User	O
Repository	O
contained	O
scripts	O
to	O
install	O
Ion3	B-Application
with	O
patches	O
he	O
did	O
not	O
approve	O
of	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
on	O
he	O
did	O
the	O
same	O
with	O
the	O
pkgsrc	B-Application
maintainer	O
of	O
the	O
NetBSD	B-Device
project	O
and	O
the	O
ports	O
maintainer	O
of	O
the	O
FreeBSD	B-Operating_System
project	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
December	O
12	O
,	O
2007	O
,	O
the	O
development	O
branch	O
of	O
Ion	O
,	O
along	O
with	O
other	O
software	O
by	O
Valkonen	O
,	O
was	O
pulled	O
from	O
the	O
FreeBSD	B-Application
ports	I-Application
tree	O
,	O
after	O
the	O
author	O
filed	O
a	O
complaint	O
about	O
outdated	O
development	O
releases	O
still	O
being	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Any	O
version	O
of	O
Ion	O
may	O
still	O
be	O
installed	O
from	O
source	O
code	O
on	O
any	O
Unix	B-Application
system	I-Application
with	O
proper	O
libraries	O
and	O
dependencies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Valkonen	O
has	O
implied	O
in	O
several	O
mailing	O
lists	O
that	O
he	O
has	O
become	O
completely	O
disillusioned	O
with	O
,	O
if	O
not	O
openly	O
hostile	O
toward	O
,	O
the	O
free	B-Application
software	I-Application
community	O
in	O
general	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
plans	O
to	O
switch	O
to	O
developing	O
strictly	O
closed-source	O
software	O
for	O
the	O
Windows	B-Application
platform	O
in	O
the	O
future	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
of	O
2018	O
,	O
the	O
author	O
claims	O
to	O
have	O
"	O
found	O
more	O
worthwhile	O
hobbies	O
"	O
than	O
programming	O
for	O
the	O
"	O
Free	B-Application
Software	I-Application
movement	O
"	O
,	O
opining	O
that	O
it	O
amounts	O
to	O
"	O
bug-ridden	O
clone[s]	O
...	O
with	O
a	O
centralised	O
software	O
distribution	O
mechanism	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Borgend	O
,	O
Valkonen	O
's	O
latest	O
published	O
program	O
as	O
of	O
2018	O
,	O
remains	O
open-source	B-Application
and	O
is	O
compatible	O
with	O
Unix-like	B-Operating_System
systems	I-Operating_System
,	O
including	O
Macintosh	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
,	O
his	O
present	O
operating	O
system	O
of	O
choice	O
.	O
</s>
