5 ms·

A good alternative to strictly terminal-based workflows are tiled window managers. The big gain is that you don't have to give up all those gui apps as they bl

A good alternative to strictly terminal-based workflows are tiled window managers. The big gain is that you don't have to give up all those gui apps as they blend in next to the terminal apps quite well.

ekianjo 6y ago
Tiled windows managers have issues though. Last time I tried i3wm for example, there was no default support for sleep, energy saving and hardware keyboard shortcuts and you had to take care of all of that instead of the usual GNOME/KDE to do it for you. The best option is to install tiled windows managers plugins within GNOME or KDE on Linux.
- 188201 6y ago
  All are supported. You just need to edit the config file. Adding keyboard shortcuts is easiest in window manager comparing to full desktop environment where the setting is hide behind the some Setting GUI. Energy saving feature is basically setting P-state on Intel CPU, and does not work on AMD. You could do it manually by using kernel interface.
- generalizations 6y ago
  I found i3 to be the easiest WM for setting arbitrary keyboard shortcuts. The .config file makes it really convenient, and you can just set the key to run an arbitrary shell command.
- swirepe 6y ago
  i3 is one of those things that supports everything, you just have to configure it. If you want i3 with sane defaults and a pretty style out of the box, you should try i3-regolith[1] [1]https://regolith-linux.org/ https://regolith-linux.org/
- cptnapalm 6y ago
  Regolith has at least some of that. I'm using it on Ubuntu. https://regolith-linux.org/ https://regolith-linux.org/
- asciimov 6y ago
  I use dwm, you get keybinding support inside the config file and then you can use scripts or commands to manage everything else. Dwm isn't for everybody, you modify the c source and compile to get the changes you want. The best part is that the source is small enough to understand for when you want to do something to it.
- rusticpenn 6y ago
  I installed the i3 version of Manjaro and it came with everything out of the box.
desmap 6y ago
I was one or two years on Arch with i3 and all was great except when an app (eg a browser or Inkscape) opens a dialogue/modal/popup or whatever and this got stretched over the entire pane, yuck. AFAIK this could be configured somehow but I found configuration not as mature and rock-solid as with tmux or nvim but good though. It was rather a rabbit-hole. While I prefer the paradigm of tiling wms I eventually stuck with Windows (and WSL2) with its built-in window management but yeah.
- ghgr 6y ago
  That's odd, I've been using i3 for years now and modals always open as a floating window. Even GIMP (and its many windows) works fine. I don't remember tweaking anything in particular to make it work.
  - desmap 6y ago
    Nice to hear and need to try it again. I stopped using it 2017. Another gripe I had with i3 was that setting up proper hidpi support was a mess, maybe this improved as well. I know that the latest Ubuntu got here quite well, allowing also 25% steps etc.
    - asciimov 6y ago
      Hidpi is still a total crapshoot on linux (depending on distro and window manager). My current setup uses xrandr to scale my 4k to 1440p. It's not perfect, but it's better than other options.
      - desmap 6y ago
        Yeah hidpi on Linux is pretty underwhelming and it seems that nobody really cares. I think Windows needed years to match macOS and is now on the same level. Still Windows notebooks barely have more then 200dpi unless there are from the premium segment. Whatever, at least the software side is great now. But on Linux, Ubuntu just had until last year hidpi only in 100% steps paired with dozens of glitches here and there. Sad since especially a terminal looks just terrific in 300dpi (UHD on 13" or 8k on 32").
HungSu 6y ago
For those who enjoy experimenting with window managers, might I suggest PaperWM for your next experiment? Instead of fitting all your windows within your monitor's boundaries, PaperWM sets all windows to take full height and gives you an infinite horizontal axis to arrange them on. I'm thoroughly enjoying it and vastly prefer it to tiling and floating windows https://github.com/paperwm/PaperWM https://github.com/paperwm/PaperWM

ekianjo 6y ago

Tiled windows managers have issues though. Last time I tried i3wm for example, there was no default support for sleep, energy saving and hardware keyboard shortcuts and you had to take care of all of that instead of the usual GNOME/KDE to do it for you. The best option is to install tiled windows managers plugins within GNOME or KDE on Linux.

188201 6y ago
All are supported. You just need to edit the config file. Adding keyboard shortcuts is easiest in window manager comparing to full desktop environment where the setting is hide behind the some Setting GUI. Energy saving feature is basically setting P-state on Intel CPU, and does not work on AMD. You could do it manually by using kernel interface.
generalizations 6y ago
I found i3 to be the easiest WM for setting arbitrary keyboard shortcuts. The .config file makes it really convenient, and you can just set the key to run an arbitrary shell command.
swirepe 6y ago
i3 is one of those things that supports everything, you just have to configure it. If you want i3 with sane defaults and a pretty style out of the box, you should try i3-regolith[1] [1]https://regolith-linux.org/ https://regolith-linux.org/
cptnapalm 6y ago
Regolith has at least some of that. I'm using it on Ubuntu. https://regolith-linux.org/ https://regolith-linux.org/
asciimov 6y ago
I use dwm, you get keybinding support inside the config file and then you can use scripts or commands to manage everything else. Dwm isn't for everybody, you modify the c source and compile to get the changes you want. The best part is that the source is small enough to understand for when you want to do something to it.
rusticpenn 6y ago
I installed the i3 version of Manjaro and it came with everything out of the box.

desmap 6y ago

I was one or two years on Arch with i3 and all was great except when an app (eg a browser or Inkscape) opens a dialogue/modal/popup or whatever and this got stretched over the entire pane, yuck. AFAIK this could be configured somehow but I found configuration not as mature and rock-solid as with tmux or nvim but good though. It was rather a rabbit-hole. While I prefer the paradigm of tiling wms I eventually stuck with Windows (and WSL2) with its built-in window management but yeah.

ghgr 6y ago
That's odd, I've been using i3 for years now and modals always open as a floating window. Even GIMP (and its many windows) works fine. I don't remember tweaking anything in particular to make it work.
- desmap 6y ago
  Nice to hear and need to try it again. I stopped using it 2017. Another gripe I had with i3 was that setting up proper hidpi support was a mess, maybe this improved as well. I know that the latest Ubuntu got here quite well, allowing also 25% steps etc.
  - asciimov 6y ago
    Hidpi is still a total crapshoot on linux (depending on distro and window manager). My current setup uses xrandr to scale my 4k to 1440p. It's not perfect, but it's better than other options.
    - desmap 6y ago
      Yeah hidpi on Linux is pretty underwhelming and it seems that nobody really cares. I think Windows needed years to match macOS and is now on the same level. Still Windows notebooks barely have more then 200dpi unless there are from the premium segment. Whatever, at least the software side is great now. But on Linux, Ubuntu just had until last year hidpi only in 100% steps paired with dozens of glitches here and there. Sad since especially a terminal looks just terrific in 300dpi (UHD on 13" or 8k on 32").

HungSu 6y ago

For those who enjoy experimenting with window managers, might I suggest PaperWM for your next experiment? Instead of fitting all your windows within your monitor's boundaries, PaperWM sets all windows to take full height and gives you an infinite horizontal axis to arrange them on. I'm thoroughly enjoying it and vastly prefer it to tiling and floating windows https://github.com/paperwm/PaperWM https://github.com/paperwm/PaperWM