3 ms·

I've been using Arch Linux for a little more than two years, and it's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Once you get used to the terminal

I've been using Arch Linux for a little more than two years, and it's probably one of the best decisions I've made in my life. Once you get used to the terminal, you will never want to touch a Windows computer (unfortunately). I have i3wm (tiling wm) + (rxvt + tmux + vim) + luakit (browser with vim keybindings), and some other stuff, and my productivity went straight up. Of course you might not want to go to that extreme, especially if you are not used to the terminal, but it's worth giving it a try.

orthecreedence 13y ago
I'd have to agree with your decisions. I'm on Slack, but almost the same setup: i3, tmux, urxvt, vim. The setup is unstoppable. I've found that I no longer need quick launch links (just define/use shortcuts for whatever you need). Switching desktops is really fast and easy (you don't drown in ridiculous animations just by switching to the "browser" desktop), and floating/hidden windows make opening a quick shell really simple. Doing everything via keyboard saves so much time...however I do come from the vim world, so I may be biased =]. On top of all that, i3's config is really, really easy. Admittedly, I haven't used any other tiling window managers. I did a bunch of research after deciding to try one out, landed on i3, and haven't really looked back. Would definitely recommend it to an efficiency-minded person. Also the simplicity of i3 is beautiful. Combine its minimal interface with a few shell windows with opacity=.85 and you've got an incredible looking desktop that's easy to navigate, responsive, and efficient. Even my not-very-tech-savvy girlfriend saw me working in it and said "Wow, that's pretty!"
- farresito 13y ago
  I've tried some other tiling wm's, and i3wm is the one I've liked the most. It just has the right balance. dwm is pretty nice, too, but didn't like it as much. I'm glad to hear some other people enjoying a similar configuration of his linux :D. The only problem I've found is when I go to public places; people just look too much. They are not used to such a lightweight and non-windows/non-mac system.
vezzy-fnord 13y ago
Great choice. I use almost the same setup (on Slackware) except with uzbl as my browser (again a WebKit-based browser with vi keybindings) and dwm, although I alternate between WMs and DEs a lot. The Unix way in general just feels so much more natural. There are alternative WMs and DEs for Windows too, though. I haven't tried any.
- farresito 13y ago
  I'm aware of some hacking you can do to make tiling wm's work on Windows, but if you really need to go to that point, then just go to linux, unless you have important apps than only work on Win. I've tried to learn uzbl. I actually installed it around a month ago, but really need to spend some time with it. I might change the config so it's similar to luakit. The only issue with luakit is it sometimes hangs, and I doubt it's lack of good hardware in my computer. How are you liking uzbl? Do you recommend giving it a try? I don't think it's going to be that different from luakit. The first tiling wm I used was dwm. I can't really remember why I moved to i3. I think the config was way easier (I changed a lot of things, I must admit, and the fact I didn't have to compile it probably was the reason), but I remember seeing really beautiful screens on the archlinux forum. Maybe I will give it a try again, although I'm pretty have already with i3.

orthecreedence 13y ago

I'd have to agree with your decisions. I'm on Slack, but almost the same setup: i3, tmux, urxvt, vim. The setup is unstoppable. I've found that I no longer need quick launch links (just define/use shortcuts for whatever you need). Switching desktops is really fast and easy (you don't drown in ridiculous animations just by switching to the "browser" desktop), and floating/hidden windows make opening a quick shell really simple. Doing everything via keyboard saves so much time...however I do come from the vim world, so I may be biased =]. On top of all that, i3's config is really, really easy. Admittedly, I haven't used any other tiling window managers. I did a bunch of research after deciding to try one out, landed on i3, and haven't really looked back. Would definitely recommend it to an efficiency-minded person. Also the simplicity of i3 is beautiful. Combine its minimal interface with a few shell windows with opacity=.85 and you've got an incredible looking desktop that's easy to navigate, responsive, and efficient. Even my not-very-tech-savvy girlfriend saw me working in it and said "Wow, that's pretty!"

farresito 13y ago
I've tried some other tiling wm's, and i3wm is the one I've liked the most. It just has the right balance. dwm is pretty nice, too, but didn't like it as much. I'm glad to hear some other people enjoying a similar configuration of his linux :D. The only problem I've found is when I go to public places; people just look too much. They are not used to such a lightweight and non-windows/non-mac system.

vezzy-fnord 13y ago

Great choice. I use almost the same setup (on Slackware) except with uzbl as my browser (again a WebKit-based browser with vi keybindings) and dwm, although I alternate between WMs and DEs a lot. The Unix way in general just feels so much more natural. There are alternative WMs and DEs for Windows too, though. I haven't tried any.

farresito 13y ago
I'm aware of some hacking you can do to make tiling wm's work on Windows, but if you really need to go to that point, then just go to linux, unless you have important apps than only work on Win. I've tried to learn uzbl. I actually installed it around a month ago, but really need to spend some time with it. I might change the config so it's similar to luakit. The only issue with luakit is it sometimes hangs, and I doubt it's lack of good hardware in my computer. How are you liking uzbl? Do you recommend giving it a try? I don't think it's going to be that different from luakit. The first tiling wm I used was dwm. I can't really remember why I moved to i3. I think the config was way easier (I changed a lot of things, I must admit, and the fact I didn't have to compile it probably was the reason), but I remember seeing really beautiful screens on the archlinux forum. Maybe I will give it a try again, although I'm pretty have already with i3.