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>Wouldn't it make sense to have the terminal in a tab, next to the browser tab? Yes, the operative word is next to. This is already possible with any of today’

>Wouldn't it make sense to have the terminal in a tab, next to the browser tab? Yes, the operative word is next to. This is already possible with any of today’s window managers (just drag the windows next to each other). In fact, certain tiling window managers (e.g. i3, notion) make it possible to permanently place the terminal as a tab next to the browser window, and move the two around as a unit. You still haven’t made a case for arbitrarily nesting windows, which was the feature desired in your original post.

amadeuspagel 3y ago
You're making the case for arbitrarily nesting windows for me. When you talk about placing the terminal as a tab next to the browser window and being able to move the two around as a unit, you're talking about creating a new window that contains both the terminal and the browser window.
lucianbr 3y ago
What I would like to have is the desktop split into separate areas (windows?) and that not be restricted (not only half or one quarter, but arbitrary many splits). Then, any split could have a number of tabs, including just one. And the tabs could be anything. The right half of my screen could be a container with tabs, and one tab be a terminal, one be a browser, and one be a text editor. Currently, the text editor can have tabs, but they are all text files, the terminal can have abs, but they must all be terminals, the browser must all have tabs with pages... The whole desktop being managed like an IDE seems like it would accomplish it. On a separate note, there seems to be something wrong with the analogy you're using. You say it does not make sense to have a terminal in an alert box. Going with the filelsystem analogy the author suggested, that would be like having a directory inside a text file. Yeah, it doesn't make any kind of sense. There are intermediate nodes (folders, windows, tabs) and leaves (files, editors, web pages, videos, terminals). The point seems to be to have infinitely nested intermediate nodes, and leaves at any level. So the alert box could be inside 5 window splits and 3 tabs, but of course inside it would never be anything else.
- boloust 3y ago
  Tiling window managers like i3 do everything you described.
  - lucianbr 3y ago
    I mostly use windows, and that's my problem, of course. But with i3/xmonad, if I run vscode or intellij, can I have the file explorer view be in a different place in the hierarchy than right next to the source editors?
    - boloust 3y ago
      IntelliJ lets you split out its internal file explorer view into a separate window, so you can place it anywhere in the hierarchy, even in a separate virtual desktop. vscode doesn't let you split out the internal file explorer view, but the reverse is possible- you can quickly open any file in its own window, which can then be placed arbitrarily. Many tiling window managers also allow you to group arbitrary windows into tabs.
- rout39574 3y ago
  much of what you're suggesting can be done with a tiling WM. In Xmonad, I do something similar with a concept they label "workspaces", in that a given workspace has an accreting collection of features which can be summoned and set aside as a unit. The intermediate unit is a tile, and tiles can be hierarchically composed.

amadeuspagel 3y ago

You're making the case for arbitrarily nesting windows for me. When you talk about placing the terminal as a tab next to the browser window and being able to move the two around as a unit, you're talking about creating a new window that contains both the terminal and the browser window.

lucianbr 3y ago

What I would like to have is the desktop split into separate areas (windows?) and that not be restricted (not only half or one quarter, but arbitrary many splits). Then, any split could have a number of tabs, including just one. And the tabs could be anything. The right half of my screen could be a container with tabs, and one tab be a terminal, one be a browser, and one be a text editor. Currently, the text editor can have tabs, but they are all text files, the terminal can have abs, but they must all be terminals, the browser must all have tabs with pages... The whole desktop being managed like an IDE seems like it would accomplish it. On a separate note, there seems to be something wrong with the analogy you're using. You say it does not make sense to have a terminal in an alert box. Going with the filelsystem analogy the author suggested, that would be like having a directory inside a text file. Yeah, it doesn't make any kind of sense. There are intermediate nodes (folders, windows, tabs) and leaves (files, editors, web pages, videos, terminals). The point seems to be to have infinitely nested intermediate nodes, and leaves at any level. So the alert box could be inside 5 window splits and 3 tabs, but of course inside it would never be anything else.

boloust 3y ago
Tiling window managers like i3 do everything you described.
- lucianbr 3y ago
  I mostly use windows, and that's my problem, of course. But with i3/xmonad, if I run vscode or intellij, can I have the file explorer view be in a different place in the hierarchy than right next to the source editors?
  - boloust 3y ago
    IntelliJ lets you split out its internal file explorer view into a separate window, so you can place it anywhere in the hierarchy, even in a separate virtual desktop. vscode doesn't let you split out the internal file explorer view, but the reverse is possible- you can quickly open any file in its own window, which can then be placed arbitrarily. Many tiling window managers also allow you to group arbitrary windows into tabs.
rout39574 3y ago
much of what you're suggesting can be done with a tiling WM. In Xmonad, I do something similar with a concept they label "workspaces", in that a given workspace has an accreting collection of features which can be summoned and set aside as a unit. The intermediate unit is a tile, and tiles can be hierarchically composed.