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If Wayland delivers on the multiple monitor support that would help put Linux back in the running for me.

by sjs 15y ago

keeperofdakeys 15y ago
Personally, I think multi-monitor support is quite good, at least with my window manager (awesomewm). Xrandr stretches the X session accross both screens, and awesome will clone it's interface for the other screen. Each screen has independent workspaces, and you can move windows between the screens by dragging them or using keyboard shortcuts. The only downsides are wallpaper stretching doesn't work well (but it may just be the application I'm using to set it) and the fact that there is a 'space' where the mouse will disappear into if you use two non-conforming screen heights next to eachother. If you find that the default screen settings isn't very good, or don't want to figure out xrandr, try arandr, a very good xrandr gui.
- sjs 15y ago
  You have to restart X to hotplug displays with some drivers. That's a deal-breaker.
  - keeperofdakeys 15y ago
    At least for the intel drivers, this isn't a problem.
thristian 15y ago
X11 has great multiple-monitor support, and has done for some time now. Unfortunately, many users are using video drivers from nVidia or ATi, and those vendors tend to have half-finished or sketchy implementations of less-mainstream features like multiple-monitor support. Like in so many things, if you've got Intel graphics, everything pretty much works out of the box.
- sjs 15y ago
  After using Linux for a few years and learning that you had to do a bit of research and buy hardware carefully to make sure it all worked, I discovered that I could choose ever so slightly more carefully and everything would work with even less effort. I use a MacBook for my main workstation and since finding Divvy and SizeUp haven't missed Linux it all. I just want a Unix machine that I don't have to fuss over or spend time setting up and maintaining.
  - thristian 15y ago
    Weirdly, that's the reason I switched from OS X to Debian. OS X's hardware support is fine, but I do a bunch of hobby and open-source programming, wrestling with getting stuff to compile under OS X is just not my idea of a fun afternoon. MacPorts is a joke compared to the size and reliability of Debian's package archive, and Debian doesn't make you compile everything yourself, or leave multiple, uncleaned build-trees lying around for every package you install.
    - sjs 15y ago
      That's a good reason to prefer Linux. If OS X didn't have pretty stable and easy system upgrades and migrations I would miss Linux package managers. Copying the list of installed packages to a new machine and then running aptitude update is just awesome. I have pretty moderate package manager needs so homebrew is good enough, and when homebrew doesn't have it I just install from source.

If Wayland delivers on the multiple monitor support that would help put Linux back in the running for me.

by sjs 15y ago

If Wayland delivers on the multiple monitor support that would help put Linux back in the running for me.

Personally, I think multi-monitor support is quite good, at least with my window manager (awesomewm). Xrandr stretches the X session accross both screens, and awesome will clone it's interface for the other screen. Each screen has independent workspaces, and you can move windows between the screens by dragging them or using keyboard shortcuts. The only downsides are wallpaper stretching doesn't work well (but it may just be the application I'm using to set it) and the fact that there is a 'space' where the mouse will disappear into if you use two non-conforming screen heights next to eachother. If you find that the default screen settings isn't very good, or don't want to figure out xrandr, try arandr, a very good xrandr gui.

sjs 15y ago
You have to restart X to hotplug displays with some drivers. That's a deal-breaker.
- keeperofdakeys 15y ago
  At least for the intel drivers, this isn't a problem.

thristian 15y ago

X11 has great multiple-monitor support, and has done for some time now. Unfortunately, many users are using video drivers from nVidia or ATi, and those vendors tend to have half-finished or sketchy implementations of less-mainstream features like multiple-monitor support. Like in so many things, if you've got Intel graphics, everything pretty much works out of the box.

sjs 15y ago
After using Linux for a few years and learning that you had to do a bit of research and buy hardware carefully to make sure it all worked, I discovered that I could choose ever so slightly more carefully and everything would work with even less effort. I use a MacBook for my main workstation and since finding Divvy and SizeUp haven't missed Linux it all. I just want a Unix machine that I don't have to fuss over or spend time setting up and maintaining.
- thristian 15y ago
  Weirdly, that's the reason I switched from OS X to Debian. OS X's hardware support is fine, but I do a bunch of hobby and open-source programming, wrestling with getting stuff to compile under OS X is just not my idea of a fun afternoon. MacPorts is a joke compared to the size and reliability of Debian's package archive, and Debian doesn't make you compile everything yourself, or leave multiple, uncleaned build-trees lying around for every package you install.
  - sjs 15y ago
    That's a good reason to prefer Linux. If OS X didn't have pretty stable and easy system upgrades and migrations I would miss Linux package managers. Copying the list of installed packages to a new machine and then running aptitude update is just awesome. I have pretty moderate package manager needs so homebrew is good enough, and when homebrew doesn't have it I just install from source.