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My issue with using "lightweight" DEs in linux is they're so badly polished. VSync is way off. There are minor glitches all around the place. I used to use Awes

My issue with using "lightweight" DEs in linux is they're so badly polished. VSync is way off. There are minor glitches all around the place. I used to use AwesomeWM which was by far the best DE experience I had in my life. Currently I use OSX and even though OSX looks more aesthetic I can never achieve the simplicity and efficiency of AwesomeWM. Even then, when I occasionally go back to lightweight DEs and say watch a movie, I immediately realize the VSync issue. Gnome and KDE does NOT have these minor issue but they're also not nearly as efficient as awesome, XMonad, ratpoison, xfce, lxde etc.

ubercow13 7y ago
Most lightweight X DEs or window managers like awesome in Linux don’t make any attempt to implement vsync, it’s up to you to use another standalone compositor to enable it, usually compton. If it’s not working even then it’s probably a problem with the graphics driver not the DE, and a heavyweight DE likely wouldn’t fare any better. Personally I have never been able to make nVidia cards vsync reliably and my Intel laptop is also never quite right. Only AMD with their newer driver has been perfect for me.
- hedora 7y ago
  For me, AMD with no compositor is fine. I think it always double buffers. I have a freesync enabled (and my monitor supports it)
hedora 7y ago
The release notes for this version of XFCE mention improved vsync support. (Though the amd opensource drivers have an option that just “fixes” vsync across the board for me, and I only use lightweight WMs that don’t do anything special to support vsync).
- ac29 7y ago
  For what its worth, XFCE 4.14 still has tearing for me on a Skylake Intel iGPU.
  - lousken 7y ago
    cat > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf <<'_EOF' Section "Device" Identifier "Intel Graphics" Driver "intel" Option "AccelMethod" "sna" Option "TearFree" "true" EndSection _EOF this is what I had to do when I was using xubuntu to fix that
    - gnulinux 7y ago
      Since these things don't come installed by default in big distros, I can't help but think they need to introduce some big trade-offs. I don't know if doing this without understanding this trade-off is a good idea. (not saying it's not, but I don't know)
      - lousken 7y ago
        There are but the thing is - vsync is a trade-off in itself. That's why there're variable refreshrate monitors with freesync and gsync, so obviously the better solution is to use them. But intel needs to support those first. Until then... you just need to deal with either of those trade-offs[0]. [0] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics#Tearing https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics#Tearing

ubercow13 7y ago

Most lightweight X DEs or window managers like awesome in Linux don’t make any attempt to implement vsync, it’s up to you to use another standalone compositor to enable it, usually compton. If it’s not working even then it’s probably a problem with the graphics driver not the DE, and a heavyweight DE likely wouldn’t fare any better. Personally I have never been able to make nVidia cards vsync reliably and my Intel laptop is also never quite right. Only AMD with their newer driver has been perfect for me.

hedora 7y ago
For me, AMD with no compositor is fine. I think it always double buffers. I have a freesync enabled (and my monitor supports it)

hedora 7y ago

The release notes for this version of XFCE mention improved vsync support. (Though the amd opensource drivers have an option that just “fixes” vsync across the board for me, and I only use lightweight WMs that don’t do anything special to support vsync).

ac29 7y ago
For what its worth, XFCE 4.14 still has tearing for me on a Skylake Intel iGPU.
- lousken 7y ago
  cat > /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/20-intel.conf <<'_EOF' Section "Device" Identifier "Intel Graphics" Driver "intel" Option "AccelMethod" "sna" Option "TearFree" "true" EndSection _EOF this is what I had to do when I was using xubuntu to fix that
  - gnulinux 7y ago
    Since these things don't come installed by default in big distros, I can't help but think they need to introduce some big trade-offs. I don't know if doing this without understanding this trade-off is a good idea. (not saying it's not, but I don't know)
    - lousken 7y ago
      There are but the thing is - vsync is a trade-off in itself. That's why there're variable refreshrate monitors with freesync and gsync, so obviously the better solution is to use them. But intel needs to support those first. Until then... you just need to deal with either of those trade-offs[0]. [0] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics#Tearing https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/intel_graphics#Tearing