6 ms·

i3wm has been a huge productivity boost for me as a development machine at home for the following reasons: - no distractions - minimalism, most navigation

i3wm has been a huge productivity boost for me as a development machine at home for the following reasons: - no distractions - minimalism, most navigation on the keyboard - easy to setup a startup script that preloads your default screens / workspaces / apps setup - easy to map your workspaces in your mind From machine boot to coding: 30 seconds. https://twitter.com/Phonosheet/status/952179820447911936 https://twitter.com/Phonosheet/status/952179820447911936

overcast 9y ago
I've been experimenting with moving my "getting work done" setup over to an old laptop running just Mint Linux for that exact reasoning. I end up getting so distracted on my MacPro desktop, because it's got everything on there. Movies/Games/Messaging/Email etc. I need just a distraction free environment that still allows me to do web development.
- thurt 9y ago
  Instead of mint, if you are doing a new install and looking for a minimalist approach with i3, consider wattOS distro microwatt edition. I found it on distrowatch; I installed it about 6 months ago on an old laptop and I'm pretty happy with it.
  - overcast 9y ago
    Thanks for the response, is that based on debian/ubuntu? I need to have that environment to mirror production environments.
    - avhon1 9y ago
      Yes. http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/about/ http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/about/ "wattOS is a lightweight Linux operating system remastered from the core Ubuntu Linux build."
      - cellover 9y ago
        I did not know the existence of this distribution, thanks i'll look into it.
lprd 9y ago
Is there an equivilent to i3 in the mac ecosystem? I currently use iTerm with tmux... so would using a window manager, on top of all that, be overkill?
- cesnja 9y ago
  I used Amethyst and KWM in the past, but ultimately settled on Spectacleapp, which is great for basic window management. Sadly, neither of them can really compare with i3wm when you take into account the tabbed mode and easy window splitting.
flukus 9y ago
I finally got around to trying i3 a few weeks ago and I wish I'd done it a lot sooner. I installed it on my fairly crap dell laptop that can barely run windows 10 (windows in unusable on spinning disks) and it flies, everything is instant, alt+enter and the new terminal is just there, alt+d and the searchable program menu appears (windows could take several seconds to a minute), alt+3 and I'm on different virtual screen. The only time I find myself waiting for anything at all is a new browser window or the funky lock screen installed but I'm pretty sure both of those are solvable. The interface is fantastic, it's the first WM I've used (apart from maybe tmux or vim) that actually manages my windows well. In hindsight the desktop metaphor is such and obviously dead end that we've wasted for too much time on. It will take some retraining, but even things like tabs in the web browser no longer feel necessary, the WM can handle this and give a consistent global interface. MS is kind of heading in this direction too: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/28/16709190/microsoft-windows-10-tabs-file-explorer-sets-feature https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/28/16709190/microsoft-windo... . I started off with the manjaro distro (https://manjaro.org/category/community-editions/i3/ https://manjaro.org/category/community-editions/i3/), it's got a fair bit of bling that you won't get by default elsewhere but the performance is great.

overcast 9y ago

I've been experimenting with moving my "getting work done" setup over to an old laptop running just Mint Linux for that exact reasoning. I end up getting so distracted on my MacPro desktop, because it's got everything on there. Movies/Games/Messaging/Email etc. I need just a distraction free environment that still allows me to do web development.

thurt 9y ago
Instead of mint, if you are doing a new install and looking for a minimalist approach with i3, consider wattOS distro microwatt edition. I found it on distrowatch; I installed it about 6 months ago on an old laptop and I'm pretty happy with it.
- overcast 9y ago
  Thanks for the response, is that based on debian/ubuntu? I need to have that environment to mirror production environments.
  - avhon1 9y ago
    Yes. http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/about/ http://planetwatt.com/new/index.php/about/ "wattOS is a lightweight Linux operating system remastered from the core Ubuntu Linux build."
    - cellover 9y ago
      I did not know the existence of this distribution, thanks i'll look into it.

lprd 9y ago

Is there an equivilent to i3 in the mac ecosystem? I currently use iTerm with tmux... so would using a window manager, on top of all that, be overkill?

cesnja 9y ago
I used Amethyst and KWM in the past, but ultimately settled on Spectacleapp, which is great for basic window management. Sadly, neither of them can really compare with i3wm when you take into account the tabbed mode and easy window splitting.

flukus 9y ago

I finally got around to trying i3 a few weeks ago and I wish I'd done it a lot sooner. I installed it on my fairly crap dell laptop that can barely run windows 10 (windows in unusable on spinning disks) and it flies, everything is instant, alt+enter and the new terminal is just there, alt+d and the searchable program menu appears (windows could take several seconds to a minute), alt+3 and I'm on different virtual screen. The only time I find myself waiting for anything at all is a new browser window or the funky lock screen installed but I'm pretty sure both of those are solvable. The interface is fantastic, it's the first WM I've used (apart from maybe tmux or vim) that actually manages my windows well. In hindsight the desktop metaphor is such and obviously dead end that we've wasted for too much time on. It will take some retraining, but even things like tabs in the web browser no longer feel necessary, the WM can handle this and give a consistent global interface. MS is kind of heading in this direction too: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/28/16709190/microsoft-windows-10-tabs-file-explorer-sets-feature https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/28/16709190/microsoft-windo... . I started off with the manjaro distro (https://manjaro.org/category/community-editions/i3/ https://manjaro.org/category/community-editions/i3/), it's got a fair bit of bling that you won't get by default elsewhere but the performance is great.