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A Tiling Desktop Environment

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Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#121

Post by stevewillows »

SebastianKra wrote: post #108
stevewillows wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started using Chunk a few months ago. I'd been using i3 for a few years and loved it, but my main OS is macOS. I mapped my caps as HYPER (like most), but I really wish MacOS had a method to acquire a true native SUPER key. I'm currently using ctrl+shift+alt-arrows for resizing, ctrl+alt-arrows for movement, HYPER + arrows for selection --- but its just not as smooth as i3. The more I use Linux w/ i3, the more I rea…

> I realize that Macos is very much a cursor OS I used to hate that fact, until I got a keyboard without numpad. The smaller distance between keyboard and mouse makes a huge difference. I realized, that the mouse is actually faster in many situations. I still use Vim, Launchbar, Magnet and 'CMD Shift /' (Menubar search), but now I am far less annoyed when I do need to switch to the mouse.

I went TKL a few years back and have the same feelings as you. I also switched to a Magic Trackpad 2 -- which has been somewhat life changing (to some extent.)

It took about a week or so to get comfortable with, and I haven't gone crazy with the gestures -- but its such a nice experience.

The funniest thing about MacOS window managers is that a lot of them can't do three windows stacked (not in the i3 sense) on the left side with one window on the right. This is what ultimately lead me to chunkwm. Prior to that I was using BetterTouchTool with zones.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#122

Post by hollerith »

stevewillows wrote: post #121
SebastianKra wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I realize that Macos is very much a cursor OS I used to hate that fact, until I got a keyboard without numpad. The smaller distance between keyboard and mouse makes a huge difference. I realized, that the mouse is actually faster in many situations. I still use Vim, Launchbar, Magnet and 'CMD Shift /' (Menubar search), but now I am far less annoyed when I do need to switch to the mouse.

I went TKL a few years back and have the same feelings as you. I also switched to a Magic Trackpad 2 -- which has been somewhat life changing (to some extent.) It took about a week or so to get comfortable with, and I haven't gone crazy with the gestures -- but its such a nice experience. The funniest thing about MacOS window managers is that a lot of them can't do three windows stacked (not in the i3 sense) on the l…

TKL above means "tenkeyless", i.e., without a numeric keypad.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#123

Post by enzelb »

nickjj wrote: post #97
dtn wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

https://github.com/fuhsjr00/bug.n exists for Windows

Yes, I tried using that multiple times. It's very buggy / not suitable for full time usage (which is funny given its name).

I've been using it everyday for ~6 months and find that it's fantastic for full time usage.

The only feature that it doesn't have out-of-the-box is an "always on top" option for floating windows (but can be implemented by running a separate AHK script).

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#124

Post by peatmoss »

Any more, what I feel I want is XFCE with Xmonad / DWM style tiling that I don’t have to hack together.

I’m considering taking another look at KDE with the tiling KWin extension, since KDE seems to be the center of mass for innovation in 90s style WIMP interfaces.

EDIT: I’ll add that the GTK software world seems to be driving towards hamburger-ization, which makes me wonder how much software of the future will integrate cleanly with XFCE. I’m not sure that the Mint and XFCE people have enough mass to keep fighting the good fight forever.

KDE is starting to seem like a pragmatic long-term bet.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#125

Post by hotcrossbunny »

tluyben2 wrote: post #79
mjlee wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Which laptop are you using for Ubuntu? Are you happy with it?

X220 with 9-cell battery, ssd from a broken macbook pro and 16 gb from the same macbook pro. Yes, it is the best laptop I have ever owned (and I owned many). I have several (bought for almost nothing from a company sale) for replacement; if I break one, I am up and running in 10 minutes again. I think I paid less than $250 for 5 pristine ones + 2 new 9 cell batteries new in box. It is surprisingly fast for it’s age w…

Couldnt agree more.....I type on my X220 with 9 cell battery.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#126

Post by nickjj »

enzelb wrote: post #123
nickjj wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, I tried using that multiple times. It's very buggy / not suitable for full time usage (which is funny given its name).

I've been using it everyday for ~6 months and find that it's fantastic for full time usage. The only feature that it doesn't have out-of-the-box is an "always on top" option for floating windows (but can be implemented by running a separate AHK script).

Are you using the stable version or something else?

When I ran the stable version a few months ago it didn't even act like a tiled window manager. After you open it, all it did was tile a bunch of existing windows automatically, but then if you tried to resize them, it only resized the window that had mouse focus.

i3 would have resized all of the windows to fit so there's no gaps.

Overall it just felt very flaky and it had a lot of screen flickering when moving things around.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#127

Post by thomaslord »

flurdy wrote: post #115

A tiling window manager is a must for me. But I (like the OP's article mentions) prefer to use a standard desktop environment (Gnome or macOS) but add tiling feature only. So, on my macOS laptops, it is Amethyst all day https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst . Love it. But on my Linux desktops, I am stuck with Gnome and not gone for full VM replacement with XMonad, i3 or Awesome. I don't want issues with disk mounting, cl…

For what it's worth, I run i3 on my work laptop and I don't have any issues with those things - the only config I've done for multiple monitors is configuring one to be vertical and binding workspaces to particular monitors.

I didn't go for a clean install with no desktop environment, though. I started off with a standard Ubuntu 18.10 install and then installed i3, so I can still start a session with either i3 or gnome. Highly recommend this setup - it makes everything pretty easy because you still have all of the default apps and settings from Ubuntu. The only real config weirdness I had to deal with was adding keybinds for volume/media keys, and the fact that the display brightness keys on my laptop aren't bound (I always run on 100%, so it doesn't bother me).

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#128

Post by frosted-flakes »

SebastianKra wrote: post #108
stevewillows wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I started using Chunk a few months ago. I'd been using i3 for a few years and loved it, but my main OS is macOS. I mapped my caps as HYPER (like most), but I really wish MacOS had a method to acquire a true native SUPER key. I'm currently using ctrl+shift+alt-arrows for resizing, ctrl+alt-arrows for movement, HYPER + arrows for selection --- but its just not as smooth as i3. The more I use Linux w/ i3, the more I rea…

> I realize that Macos is very much a cursor OS I used to hate that fact, until I got a keyboard without numpad. The smaller distance between keyboard and mouse makes a huge difference. I realized, that the mouse is actually faster in many situations. I still use Vim, Launchbar, Magnet and 'CMD Shift /' (Menubar search), but now I am far less annoyed when I do need to switch to the mouse.

Does anyone make left-handed keyboards with the numpad and the PageUp, etc. block of keys on the left? I saw a positively ancient one at a friend's parent's house years ago, but that's it. That would solve the problem of moving the mouse closer, while still having a full keyboard. It would also put the numpad closer to the Tab key.

Alternatively, I could use the mouse with my left hand. My friend actually did this when I suggested it as a joke, and apparently it didn't take long for him to get used to it. However, I generally don't like ambidextrous mice.

Alternatively, I could use a ten key less keyboard and get a separate wireless numpad.

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#129

Post by kgilmer »

jeromescuggs wrote: post #46
sam0x17 wrote: post #15

I so agree with this, though I have a slightly different take. As someone who can't part with my GUIs, I'm nevertheless super jealous of all the i3 folks. As such, what I want is basically i3 in a gnome window. That for me would be the best of both worlds. I can do all my fancy i3 stuff but still have a crisp, efficient UI to get settings/stuff done when it's about ease of use, not speed.

i feel like i know where you're coming from here, this isn't exactly what you're describing, but it's pretty dang close. really made the transition to window tiling far less intimidating than i imagined. https://regolith-linux.org/

Thanks for mentioning Regolith and I'm pumped to hear that you find it useful!

Re: A Tiling Desktop Environment

#130

Post by kgilmer »

It's not mentioned here so I'll add it: gnome-flashback is the thing that you can use to integrate your window manager of choice w/ the gnome shell. I expect there to be integrations for other window managers, but if you're using i3, then this is your bridge: https://github.com/deuill/i3-gnome-flashback
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