4 ms·

I use Gnome Shell partially because I don't want compiz. Compiz consumes way too many resources from my computer. Unity is great. No doubt, but it shouldn't be

by munchor 15y ago

I use Gnome Shell partially because I don't want compiz. Compiz consumes way too many resources from my computer. Unity is great. No doubt, but it shouldn't be a compiz plugin, it should work the same way Gnome Shell does, not with Compiz. A lot of people complain about customization on both, so I just say: try Awesome WM. This window manager is very easy to use and very simple to customize, it really lives up to its name (awesome). I use both Gnome Shell and Awesome WM on Arch Linux, I like both of them, although I've been using more and more Gnome Shell lately, partially because Gnome 3.4 is almost in the stable repositories, and I am very anxious for it.

Smotko 15y ago
I prefer mutter to compiz too. I don't really care about resources as both of the shells run smooth on my laptop, but compiz can't show full screen flash video (youtube) on my secondary monitor, which is a little annoying. I've heard awesome things about Awesome. I need to give it a try in the near future. Thanks!
acabal 15y ago
I like that they stuck with Compiz. Linux is fragmented in no small part due to developers wanting to create shiny new software instead of supporting more boring older software. When that happens we get 100 window managers all with their little quirks and all of them liable to be discarded at the drop of a hat. I mean, just look at this massive list of window managers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager#X_Window_managers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager#X_Window_manag... Despite Compiz's flaws Canonical did the right thing by sticking to and polishing an existing WM instead of creating yet another WM with its own weird flaws and bugs. Plus, I like wobbly windows :)
- cgb 15y ago
  Well, the Gnome project stuck to Metacity and evolved it into Mutter. Mutter is just Metacity + Clutter.
pavanky 15y ago
Have to ask, what is the appeal of a tiling WM ? Do we have the option to swtich between apps ? Do you _have to_ use tiles ? For example, if I am working on a terminal and have firefox open, how much trouble would it be to switch between them (would alt + tab work ?). I tried reading wiki-pages about tiling managers in general, but they are sparse on this kind of information.
- keithpeter 15y ago
  I used dwm/dmenu with an appropriate .desktop file to set up a session, and a simple script to autostart a few applications (network-manager, feh) as my desktop environment for some time. See http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux-dwm-window-manager-on-debian.html http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux-dwm-window-manager-on-de... Windows can be tiled, full screen ('monacle') or floating in dwm. You can alter the config file to associate a window type with an application, e.g. GIMP will always be floating. You have a screen divided into a main pane on the left. I set mine to occupy about 65% of the width of a 1920by1080 screen. The right hand area is a 'stack' of other windows which appear as you invoke applications using dmenu (click super, type program name). You can switch between the active window with the mouse (focus follows pointer) or using keyboard shortcuts (vi related in the stock version). You can also swap windows on the 'stack' in the right hand side into the main tile, so the window that was in the main tile goes onto the stack. You can also 'cycle' the windows through the tiles like a yank buffer. The best bit was tags. Basically you have 9 workspaces, but it is possible to bring the windows in workspace 7 (say) into the stack in workspace 1. The main problem I had was the issue of popup windows for tiled applications. Sometimes they were recognised and became floating windows, sometimes they opened in the main pane with the result that the main application window became the first on the stack, which was distracting.
- vonuebelgarten 15y ago
  I have no good experience using a tiling window manager, but some months ago I started using QuickTile ( http://ssokolow.com/quicktile/ http://ssokolow.com/quicktile/ ) to tile windows in Gnome 3. That's the best of two worlds. There is also a shell extension for that, but it is still too crude for daily usage: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/28/gtile/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/28/gtile/
keithpeter 15y ago
Have you tried Unity2d? Metacity window manager and now has HUD

by munchor 15y ago

Smotko 15y ago

I prefer mutter to compiz too. I don't really care about resources as both of the shells run smooth on my laptop, but compiz can't show full screen flash video (youtube) on my secondary monitor, which is a little annoying. I've heard awesome things about Awesome. I need to give it a try in the near future. Thanks!

acabal 15y ago

I like that they stuck with Compiz. Linux is fragmented in no small part due to developers wanting to create shiny new software instead of supporting more boring older software. When that happens we get 100 window managers all with their little quirks and all of them liable to be discarded at the drop of a hat. I mean, just look at this massive list of window managers: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager#X_Window_managers http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X_window_manager#X_Window_manag... Despite Compiz's flaws Canonical did the right thing by sticking to and polishing an existing WM instead of creating yet another WM with its own weird flaws and bugs. Plus, I like wobbly windows :)

cgb 15y ago
Well, the Gnome project stuck to Metacity and evolved it into Mutter. Mutter is just Metacity + Clutter.

pavanky 15y ago

Have to ask, what is the appeal of a tiling WM ? Do we have the option to swtich between apps ? Do you _have to_ use tiles ? For example, if I am working on a terminal and have firefox open, how much trouble would it be to switch between them (would alt + tab work ?). I tried reading wiki-pages about tiling managers in general, but they are sparse on this kind of information.

keithpeter 15y ago
I used dwm/dmenu with an appropriate .desktop file to set up a session, and a simple script to autostart a few applications (network-manager, feh) as my desktop environment for some time. See http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux-dwm-window-manager-on-debian.html http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/linux-dwm-window-manager-on-de... Windows can be tiled, full screen ('monacle') or floating in dwm. You can alter the config file to associate a window type with an application, e.g. GIMP will always be floating. You have a screen divided into a main pane on the left. I set mine to occupy about 65% of the width of a 1920by1080 screen. The right hand area is a 'stack' of other windows which appear as you invoke applications using dmenu (click super, type program name). You can switch between the active window with the mouse (focus follows pointer) or using keyboard shortcuts (vi related in the stock version). You can also swap windows on the 'stack' in the right hand side into the main tile, so the window that was in the main tile goes onto the stack. You can also 'cycle' the windows through the tiles like a yank buffer. The best bit was tags. Basically you have 9 workspaces, but it is possible to bring the windows in workspace 7 (say) into the stack in workspace 1. The main problem I had was the issue of popup windows for tiled applications. Sometimes they were recognised and became floating windows, sometimes they opened in the main pane with the result that the main application window became the first on the stack, which was distracting.
vonuebelgarten 15y ago
I have no good experience using a tiling window manager, but some months ago I started using QuickTile ( http://ssokolow.com/quicktile/ http://ssokolow.com/quicktile/ ) to tile windows in Gnome 3. That's the best of two worlds. There is also a shell extension for that, but it is still too crude for daily usage: https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/28/gtile/ https://extensions.gnome.org/extension/28/gtile/

keithpeter 15y ago

Have you tried Unity2d? Metacity window manager and now has HUD