5 ms·

Ask HN: What's a good beginner's tiling WM for Linux

10 points by mcrittenden 15y ago

I've never really used anything but stock Ubuntu and want to try to dip into the tiling WM world. What's a good one to get started with, that is preferably easyish to set up and get started with.

nzmsv 15y ago
I recently started using xmonad on a netbook and found it quite easy to get started. I use xmobar for status. I haven't done much customization yet, but just getting the basic setup running was very straightforward. I'm a convert, and planning on switching my desktop to xmonad when I get a chance.
fm 15y ago
I have used and recommend either awesome (http://awesome.naquadah.org http://awesome.naquadah.org) or xMonad (http://xmonad.org http://xmonad.org) They are both cool and do the job. xMonad is a bit more hardcore because it is written in Haskell (and its configuration files are Haskell programs as well) Awesome uses Lua which is easier to grasp.
- Symmetry 15y ago
  Very true, but a few more differences. By default, awesome has a bar at the top to tell you what mode you're in, list windows, list workspaces, etc. Also, it provides a system tray. You can get one of these set up in xMonad without that much effort, but its an extra hurdle. On the other hand, if you just want to swap out the window manager on GNOME you don't want to have to remove this, so xMonad has the advantage there. Awesome has this really nifty thing where windows can be tagged, and views are compositions of tags. So there are easy ways to have a window on more than one workspace at a time. On the other hand, xMonad seems to have better multi-monitor defaults. xMonad also has dmenu by default, and that's seriously awesome (no pun intended). Personally, I use awesome as my window manager on GNOME, but I've redone some keybindings to be more xMonadish and I used documentation from xMonad as part of getting things set up. EDIT: Here's the uber-helpful xMonad GNOME integration page. You'll want to read it even if you use awesome. http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Using_xmonad_in_Gnome http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Using_xmonad_in_Gn...
- fm 15y ago
  ...And if you are that brave to choose xMonad you can have a look at my config (https://github.com/fmancinelli/.xmonad https://github.com/fmancinelli/.xmonad)
oxalic 15y ago
XMONAD... finally get the WM you have always been dreaming of. Really easy to get started. You can also "drop" it in as a replacement for metacity and use it directly on ubuntu. Also you can install it separately and log in when you want it. For me no setup was required.
Tcepsa 15y ago
If you are familiar with (and like) Lisp, I recommend checking out StumpWM: http://stumpwm.antidesktop.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl http://stumpwm.antidesktop.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl I started with Awesome, moved to XMonad, and have settled on StumpWM. It was very easy to install (many steps, but they were all very straightforward and easy for me to follow with my arrangement) and the defaults were reasonable. I haven't gotten it super-customized for my every desire, but it was pretty straightforward to add some keyboard shortcuts to make it easier to move between groups and to bring up programs (shift-win-c to bring up Conkeror, for example). I think they're all three good choices and wish you luck with whichever you choose.

10 points by mcrittenden 15y ago

I've never really used anything but stock Ubuntu and want to try to dip into the tiling WM world. What's a good one to get started with, that is preferably easyish to set up and get started with.

nzmsv 15y ago

I recently started using xmonad on a netbook and found it quite easy to get started. I use xmobar for status. I haven't done much customization yet, but just getting the basic setup running was very straightforward. I'm a convert, and planning on switching my desktop to xmonad when I get a chance.

fm 15y ago

I have used and recommend either awesome (http://awesome.naquadah.org http://awesome.naquadah.org) or xMonad (http://xmonad.org http://xmonad.org) They are both cool and do the job. xMonad is a bit more hardcore because it is written in Haskell (and its configuration files are Haskell programs as well) Awesome uses Lua which is easier to grasp.

Symmetry 15y ago
Very true, but a few more differences. By default, awesome has a bar at the top to tell you what mode you're in, list windows, list workspaces, etc. Also, it provides a system tray. You can get one of these set up in xMonad without that much effort, but its an extra hurdle. On the other hand, if you just want to swap out the window manager on GNOME you don't want to have to remove this, so xMonad has the advantage there. Awesome has this really nifty thing where windows can be tagged, and views are compositions of tags. So there are easy ways to have a window on more than one workspace at a time. On the other hand, xMonad seems to have better multi-monitor defaults. xMonad also has dmenu by default, and that's seriously awesome (no pun intended). Personally, I use awesome as my window manager on GNOME, but I've redone some keybindings to be more xMonadish and I used documentation from xMonad as part of getting things set up. EDIT: Here's the uber-helpful xMonad GNOME integration page. You'll want to read it even if you use awesome. http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Using_xmonad_in_Gnome http://www.haskell.org/haskellwiki/Xmonad/Using_xmonad_in_Gn...
fm 15y ago
...And if you are that brave to choose xMonad you can have a look at my config (https://github.com/fmancinelli/.xmonad https://github.com/fmancinelli/.xmonad)

oxalic 15y ago

XMONAD... finally get the WM you have always been dreaming of. Really easy to get started. You can also "drop" it in as a replacement for metacity and use it directly on ubuntu. Also you can install it separately and log in when you want it. For me no setup was required.

Tcepsa 15y ago

If you are familiar with (and like) Lisp, I recommend checking out StumpWM: http://stumpwm.antidesktop.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl http://stumpwm.antidesktop.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl I started with Awesome, moved to XMonad, and have settled on StumpWM. It was very easy to install (many steps, but they were all very straightforward and easy for me to follow with my arrangement) and the defaults were reasonable. I haven't gotten it super-customized for my every desire, but it was pretty straightforward to add some keyboard shortcuts to make it easier to move between groups and to bring up programs (shift-win-c to bring up Conkeror, for example). I think they're all three good choices and wish you luck with whichever you choose.