"Although it cannot be installed and run today among the first
window managers was simply xwm and is noted at xwinman.org as being
the first:
"xwm: Possibly the first... this dates back to 1985, before X11
itself. The version in the archive is from X10R4.
"The closest wm that looks like xwm and similar ones such as uwm
is the Plan9 GUI repackaged as 9wm:
"The older window managers did exactly what they were supposed
to - provide windows. It must be noted that even the author started
out using terminals (in my case HP terminals to old F and G class
HP systems).
"With the so called ancient/simple style of window managers done
(note that simplicity will come back into play later) it is time to
move on to the first window manager that has become a mainstay in
the X world."