4 ms·

One of my favorite things about i3 is that it doesn't force itself on you when it's not needed. You can keep it "in the background" in tabbed mode, effectively

One of my favorite things about i3 is that it doesn't force itself on you when it's not needed. You can keep it "in the background" in tabbed mode, effectively using it like a non-tiling WM, as long as you want. Just let your windows pile up and switch between them with fuzzy search (rofi/Switcheroo). Then, once usage patterns emerge, you can tile to take advantage of spatial memory. Example: - Start i3 in tabbed mode - Open a window for coding - Open a browser to search for some coding question. It opens in a new i3 tab, filling the screen like it would in a non-tiling WM - Open a terminal to try the sample code (new i3 tab) - Google the error message you get (new i3 tab) - Use rofi to search for "code" and press Enter. Your coding window tab is activated and the coding window fills the screen - Realizing the sample code you found would be useful here, along with the test terminal, tile those windows alongside your coding window. Now you can quickly refer to them and switch between them with spatial keybindings - Switch back to the error message browser using rofi to check something. It's not part of your core workflow right now, so don't worry about tiling it That's probably obvious to anyone who's used a tiling WM for any length of time, but tiling was daunting to me until it clicked. I spent too much time thinking about optimal window arrangements. Thinking of tiling as an optional finishing touch rather than a focal point made it much more useful/practical.

adkadskhj 6y ago
I completely agree about "spacial memory" - i use my non-i3 WM in the same way.. but i'm not a fan of tiling in most cases. Does i3 still have tools i might find useful? To further illustrate: I primarily have an open Terminal+Tmux for editing on my main monitor. On my side, i have spacial but overlapping windows. They stick out a bit, such that it's primarily four tabs - left,up,right,down. For example my Slack is on the left tab, and i can always see my contact list, people typing to me, etc. My Browser is usually on the Up tab, as it allows me to see the browsers tabs themselves. I do the same with Zoom on the bottom, such that my Mic (mute/unmute) is always visible. And etc. This arrangement perhaps isn't ideal, but it's better than a tile for me because in a tile, i lose so much real-estate that the window becomes near useless. I can't shrink Slack to 1/4 of my Monitor, it's got too many boarders/etc. Same goes for my Browser, most sites have non-collapsing sidebars and etc, a tiny 1/4 window is useless. This method of spacial layout obscures ~90% of my windows but leaves some of it always visible. In some cases that's very useful. But this is something i manage through the day, and a WM to automate this positioning would be amazing.
- gnubison 6y ago
  I haven't used i3 in a while, but you might be able to use stacking/tabbed containers to accomplish what you've outlined above. It doesn't have the advantage that you can see part of the window, though.
- boogies 6y ago
  I’ll assume you don’t actually need to see you browser tabs or the Zoom mute toggle, just to be able to access them instantaneously. If I were you, I might keep Slack filling the screen most of the time, with the browser on workspace 9 — so it can pulled up with Super + 9 — and make a combo like Super + M both focus Zoom (on a third workspace), `xdotool key --clearmodifiers Alt+m` (with the setting enabled for that to toggle mute), and perhaps `xdotool windowmove 80% y` or so Slack and make Super + S or something reset the Slack workspace afterwards.
pkulak 6y ago
This is why I can never switch off i3 (well, Sway). I just use tabs too much. I even hacked Firefox to hide the tab bar and open every "tab" in a new window so I could use Sway tabs for browsing. BSPWM/DWM/etc all look cool, but no built-in tabs.
- devenblake 6y ago
  How did you hack Firefox that way? Been trying to figure that out for a while, no luck.
  - hundchenkatze 6y ago
    You can modify parts of the Firefox chrome (i.e. parts that aren't the webpage) by modifying your userChrome.css file. http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css Here's a few simple examples: https://github.com/Timvde/UserChrome-Tweaks/tree/master/tabs https://github.com/Timvde/UserChrome-Tweaks/tree/master/tabs And a more thorough one: https://old.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/7emhsq/my_compact_treestyletab_css_and_sidebar_hover/ https://old.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/7emhsq/my_compa...
  - pkulak 6y ago
    This: https://superuser.com/a/1268734 https://superuser.com/a/1268734 Plus this: https://gitlab.com/adsum/firefox-notabs https://gitlab.com/adsum/firefox-notabs
  - markstos 6y ago
    Qutebrowser has an "all tabs are windows" mode, along with the ability to hide all the "chrome", so the window manager can handle the tabs.
    - chaorace 6y ago
      Hard agree. If you're the kind of person using a tiling WM, you will definitely find the deep customization that Qutebrowser exposes to be liberating. I like the experience so much that I'll start selling it for the rest of this comment: Do you use vim-like extensions, but hate how surface-level they become due to hard WebExtension limitations? Pining to recapture the days of Pentadactyl? Qutebrowser is built for vim-like navigation from the ground up: * Hate getting stuck on about//:* / chrome://* pages? Every single page in qutebrowser works with your keybindings! * Hate PDFs for the same reason? Qutebrowser will read PDFs and keeps your keybindings there, too! * Wish you could have a dotfile configuration for your browser? Qutebrowser (optionally) does dotfiles (and they're Python!) * Wish you had a real EX mode? Qutebrowser has one and it does not disappoint in terms of customization/functionality. It's actually the linchpin of the the entire UX, much like the Omnibar is for Chrome. * Wish you had a keyboard-driven text selection mode? Qutebrowser has one! * Hate file pickers forcing you to reach for the mouse? Qutebrowser implements its own keyboard-driven file picker (and it's actually really good!) Have you considered other browsers in the past, but passed them up due to a lack of extension support? Well... Qutebrowser can't handle WebExtensions, but it does provide most features you would miss: * Dark Mode? It exposes the same performant, engine-level dark mode that Chrome does * Adblock? Qutebrowser supports hostlist-based adblocking (with auto-update) OR, if you want real Adblock, you can install jblock for qutebrowser, which is comparable functionality-wise to "uBlock"-type extensions (yes, including Youtube) * Userscripts? Qutebrowser supports loading userscripts and is mostly compatible with the GreaseMonkey 3/4 APIs. This covers what most "minor" extensions (e.g. HTTPS Everywhere / Old Reddit redirectors / UI tweaks) can do * Custom CSS? Most "userstyle"-type websites package a "Greasemonkey" version that will work just fine with the previously remarked userscript functionality * Password management? Qutebrowser comes with scripting support that will allow you to interface with your desktop-side password manager. Out of the box, it comes pre-packaged with scripts for connecting to GNU pass, bitwarden, keepass, and lastpass.
qmmmur 6y ago
Okay you'll need to enlighten me because this is exactly what I want. Currently I use keybinds on my Mac to snap windows to halves of the screen. I3 on my desktop does this automatically but I'd love if I could also have the freedom to let the windows stack up. What is the tabbed mode?
- arjunbajaj 6y ago
  Try `$mod+s` for stacking and `$mod+w` for tabbed. Check out 2.2. Changing the container layout here: https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html

adkadskhj 6y ago

I completely agree about "spacial memory" - i use my non-i3 WM in the same way.. but i'm not a fan of tiling in most cases. Does i3 still have tools i might find useful? To further illustrate: I primarily have an open Terminal+Tmux for editing on my main monitor. On my side, i have spacial but overlapping windows. They stick out a bit, such that it's primarily four tabs - left,up,right,down. For example my Slack is on the left tab, and i can always see my contact list, people typing to me, etc. My Browser is usually on the Up tab, as it allows me to see the browsers tabs themselves. I do the same with Zoom on the bottom, such that my Mic (mute/unmute) is always visible. And etc. This arrangement perhaps isn't ideal, but it's better than a tile for me because in a tile, i lose so much real-estate that the window becomes near useless. I can't shrink Slack to 1/4 of my Monitor, it's got too many boarders/etc. Same goes for my Browser, most sites have non-collapsing sidebars and etc, a tiny 1/4 window is useless. This method of spacial layout obscures ~90% of my windows but leaves some of it always visible. In some cases that's very useful. But this is something i manage through the day, and a WM to automate this positioning would be amazing.

gnubison 6y ago
I haven't used i3 in a while, but you might be able to use stacking/tabbed containers to accomplish what you've outlined above. It doesn't have the advantage that you can see part of the window, though.
boogies 6y ago
I’ll assume you don’t actually need to see you browser tabs or the Zoom mute toggle, just to be able to access them instantaneously. If I were you, I might keep Slack filling the screen most of the time, with the browser on workspace 9 — so it can pulled up with Super + 9 — and make a combo like Super + M both focus Zoom (on a third workspace), `xdotool key --clearmodifiers Alt+m` (with the setting enabled for that to toggle mute), and perhaps `xdotool windowmove 80% y` or so Slack and make Super + S or something reset the Slack workspace afterwards.

pkulak 6y ago

This is why I can never switch off i3 (well, Sway). I just use tabs too much. I even hacked Firefox to hide the tab bar and open every "tab" in a new window so I could use Sway tabs for browsing. BSPWM/DWM/etc all look cool, but no built-in tabs.

devenblake 6y ago
How did you hack Firefox that way? Been trying to figure that out for a while, no luck.
- hundchenkatze 6y ago
  You can modify parts of the Firefox chrome (i.e. parts that aren't the webpage) by modifying your userChrome.css file. http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css http://kb.mozillazine.org/index.php?title=UserChrome.css Here's a few simple examples: https://github.com/Timvde/UserChrome-Tweaks/tree/master/tabs https://github.com/Timvde/UserChrome-Tweaks/tree/master/tabs And a more thorough one: https://old.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/7emhsq/my_compact_treestyletab_css_and_sidebar_hover/ https://old.reddit.com/r/FirefoxCSS/comments/7emhsq/my_compa...
- pkulak 6y ago
  This: https://superuser.com/a/1268734 https://superuser.com/a/1268734 Plus this: https://gitlab.com/adsum/firefox-notabs https://gitlab.com/adsum/firefox-notabs
- markstos 6y ago
  Qutebrowser has an "all tabs are windows" mode, along with the ability to hide all the "chrome", so the window manager can handle the tabs.
  - chaorace 6y ago
    Hard agree. If you're the kind of person using a tiling WM, you will definitely find the deep customization that Qutebrowser exposes to be liberating. I like the experience so much that I'll start selling it for the rest of this comment: Do you use vim-like extensions, but hate how surface-level they become due to hard WebExtension limitations? Pining to recapture the days of Pentadactyl? Qutebrowser is built for vim-like navigation from the ground up: * Hate getting stuck on about//:* / chrome://* pages? Every single page in qutebrowser works with your keybindings! * Hate PDFs for the same reason? Qutebrowser will read PDFs and keeps your keybindings there, too! * Wish you could have a dotfile configuration for your browser? Qutebrowser (optionally) does dotfiles (and they're Python!) * Wish you had a real EX mode? Qutebrowser has one and it does not disappoint in terms of customization/functionality. It's actually the linchpin of the the entire UX, much like the Omnibar is for Chrome. * Wish you had a keyboard-driven text selection mode? Qutebrowser has one! * Hate file pickers forcing you to reach for the mouse? Qutebrowser implements its own keyboard-driven file picker (and it's actually really good!) Have you considered other browsers in the past, but passed them up due to a lack of extension support? Well... Qutebrowser can't handle WebExtensions, but it does provide most features you would miss: * Dark Mode? It exposes the same performant, engine-level dark mode that Chrome does * Adblock? Qutebrowser supports hostlist-based adblocking (with auto-update) OR, if you want real Adblock, you can install jblock for qutebrowser, which is comparable functionality-wise to "uBlock"-type extensions (yes, including Youtube) * Userscripts? Qutebrowser supports loading userscripts and is mostly compatible with the GreaseMonkey 3/4 APIs. This covers what most "minor" extensions (e.g. HTTPS Everywhere / Old Reddit redirectors / UI tweaks) can do * Custom CSS? Most "userstyle"-type websites package a "Greasemonkey" version that will work just fine with the previously remarked userscript functionality * Password management? Qutebrowser comes with scripting support that will allow you to interface with your desktop-side password manager. Out of the box, it comes pre-packaged with scripts for connecting to GNU pass, bitwarden, keepass, and lastpass.

qmmmur 6y ago

Okay you'll need to enlighten me because this is exactly what I want. Currently I use keybinds on my Mac to snap windows to halves of the screen. I3 on my desktop does this automatically but I'd love if I could also have the freedom to let the windows stack up. What is the tabbed mode?

arjunbajaj 6y ago
Try `$mod+s` for stacking and `$mod+w` for tabbed. Check out 2.2. Changing the container layout here: https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html https://i3wm.org/docs/userguide.html